The Universe is Indifferent

JUNE 9 ENTRY: Have you ever collected anything? Tell us about your collection - why you started it, how long you've been collecting (or were collecting) and your favorite pieces in the collection.

I had a lot of collections in my younger days. But the problem was that they changed with the phases of the moon. So I ended up with many little collections but none of any significant value.

My most cherished collection was my comic book collection. I was a big Superman and Batman fan. So I had around 150 or more comics stashed in a cupboard, especially placed in the corner of my room for that purpose. They were mostly in good condition, except the older ones when I used to be an animal. As my collection expanded, my care aka obsession with keeping the comic books pristine also grew. My friends ogled and I was proud. However, as it often happens with kids, it stopped being fun, reading so carefully, standing guard so that nobody opened the cupboard etc. I bought the Archies then. As a preadolescent, I was fascinated by ‘teenage’ life. Almost enamored. I don’t know why I stopped reading those.

What else did I collect? Sports card but they passed by rather quickly. I could never understand the people who collected coins and stamps. What’s the use of such a collection? You’re not going to spend the money, you’re not going to use stamps to send letters so why are you doing that? But I digress.

Oh yes! A good one. When I came to know that you can hear the ocean if you hold a seashell close to your ear, I collected scores of them. It was only later that I was told that it was just the ambient sound reflecting or reverberating or something in the shells. Chucked them right out of my window I did.

Another collection consisted of the Hardy Boys novels. They were like my introduction to the world of novels, detective tales, mysteries and all the “exciting” stuff our nice little world is full of. This is the only collection that remains in my possession, albeit partly. My stuff mysteriously disappeared from my room, I wonder if Mom had a hand in that? Huh! All the signs of another Sherlock Holmes mystery, eh?

“Come on along guys! The game’s afoot!”

Now that I have grown older(*groans*), I have an eclectic collection of books. From comics(a few), Hardy Boys, and Sherlock Holmes to Ayn Rand, John Grisham, Stephen King, Jeffrey Archer, Dan Brown and Sigmund Freud. Throw in a couple of philosophy and self-help books gathering dust and dead flies and you have my present collection.

I am off to solve The Curious Case of the Missing Collectibles, see you later!