Thiruvananthapuram, Jan 23 (IANS)
Rizwana Ghori has been living 28 of her 33 years in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, and what makes her unique is her unending passion and interest in collecting Disney plush toys.
The 33-year-old who is the mother of an eight-year-old girl child Daanya said that there is nothing that kindles her interest like the Disney toys and the collection is growing. The Thrissur native from Kerala is living in Dubai, UAE with her parents and her daughter and is a businesswoman for that matter.
When asked whether this is a continuing hobby, Rizwana said, “This is my life more than a hobby. It’s part and parcel of me and my father was the one who inculcated this interest in me. I have a collection from across the globe and now have more than 1350 Disney plush toys. I am the winner of the Limca book of records for the most number of Disney plush toys for an Indian.”
She said that the collection is valued at more than Rs 90 lakhs if it is monetised but hurriedly said that it was priceless. However, she said that there were enquiries from several people to sell the collection and a person who is very popular had approached her and had promised her Rs 80 lakh for the collection which she rejected outright.
Rizwana said that while the collection is priceless, the toys may fetch more than 3 crores monetarily in the market as she has some collections which are unique and does not have with other collectors and that was the beauty of her collection.
She has the full life-size toy of ‘Simba’ the Lion which is a unique piece and only 40 such pieces were made and are a limited edition. The Simba is 5 ft and 3 inches tall and adores her toy room.
Rizwana Ghory said that all these toys are sold in Disneylands, Disneyworld, parks, stores, and toy shops and she had collected these toys over a period of time, more than 25 years of dedicated collection, and its growing.
She said that it was in her 7th year when her mother narrated the story of Cinderella that hooked her to the world of Disney plush and turned an avid collector of the toys from across the globe.
The collector got most of the toys during the business trips of her father to United States of America, the United Kingdom, and European countries and whenever he returns back from these trips, he used to bring her Disney plush toys.
The avid collector said that her aim is to break into the Guinness Book of World records and for that she has started applying for the same.
Rizwana Ghori said, “ I don’t think there is anyone who has more than 1350 Disney plush toys in their collection in the whole world and for that, I am applying to the Guinness book. Let them verify and find out but I am confident that I will be having the maximum collection.”
The 33-year-old investment banker said that she had passionately collected the Disney Plush toys from wherever she could and may go for an auction to sell this. She said that a portion of the money that she would collect through this auction would be used for charity purposes.
Rizwana Ghori lives in Dubai with her parents, Razack Khan Ghori and her mother Shahida Bhanu, and her eight-year-old daughter Daanya. She however said that her great grandparents were from Afghanisthan but for generations, the family was settled in Thrissur, Kerala, and are Urdu-speaking Muslims.
