Chamarajanagar (Karnataka): Meet Ponnachi Mahadevaswamy from Chamarajanagar, a teacher by profession and a horologist by passion. What started as a wish for a single HMT watch in his teenage years developed into a deep passion for watches over the years. And now, Mahadevaswamy has a collection of 400 HMT watches to boast of. What's more? He even learnt the art of repairing watches during the COVID-induced lockdown.
Mahadevaswamy, a resident of Hanoor Taluk, is employed as a Block Resource Person (BRP) in the education department, Yelandur. Over the last several years, he has collected at least 400 HMT watches from showrooms, scrap dealers and online shopping sites.
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Explaining how he developed an interest in watches, Mahadevaswamy says, "My father had promised me that he would give me an HMT watch if I passed the SSLC exam. Unfortunately, I failed and hence could not get the watch. A year-and-a-half later, I purchased my first HMT watch. This interest in watches gradually turned into a hobby and a passion. Now, I own more than 400 watches, including those which are 50 years old."
Mahadevaswamy's collection includes the once-popular men's watches under the HMT brand - Janata, Kohinoor, Kanchan, Pilot, Chanakya, Vijay, Sona, Rajat, Kalyan, Saurabh, Ashraya, Surya, Akash, Jawan, Gagan, Rohit, Chetan, Heera, Pawan, Jayant, Tariq, Abhishek, Sandeep Avinash, Suraj, Uttam, Kranti, Hemant, Chinar, Ajit, Shreyas, Arjun, Trishul and Vivek, and women's watches such as Kaveri, Godavari, Tara, Deepti, Kapila, Shalini, Sneha, Priya, Sindhu, Ganga and Amaliya.
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During the COVID-induced lockdown, he learnt the art of repairing watches through YouTube.
Mahadevaswamy is also a recipient of the Central Sahitya Akademi Youth Award, 2020.
