CELEBRITIES ALSO ADMIRE THEIR FANS IF THE APPROACH IS RIGHT

Nitin Jain

You must have heard of many autograph collectors who do whatever it takes to collect an autograph, but how many do you know, who involve their entire family in this process?

Meet Nitin Jain. Nitin is an Export and Import Business Professional from Ghaziabad. He has been into philography for over 2 decades now and has a collection of over 500 autographs. 150 out of these are from the field of cinema, 150 belong to sports, 150 are those of political leaders and 50 from the field of IT & Science.

 

 Q- Hi Nitin. When and how did you get into philography?

A-I started in the year 2000. I had a few people around me who collected autographs and this inspired me to give it a try. I wrote to the Late Nelson Mandela, Late Dara Singh, the great Mountaineer Bachendri Pal and you know what? Each of them responded. The Late Nelson Mandela sent his autographed photo, Late Dara Singh sent a personal note and Bachendri ji sent a long letter in which she wrote inspirational moments from her journey along with her autograph.

I never expected these 3 stalwarts to oblige to my request on the onset. It was highly motivating, and this pushed me forward.

 

Q- That was a great start. How do you collect autographs?

A-I started my collection through the mail (TTM), but I prefer to collect them in person now. I have heard stories of the secretaries signing the autographs and not the celebrity. Also, collecting an autograph in person is a wholesome experience and an amazing confidence booster. It also helps one to build a network over time.

 

Q-How does your family react to your hobby?

A-Initially they were apprehensive, but once they saw the joy on my face when I received letters and autographs from celebrities, they accepted my hobby.

 

Q- As the trend has changed from collecting autographs to clicking selfies, what do you prefer?

A-I have been doing this for over 2 decades now. I prefer autographs but I also feel that adding a selfi also contributes to that moment. It also makes the autograph more authentic.

 

Q- Do you think philography has changed you as a person?

A-Yes, absolutely. It is my biggest stress buster. Whenever I am low, I start thinking about whom to approach next, how to approach, what should be research done etc. Receiving an autograph really makes my day.

 

Q-How many autographs do you possess?

A- More than 500, about 150 are from the field of cinema, 150 belong to sports, 150 are those of political leaders and 50 are from the field of IT & Science.

Late Nelson Mandela, Late Dara Singh, Bachendri Pal, APJ Abdul Kalam, Sonu Sood, Martina Navratilova, Inventors of Whatsapp - Brian Acton and Jan Koum are some of my favorite autographs from my collection.

I also hold a position in the prestigious Limca Book of Records for my Olympic Collection. I have the autographs of all Olympians who have won a medal for India.

Getting my name in The Limca book of Records really elevated my confidence. All those relatives and friends who thought I was wasting my time suddenly started admiring me.

 

Q-That’s Impressive! Collecting an autograph is always a memory, is there anything you do add to this?

A- I started doing this from the past 4 years. When I go to collect an autograph, I take my family along. Also, when I go for a holiday, I try to find out if there an event nearby where I can collect an autograph. I may have to drive far, or wait in a hotel, but when I take my family, I don’t worry too much about expenses. My success ratio of collecting the autographs with my family and making them meet the celeb has been 95 percent.

 

Q- Tell me about an extreme situation that you underwent to collect an autograph.

A- This happened in 2018. I was in Hardwar with my family and I got to know that the cricket teams of Ireland and Afghanistan visited Dehradun for a test match. I lured my family in coming along with me, telling them that they would get to see an actual match from the stadium itself. My family wasn’t very keen on this, but I really wanted to try my hand at collecting the autographs of the cricketers, so I convinced them.

After travelling for about 2.5 hours, we managed to reach in time and also got the tickets, but our seats were in the burning sun and soon, my family started getting uncomfortable. I had to stay till the end because the cricketers would come out only then and only then I could reach them for autographs.

We shifted to more comfortable seats in the stadium where it wasn’t as sunny and we could watch the players very closely. I also tried entertaining my family as much as possible.

As the cricketers came out of the pavilion and walked towards their bus, I quickly took my family to meet them and boy, God was on my side. The security personnel let us approach the cricketers. As my family met them, they forgot all about their ordeal and the situation turned around 180 degrees! They were very pleased to meet so many cricketers and have autographs and photos with them.

 

Q-That was something! Name 4 celebrities whose autographs you want to showcase in your collection.

A-The Dalai Lama, AR Rehman, the great Rajnikant and Mother Teresa!

 

Q- What should the aspiring philographists keep in mind?

A-Philography is a great hobby, go for it. Do it in a way so that you genuinely get to interact with the celebrity. Celebrities also admire their fans and acknowledge them, provided the way to approach them is right.

 

 

 

This article has been written by Pooja Gupta.

She is a freelance writer, anchor, youtuber and a former Radio Jockey. She writes everything from ads, promos, articles, dialogues, short films, screenplays, feature films and even web series. She also travels across India for hosting shows. For work, she can be contacted on pooja.gupta2178@yahoo.com.