Bhubaneswar (Odisha): For journo Sashanka Sekhar Dash, fascination for the printed form of news became so much of an obsession that he started procuring general broadsheet dailies not only from India but also from foreign countries. Dash achieved a record feat when his name was registered in the Guinness Book of World Records. He became the largest collector of newspapers associated with different titles in the world. Earlier, Sergio Bodani from Italy was holding this feat. Sashanka Sekhar bagged the Guinness Book of World Record certificate also.
Popularly known as 'Paperman India', Sashanka Sekhar Dash was attracted to the passion of collecting general dailies all over the world, including India, in 2000. His treasure trove of newspaper collection includes English dailies of foreign countries as well as other European and Middle-East countries. He also has a huge collection of vernacular dailies of the country also. Besides, the wall of his house is also adorned with newspapers from different states of the country.
Sashanka has more than 5,100 types of newspapers with different titles in his kitty. Of these, 94 are regional language newspapers belonging to 153 countries. His name was entered in Limca Book Of Record three times, he also bagged the India Book award, besides the Credence Book and OMG Record Book awards. Recalling his passion, Sashanka said, "Earlier, I was working in a small newspaper organization. Then I started thinking big. An idea cropped up in my mind. Why not collect newspapers from all over the world. In the beginning, the project kickstarted with one or two newspapers which over a period of time reached such a level that I have set up a museum of newspapers in my village Jajpur in memory of my father. People from various walks of life come to see the newspaper of their time."
"They get thrilled to see the newspaper of their time. I also put up an exhibition of my collection of newspapers in several parts of Odisha. But, my collections needed preservation. That the government only can do. The preservation work requires the use of chemicals and other materials. So, such a gigantic collection of newspapers from different countries is like a heritage for the future generation to see and relive those bygone days, he said, adding, "To date, my treasure trove is thousands of newspaper collections."
