The world at hand's reach

Unique Hobbies

People love to have souvenirs of the places they visit or where their kith and kin have been to. Amrutha Varshini, a business analyst, does the same by collecting mugs and fridge magnets from around the world.

The unique ones in her collection are a disco ball-shaped mug and one which looks like a tree bark. “The disco ball souvenir is at my office desk. The interesting part is that I do not drink coffee or tea. But I have my occasional green tea in it,” she says. Amrutha says that her mug collection was inspired by the tree bark like mug, which she received as a gift from her ‘Secret Santa’ a while back.
 “My interest in coffee mugs started from there. I have mugs in different shapes and some with photographs on them,” she says. “One of the mugs which was gifted by my aunt, is a small one, fit for a young child to drink something from it. I love the message on it, which says ‘When in doubt, have coffee’”, she points out. 

Amrutha says that she has also been inspired by the mugs that her friends have and had ordered similar ones. “One of my recent additions is a mug owned by a friend in Germany. I told him to get one for me too,” she says. Ask her what made her buy it and she says, “The image depicted on the mug is a true native depiction of the country.”

Her mug collection is spread across her room. “I just keep looking out for the rarest patterns in mugs and magnets. It could be from the smallest store or from a mall. I buy whatever interests me and I’m convinced about adding into my collection,” she says.

When Amrutha travels, she picks up those mugs which catch her attention. About the sizes of the mugs, she says, “I own one as small as four inches and one that looks like a large beer mug. There are mugs which are conical in shape as well as cylindrical ones. I try to buy those which are not similar to the ones I already have. Colour and size are what matter to me.”

She says that maintenance is not an issue as she just cleans these mugs when she cleans her room. Meanwhile her collection of fridge magnets come from Maldives, Andamans, Germany, Istanbul, Dubai, Sri Lanka, Holland, Malaysia etc. 

“When my friends or family are travelling, I request them to get fridge magnets. Most of these uphold the beauty of the place and showcase the things the place is famous for,” she says. One of her favourites in the collection is a magnet from Kenya, which depicts the innocence of the women there. “I love another magnet in copper that my cousin brought from Holland. It has a windmill on it, which I feel is close to my heart,” she says.

Most of Amrutha’s magnet collection consists of embossed ones, which can be touched and felt. She sums up, “These are slices of different parts of the world. I’m proud and possessive of them. ”