Roshan Jacob had a lot of rabbits in his house as a kid. They fascinated him to no end and he would spend hours watching and analysing their behaviour.
As he grew older, he discovered that according to the Chinese horoscope, his birth sign is rabbit. This deepened his interest in it. That’s when he began collecting representations of rabbits in various shapes, sizes and forms.
“Soon, I picked up an intricately carved rabbit in brass from Nepal. That was the first one I bought. After that I look out for rabbits wherever I go. Now, after almost a decade, I’ve stocked more than 150 rabbits from across the globe,” he says.
His craze for rabbits is obvious as soon as you set foot into his spacious officeroom. The paper holders, plant stands, wall hangers, table tops, paintings…they all have something to do with a rabbit.
“Anything to do with rabbits catches my attention. You can easily find decorative items and representations of dogs, elephants and owls but a rabbit is hard to spot. You have to look out really hard,” he points out.
Roshan confesses that he ends up investing a lot of money in this hobby. “My family frowns at me for spending a lot of money on this. But at the same time, they are supportive of my hobby and have generously added to it as well,” he adds.
His collection gives you an idea about the collector and his eye for detail. Roshan’s table top has Peter Rabbit that he picked up during one of his visits to the United States. “I’ve always followed ‘The Tale of Peter Rabbit’ and was always fascinated by the mischievous and playful rabbit in the book,” he explains.
Roshan’s wife had picked up a bronze rabbit with blue eyes while he found a rabbit in a sitting posture in Mexico.
He has a couple of rabbits in Swarovski crystals as well. “I lost one of them and I know, I will never get it back. Every piece in my collection is precious to me. I was pretty upset when I lost it because it’s hard to get them back,” he beams.
Roshan confesses that it is indeed a challenge to sustain his hobby but the constant search for the best piece of rabbit keeps him on his toes. “I also surf through a couple of websites to see if I can shop for rabbit representations online. There are some really inunique designs but they are too expensive. Shopping for rabbits is the toughest job,” he concedes.
A social gerontologist, Roshan always advises his patients, mostly the aged, to have a hobby.
“Hobbies keep the mind occupied and you don’t slip into a gloom or depression that easily. It provides a lot of emotional stability and security,” he signs off.
