A Kozhikode techie’s home is converted into a little electoral museum

This election season, K Vikas, an IT specialist from Nadakkavu, Kozhikode, has been busy hosting a growing number of history enthusiasts at his house.

 

His home has become a veritable election museum as people stop by to see his humorous collection of old poll items, including voting boxes, political posters, and party emblems.

There has been an increase in the quantity of guests. After 15 years of collecting election memorabilia, Vikas, 46, is glad that others are impressed by his collection.

“There are wooden molds, loudspeakers, ballot boxes, political party seals, and megaphones, among other things.”

Vikas, who owns an IT firm in Palayam, recalls his youth years spent coining and collecting stamps. He was fascinated to the history of Kerala’s elections after seeing some antique polling apparatus at an exhibition.

“Allwyn and Kelvinator were the two companies that made the majority of the ballot boxes during the first general election in 1951–1952,” he beams.

“At an Allwyn ballot box show in Tamil Nadu, I impulsively purchased one after seeing it. Next, I located another one in Malappuram that was manufactured in 1960. Afterwards, I discovered that my grandpa had an ancient voting box in addition to his previous employment as a Thamarassery Congress party worker.

Wooden molds that were once used for printing also captivate Vikas. He claims that during elections, “many printing companies in Kozhikode used to provide printing blocks with imprints for various political parties.” “Some of those molds were sourced from those printing presses.”

Another gem in his cherished collection are booklets with the campaign songs of former politicians. According to Vikas, “political parties now use film parodies and recorded songs for election campaigns.”

Parties would publish the songs as booklets in the past and distribute them to its members. Artists would sing these tunes live at public events like street plays. The way that technology and communication methods have changed across election history is very astonishing.