Hyderabad: It is not every day that one gets a priceless fortune handed over. Vipul Talari, co-founder and business head of city-based digital marketing agency Infinity Reach, is currently beaming with pride over one such fortune.
It was recently that the huge smile on Vipul’s face got planted there, after Arati Datta, who used to live in the same apartment as him, handed over her fortune to him. The fortune, which she spent 46 years building, was a fascinating collection of miniature bottles, with some of them dating back to 1976.
According to Vipul, Datta, now all of 92 years, was among those who lived life to the fullest, participating in the freedom struggle as a student while she was studying at Presidency College, Kolkata and then going on to see the world.
As for the miniature collection, according to the memories Datta passed on to Vipul, the endeavor began when she used to travel to the United States in those days, to visit her cousins and later, her children. Starting with the miniature liquor bottles she got on flights, which she grew fond of, the collection went to cross more than 500 tiny bottles, of different brands, shapes and most of them, still unopened.
Her first miniature was a Glenfiddich Whisky, which she purchased on the flight in 1976 when she went to New York for the first time. The collection, which stopped only after she stopped drinking, ranges from those of Chivas Regal, Hennessy, XO Imperial, Dalmore, Campari, Oban, Remy Martin and many more.
Datta, who had made Hyderabad her home for more than 35 years, recently shifted to Mumbai to live with her son. Having recently survived Covid, it was when she left Hyderabad that she decided Vipul was the right person to hand over her priceless collection. And he now has the collection all taken care of and safe in his home in Begumpet.
