Retired bank employee M V Lakshminarayan has had a life long passion for collecting things - stamps, coins, currency notes, war medals and photographs. And for long they remained in his closet, seen only by friends and family, till a German friend persuaded Lakshmi to display his priceless collections for public benefit. Who is this freind, MVL ? Mysore should thank him/her for having made it possible for Lakshminarayan's private collections enrich the city's museum heritage.

Lakshmi's collections include currency notes from over 180 countries, the first polymer note of Romania, Chinese currency made of mulberry bark, Olympic commemorative coins (Tokyo to Sydney), Commonwealth and Asian Games coins, sports coins issued to celebrate legends such as Boris Beckar, Steffi Graf, and our own Sachin Tendulkar.

And then there are medals issues during WW I an II, the one-kilo silver coin minted at Popjoy, Australia (of which only 1000 pieces were minted). The collections include the Penny Black postage stamp (1840-41), stamps of gold and silver foil, pf silk cloth, plastic stamps.

'Aparoopa' collections are on display at MVL' s residence in Kathwadipura Agrahara, K R Mohalla..

- (Sourced from Shankar Bennur's write-up, Deccan Herald, June 9, 2005)