KARACHI: Telling the tales of bygone era, antique collections have their own allure. A reflection of the old times, they are a study in themselves.

In this age of crass commercialism, it’s an enriching experience to meet people who have fallen in love with the past. Among them, there are quite a few who not only have preserved their ancestral heritage, but have also managed to find a unique place for themselves in tracing history.

One such person is Mohammad Siddick Faruk. Philately being his forte, Faruk has a huge collection of precious stamps and envelopes of over 60 countries. They include many letters, the first to be delivered through the air mail service in India, and also those which were delivered and received in different parts of India on the same day 90 years ago. He also has a collection of letters having postmarks with public messages, errors as well as humour created inadvertently in the way of its presentation.

A rare letter in Faruk’s possession is that which carries the postmark with ‘Kurrachee’ written on it and the delivery postmark on the back reads Karachi! This 133-year-old letter was posted from Karachi to Bombay. This invaluable collection manifests Faruk’s desire to trace down the postal history of Karachi on which he is working with the support of his friends’.

Still the most extraordinary is the Olympic medal of Erik Lemming who won the third straight javelin throw gold medal in Stockholm Olympics in 1912. Though it would make an interesting story to investigate how this medal found its way into this part of the world, Faruk is ready to handover the medal to Lemming’s family or the Swedish government for free which he bought from Kohri Garden for Rs100. It is worth mentioning that during his career, Lemming set 10 javelin world records. His final appearance was at the 1912 Olympics in his home country.

Some of the rare documents of the British period in his possession include a lease document of a Garden west plot in Karachi issued in 1915 with terms and conditions written both in English and Sindhi and an eight-foot-long old map of town planning scheme Karachi No 2, Garden Quarters, which shows the demarcation of each plot. All these papers are in good condition. He also has a 300-year-old handwritten Quran and another a century old which is about 21inch-long and 13inch-wide.

Last but not least, Faruk is also fond of collecting coins. Besides the old ones, there are also new rupee coins which are damaged. He had bought each for as much as Rs600 from friends and money changers.