“Whether I eat or not is not important, but this radio museum is very important,” says Abuthagir, the man who built an entire radio museum from scratch in Coimbatore.
The auto-rickshaw driver told ANI News that he had been saving up since he was a child to build his own antique radio museum. In his childhood, poverty forced him to give up on his dream of becoming an engineer. However, radios fascinated him so much that the thought of buying his own radio enticed him to save every penny he got.
This kickstarted his passion for radios, and he continued to save even as he worked as an auto-rickshaw driver. His radio museum, which includes radios from the British era and from various parts of the world, now boasts of a collection of over 200 items.
He stores the collection in his rented home in Coimbatore, and hopes the museum will become a permanent part of the city one day. He is adamant, however, about not selling his relics.
“I am very attached to my radio museum...Whenever I get time, I come here,” Abuthagir told ANI News, stressing on how he aspires to educate young millennials about this dated technology.
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