A one-rupee win!

Arvind’s collection of 6,500 one-rupee notes bearing the signature of every finance secretary from 1949 to 2016 has earned him a place in the Limca Book of Records

How far will a one-rupee note take you “Not very,” you might reply with an incredulous look, but ask Arvind Kumar Pai the same question and he will have a lot to say. The one-rupee note has taken him far enough to earn him a place in the Limca Book of Records. Technically speaking, it was not just a single one-rupee note, but 6,500 one-rupee notes. Those 6,500 notes are the largest collection bearing the signature of every finance secretary, at least three from each year in which one-rupee notes were issued — from 1949 to 2016.

Cherthala-based Arvind has been doing the groundwork to get a place in the Limca Book for the past two years and now, he has his hands on the much-coveted certificate. Not that making a record is a novelty for him. Arvind claims to be the first Keralite to appear in three record books in a single year — the Asia Book of Records, the Limca Book of Records and the India Book of Records. He recalls how it all began. “Before starting this as a dedicated hobby, I used to collect one-rupee notes and had around 300 of them. Later, I realised that except two or three finance secretaries, I had the signatures of most of the others on the notes. So I decided to complete the collection by including even the latest ones,” he says.

Incidentally, the first one-rupee note of Independent India in 1949 bears the sign of a Keralite K.R.K. Menon and not many people know that. Arvind went through a lot of hardships to collect the notes. “I have travelled far and wide to many nooks and corners of the country to collect these notes. Some were bought and some I exchanged with my stamp collections and fancy number notes. It was a big task, but I managed to do it,” says Arvind, who trains corporate employees in soft skills.

He also collects stamps and Indian currency notes. Arvind adds, “I am a big fan of Sachin Tendulkar. So I collect his books, coffee mugs and notes specific to the dates he creates milestones, like the day he completed his first century.”