Time travel to Bombay of yesteryear through an exhibition of memorabilia

Rajan Jayakar and his wife in traditional Pathare Prabhu attire

The Best tickets sporting rows of numbers in the Devanagari script, with the fare plus "15 paise adhibhar" printed in the centre, were scraps of paper for most Mumbaikars once they got off the bus. But then came the credit card-like machines that spat out soulless white receipts, and the colourful tickets - along with the aluminium box slung across the conductor's shoulder and the tinkling of his punching device - became a part of nostalgia. What sets apart collectors is that they recognise the value of such everyday markers of history before they cease to exist.

The exhibition is housed in a furniture and home decor store. Pics/Ashish Raje

Starting tomorrow, the city's history buffs can take a trip down memory lane, stepping as far back as the late 19th century, through an exhibition showcasing memorabilia from High Court solicitor and well-known antiquities collector Rajan Jayakar's vast personal collection. Titled His Bombay, the exhibition captures the identity of a young Bombay, its unique culture and modernity through themes including vintage technology, transportation, traditional wear of the Pathare Prabhu community, rare advertisements, letterheads, scrapbooks and postcards.

"If you look back on your childhood, it's quite possible that you were a collector too. But as you grow up, you either give it up on your own or are asked to. I was lucky that my parents never stopped from collecting artefacts," says Jayakar, 70, who made a start sometime in 1955 by collecting interesting cigarette packets and matchbox labels he would spot on the streets. Over the years, he augmented his collection by buying memorabilia at auctions, exchanging artefacts with other collectors and visiting Chor Bazaar every Sunday, a routine that continues till date.

While, at times, his profession has had to take a back seat for his passion, Jayakar, who is also convener of INTACH's Greater Mumbai chapter, has brought together his love for history and the legal corridors of Mumbai through initiatives such as the setting up of The Bombay High Court Museum as well as conducting heritage tours of the High Court premises.

Jayakar takes care that his treasure is stored in a dust-free environment, while he uses a dehumidifier to delay the degeneration of paper-based materials. Is housing such an enormous collection - he has three lakh matchbox labels, a record entered in the Limca Book - a challenge in a city starved of space? "Luckily, my residence is big enough to accommodate the collection, but not big enough for a museum," he quips. We take a walkthrough of the exhibition, organised at a home decor and furniture store in Worli, where the pieces on display create the perfect backdrop for the exhibits.