AHMEDABAD: For most people, old newspapers are waste. But for some, they can become a court case reference, a student research resource or a civic record. Pradip Trivedi, Tushar Shah, Haji Mamdani, Vadilal Doshi and Kanti Vadoliya have spent years preserving what others throw away, and each has ensured his collection remains useful.For Shah, 56, of Ahmedabad, the journey began in 1982, when he was 12. “From the 15 paise I got as pocket money, I would save 10 paise to buy a newspaper, magazine or a book,” he says.He lost his father at 12 and mother at 17, worked in Ratan Pol cloth market, got his sister married and then spent over 40 years as a clerk in a CA’s office.Despite earning meagre wages, Shah says he has spent nearly 40% of his income on newspapers, magazines and books.Today, he has over 5,000 magazines, important-date newspapers from four decades, and continuous files of Gujarat’s main newspapers from the last five years.“These are not pasti, but hasti,” he says, underscoring the importance these papers have in his life. His archives have helped nearly 225 people, including students of journalism, lawyers and a woman who needed an old newspaper advertisement for her US visa.Pradip Trivedi, 69, born in Borivali and raised in Mahuva and Savarkundla, built an archive that travels the world. A retired Bank of India officer, writer and columnist, Trivedi says he has over 5,000 newspapers from around 150 countries.“If an important event happens in any country, I try to get the next day’s newspaper from that country, in that language,” he says.His collection includes copies of The London Times from 1785, The Pioneer from 1891, first issues of Navjivan, Harijan Bandhu and Young India, and newspapers on Barack Obama’s victory, Japan’s tsunami, Germany’s FIFA win and Sachin Tendulkar’s 100th century.Trivedi says his collection is now housed at Shri Govardhanram Smruti Mandir. His dream: “A world newspaper museum in Gujarat, open for the public.”In Morbi, Haji Mamdani, 60, who runs his business at Maliya Miyana, started his collection after Indira Gandhi’s assassination in 1984.His collection spans from 1902 to 2026. “If any student or researcher approaches me, why should I not help?” he asks. He also holds exhibitions at the Morbi library to encourage people, especially youngsters, to read.Vadilal Doshi, 87, of Mandvi, has preserved 17,000 cuttings on issues related to Mandvi-Kutch and Mandvi Chamber work, which help build trust for charity including cattle fodder and free oxygen cylinders.Kanti Vadoliya, 54, of Rajkot, has over 2,000 magazines and 4,000 cuttings, and gets old articles autographed by visiting personalities. Among them was Dr APJ Abdul Kalam.
