After spending Rs 20 lakh on 3,500 phones, this man wants more

Everyone has their quirks. Some collect stamps. Some old coins. (This writer’s friend has a penchant for buying fridge magnets from around the world.) And while for some, it is a thing of pride; for others, it’s a source of pleasure. But for Jayesh Kale, who collects mobile phones, it is a bit of both. The Thane-based design head has — hold your breath — close to 3,500 mobile phones. Today, the Limca Record holder for the highest number of cellphones in India is confident that he'll make it to the Guinness Book of World Records for the collection. Here's how the 35-year-old, who works at a creative agency, came to amass so many phones.It all started with an accident. Kale was hanging out with his buddies on the second floor of Jhunjhunwala College in Ghatkopar — he was about to finish his higher secondary certificate (HSC) — when his Nokia 3310 slipped out of his hands and went tumbling down the stairs. “The first thought that came to my head was, ‘it’s gone now’,” he recalls. medium nocaption88354182It was around 2003-2004 and this was the first mobile phone he ever owned. With hardly any hope of salvaging it, Kale put back the battery and cover, which had dislodged because of the fall, and switched it on, only to find it working as before.“I thought ‘boss, this is a very good phone’,” he says. “Even when I bought a new one later, I kept this one with me for keep's sake. Somehow this continued and I didn’t end up selling or discarding my older phones, even when I bought new ones.” It was only ten years later when he realised that he had a sizeable number of Nokia phones that he took it upon himself to start collecting mobile phones as a proper hobby.Here, there, everywhereKale has phones everywhere. In his wardrobe, in his wife and child’s wardrobes, inside drawers, inside his bed, and even in his car. “Last year before the lockdown started, I had two bags full of phones lying inside my office drawers,” he says. “I stopped counting them after they reached 3,000, which was about a year ago. So today, they would be close to 3,500.”Most of the phones in his collection are in working condition, and he likes to use one phone a week. “It depends on my mood,” he says. “If there is a big meeting, I tend to use a communicator. For my work, I usually have to attend multiple shoots for televisual conferencing; for those occasions, I use some of the smaller phones I have.” medium nocaption88354302Needless to say, this passion for phones has made him quite possessive of his handsets. “I get annoyed if someone accidentally drops or scratches them,” he says. The one phone he is most attached to is the Nokia 8910i. “It has a titanium casing and is black in colour, but I have used a blade to carve a design on it,” he says, pointing to the almost-golden carving on the phone’s outer body.Phoney affairAlthough he has a special place in his heart for Nokia for their durability, models and designs, he has phones from other cellular companies in his collection as well. “I am a creative person and I tend to collect antique phones which have different shapes or pop colours,” he says. “Even if I have a certain model, and I find a different colour of it which I like, I still go ahead and buy it,” he says.His criteria? The phone should be in good condition.Only about 20% of his collection, however, comprise new phones. The rest are second-hand. “There are multiple WhatsApp groups, where people share used phones for bidding — and people log in to sell, or buy — so one has to be active there to know when a good deal comes,” says Kale, who has spent over Rs 20 lakh on buying phones.Sometimes his friends also pass him their used phones just so that they feel a part of his record-breaking collection. Strangers, too, come to him to see if he would be interested in their phone. “A guy from Ahmednagar recently contacted me on social media after reading about me somewhere,” says Kale. “He had 40 used phones lying with him and he sent all of them to me for free.” medium88354439For all his quirks, Kale isn't really fond of collecting smartphones. “They go into the expensive category,” he says. “I prefer older phones.”A happy collectionAs expected, there are not many who understand his love for collecting mobile phones. “Some of them feel I’m crazy. Some think it’s rubbish and I should invest in property instead. Some are even proud of me,” he says. “As for me, it is my passion and gives me a lot of happiness.”Kale maintains that his family is proud of him. “They like it that people appreciate the collection,” he says. There is also the shared joy when he brings a different phone to work each week. “Colleagues know that they will find me with a different phone every Monday,” he says. “So, they come up to see and then share anecdotes about their phones. It’s a lot of fun.”In 2017, Kale had applied for Limca Records for the highest number of cellphones owned by a person and then won it for the next three years. “One has to apply online with proofs like documents, videos and pictures,” he says, adding that he isn't aware of anyone else in his category. medium nocaption88354074And with the current Guinness Book of World Record for the highest number of cellphones owned by a person standing at 1,563, Kale is sure he will win when he applies for it next year. “I had planned on applying for it earlier but then the pandemic and lockdown happened and I didn't go ahead with it," he adds.Kale doesn’t know till when he will continue to pursue building his collection. “I haven’t planned on selling it, but if somebody offers me a lot of money, who knows? It will be very hard for me to let go of it though,” he adds with a smile.Ask him, if being around so many phones is a cause of concern, and he is quick to allay the scepticism. “As far as I know, the radiation is emitted when the phone is switched on,” he says. “Except for the one I am using at the moment, the rest are always switched off.”