NEW DELHI
\nIn an increasingly digital world, Ram Singh Bouddh remains committed to radio for entertainment and news, always carrying a pocket set \u2014 one of 1,400 in his collection that has recently won him international fame.
\nA retired supervisor at Warehouse Corp. of India, Bouddh has been collecting various items for the past few decades, but it was radios that eventually won and took over his home in Gajraula in the northern state of Uttar Pradesh.
\nHe now has the largest collection of radios in the world and last week received certification from the Guinness World Records.
\nAlthough Bouddh\u2019s collection consists of 1,400 radios, the guidelines required that each be unique, so the official number is 1,257.
\n\u201cThe process started in December last year and the Guinness World Records verified each model and found 1,257 of them unique and after a long rigorous process, they announced my name,\u201d the 69-year-old told Arab News.
\n\u201cIt gave me immense pleasure to get my name registered.\u201d
\nPlans to establish India\u2019s first radio museum emerged when Prime Minister Narendra Modi mentioned the collection in his monthly radio program \u201cMann Ki Baat\u201d in November last year.
\n\u201cThat gave me lots of encouragement,\u201d Bouddh said. \u201cThere is one radio museum in Britain … and besides that, there is no other.\u201d
\nThe British Vintage Wireless and Television Museum he referred to was established by Gerry Wells at his home in West Dulwich in the 1970s and has 1,300 wireless receivers on show.
\nBouddh\u2019s collection is already bigger, with the oldest radio being a 1920 model from Marconi, a British company founded by Italian engineer Guglielmo Marconi \u2014 the inventor of radio and a pioneer of mass media broadcasting.
\nHe also has US military models from the 1930s and other vintage sets he bought or received from across India.
\n\u201cMost of the radios are in working condition,\u201d he said. \u201cI keep them in two big rooms in the school that I run near my house. My family supports me. My wife and two daughters help me in the pursuit of my passion.\u201d
\nThe family\u2019s efforts are now focused on gathering enough funds to open a proper display.
\n\u201cRadio has been an important part of human life. TV and mobile are the byproducts of radio. Radio has played an important role in our life … Hope the Indian government helps me in setting up the country\u2019s first radio museum,\u201d Bouddh said.
\n\u201cMy museum is for future generations, and I want them to know that there was this wonderful medium of communication, which once was part of everybody\u2019s life.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
NEW DELHI In an increasingly digital world, Ram Singh Bouddh remains committed to radio for entertainment and news, always carrying a pocket set \u2014 one of 1,400 in his collection that has recently won him international fame. A retired supervisor at Warehouse Corp. of India, Bouddh has been collecting various items for the past few […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":436768,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-436742","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-world"},"yoast_head":"\n