While he reads anything that he lays his hands on, Seth’s is fond of thrillers and detective stories. I used to be in charge of the magazine that was published from Adyapeeth and would often visit authors to collect articles,” said Seth. Many little magazines that had published special issues, also find place in Seth’s home. Apart from these, he also has special issues on well-known authors of the time as well as their special book fair issues. College Street magazine’s puja issue started from 1389 and Seth has them all. Aajkal published its first puja issue in 1391 and I have been collecting these from that time,” said Seth. I have been collecting Anandamela puja numbers since 1389 onwards, when it first started. “There was a children’s magazine called Sabjanta Majaru that had published only six issues, after which it stopped. Seth has, in his collection, many rare magazines, most of which are no longer published. He started tuition classes and now runs a coaching centre for Bengali near his home. I was forced to look for an alternative profession,” said Seth. “Financially, I was in a tight position at times when the company shut down. His job with GKW was insecure as the company shut down many times. Mahanagar had published only four puja issues and all four are in Seth’s collection.Īlthough there were ups and downs in his life, Sovon has never stopped collecting. He has all the issues of Sananda Baisakhi and Pushpanjali. He has collected Desh puja numbers from 1376 of the Bengali calendar till the present day. I bought them so I could read, a habit I had from my childhood,” said Seth. “I would find old magazines lying in good condition at this shop and would collect these for 75 paise a kg and bring them home. He would go for addas near an old newspaper shop in Ramkrishnapur. It is not possible for me to collect all issues,” said Seth. “I collect only puja numbers and special issues of Bengali magazines. But he did not just stop at those that were published in his lifetime, but also went looking for those that were published before his birth.
His hobby of reading and collecting good stories, essays, articles and novels led him to start collecting these publications. The room has racks stacked with puja numbers and special issues of popular magazines like Desh, Anandabazar Patrika, Patrika, Bartaman and many others. He has built up a storehouse of literature that were first published in popular magazines. He has managed to retrieve and preserve such special editions in a tiny room in his rented house. Such collectors’ items find place in Sovon Seth’s home in central Howrah. Aajkal had published a special issue on Calcutta in 1396 (Bengali year). Tarashankar Bandopadhyay’s Hansuli Banker Upakatha was first published in Anandabazar Patrika in the 1353 (Bengali year) puja number. KNOW YOUR NEIGHBOUR: Sovon Seth Collector Of Old Magazines