For the love of matchboxes

It won’t be cigarette or beedi lovers who will generate livelihood for the people making matchboxes. And if Robinson is to be believed, ‘If religion survives, so will the matchboxes’!  

“The humble matchbox has been an integral part of human life for more than a century and the idea of light is an important part of most religious traditions, evoked in scriptures and rituals,” says Robinson, who recently displayed his collection of matchbox.

“Each matchbox has a story to tell,” says Robinson, a traveller who conducts heritage walks in 16 cities across the country. A theologian and a professor in philosophy too, this travel enthusiast during these excursions built his impressive collection of colourful matchboxes. He takes affront if you call it ‘merely a hobby’. “I don’t have a hobby. I only have passion in life. Those who follow hobby have nothing much to do in life. I have too much to do,” he says, revealing his positive approach towards Phillumeny (the hobby of collecting different matchboxes and match-related items). 

He has more than 1,500 matchboxes in his collection. “There is no European or any other country’s matchbox in the collection,” he points out. “I have few hotel matchboxes but I don’t count them in my collection. There are only Indian matchboxes,” he says. For Robinson matchboxes are not just a ‘cardboard box’ but something more. And he has been collecting them for past 15-16 years now.  “I don’t go looking for matchboxes, they find me,” Robison says emphatically. 

“What makes the Indian matchbox really special is the iconography of its wide array of labels ranging from the profane to the profound. The simplicity of the imagery including various animals, gods and goddesses, national symbols and even politicians make these collections representative of the pop and film culture of modern India,” he says. 

Worldwide the design of matchboxes has not changed in 160 years of existences. In India, these boxes represent everyday life. According to him each one is peculiar. “Like in one of the matchbox Delhi is written in bold  but it has picture of Gateway of India, Mumbai. Similarly, there is Jai Bharat and Bharat Mata. Each narrates a different story,” says this avid collector. 

He points out that the matchbox industry has been a thriving cottage industry in India. “It is a mode of empowerment since 1930s. The industry has been the forerunner of Swadeshi movement initiated by Gandhiji. You really think the industry will come to an end? Probably not,” he signs off.