The number and variety of hobbies there are, is a lot higher than we generally think. Writing letters to renowned personalities and collecting their responses -- autographs, autographed photographs, letters et al --is afascinating (but of course not the rarest or oddest) genre of hobby.
Around 80 years old now, Kalyan Kumar Das had once feverishly cultivated this passion.
“After I retired from General Electric Company as an accounts executive, I was brought back to work as a liaison officer. This job, however, gave me some spare time, which I gave to reading newspapers. Reading about the prominent personalities, I thought why not write to them?”
Today, his collection includes names like formerUS president Bill Clinton, Mother Teresa,former Bangladesh president Abdur Rahman Biswas, Nobel laureate Dr. Muhammad Yunus, etc.
The feeling you have when you get a reply from people of such prominence is an elevating experience. Of course, most of these letters are very general in nature: with the heap of fan mails celebrities receive, most of these busy people have a structured letter ready for just putting the signature and the recipient's name.
You at least receive a message and an autograph from your favourite stars. Flipping through Das's collection, you see the signature of Mother Teresa with a hand-written 'God Bless You' just above it. You see the stylish signature of Bill Clinton on his letter pad.

Former President Abdur Rahman Biswas thanked Das for congratulating him on becoming the president. Muhammad Yunus sent a letter of thanks in 1994 (after Das congratulated him on winning World Food Prize) remarking that it was “... indeed an honour for all of us to be recognised by the world for the work we do in Bangladesh.”
But sometimes -- like a reply from actress Elizabeth Taylor -- the celebrity herself or himself doesn't even sign. The letter is written and also signed on behalf of the celebrity, perhaps by the secretary or PR officer.
There's yet another problem: a machine named autopen or robot pen is used by many high profile leaders, catering to the amount of signatures they have to put every day. But that doesn't stop hobbyists from writing to their favourite celebrities.

A.T.M. Anowarul Quadir, who is a philatelist, had also once nurtured this same hobby, with his subject being autographed photographs of influential political leaders. He had faced the problem of automation: the poster of former US President Jimmy Carter with his signature seems to be one of the numerous reprints.
Nonetheless, his collection is interesting indeed. “My first letter was to Indira Gandhi, and I got a reply. I wrote about her leadership and how I admired her cooperative role in the Liberation War. I was just about 10 or 12 years old at that time,” Quadir recalled. “The reply motivated me to continue writing further.”
And hence his album grew, featuring letters and photographs of Josip Broz Tito, a Yugoslav revolutionary and many other national and international politicians.
The response rate, both Das and Quadir agrees, is not very good. “I wrote to sportsmen and many others, like Nelson Mandela and Kofi Annan, without ever getting a response,” Das said.
But perhaps that also indirectly adds to the delight of this hobby: the happiness you feel when you finally receive a letter from your favourite star after patiently waiting in uncertainty and the sentimental value your collection holds.
That's a satisfaction unparalleled

PHOTO: Personal collection of K.K. Das and A.T.M. Anowarul Quadir