Prints from across the globe

While most of us like to take photos and bring back souvenirs when we travel, Vimla Rao, a homemaker, likes to collect tickets, brochures and tea bags every time she goes abroad.

“After showing my ticket at the entrance, I always ask for it back so that I can add it to my collection,” says Vimla. She has visited different countries like USA, United Kingdom, France, Belgium, Netherlands, Italy, Germany, Switzerland, Liechtenstein and Austria and has these ‘special souvenirs’ as memories.

 “They remind me of the wonderful sights that I saw. Also I am able to narrate my experiences when I see each ticket,” she says with a smile. Vimla vouches that each tea bag, ticket and brochure have a story to tell either about the place or the experience that she had over there.

While one can spot tea bags of various colours in her collection, her tickets vary from the attractive printed ones to plain white paper ones.

 “The tickets have the exact time and day of the entry to the place. So it is easier for me to document them later,” she says.

Vimla’s favourite tickets include the ones issued at Eiffel Tower. “The ticket I got from there was very attractive and showed the true image of the structure lit up at night,” says Vimla. She also says that some of the items though not attractive, remind her of the great places that she has been to.

“Some of the tickets and brochures to museums reminded me of important happenings across the world, like the ones issued at the 9/11 Memorial Museum, Armstrong Air & Space Museum etc,” she says. Her collection also includes a sticker that was issued at the Lord’s Cricket Grounds.

“I also have tickets from my trip to the Madame Tussauds museum and a nightclub that had a cabaret performance by ‘Paradis Latin’,” she recalls.

Vimla says that she doesn’t like to book any of her trips or outings online as the tickets are mere white printouts. “I loved the flight tickets earlier. They used to look like mini books. But now everyone books tickets online, so they don’t look attractive at all,” she says.

She says that the ticket of her trip in the Eurostar, a railway service between London and Paris, is also plain. “But the sights and experiences weren’t plain at all,” she smiles.
She keeps her collection safe in the cupboard. “I’ve kept it inside, safe in a plastic cover at the moment,” she says. Vimla plans to do a project with her collection in future. “With the memories that I have of each ticket, brochure and tea bag, I can fill a diary,” she says playfully.