Rizwana Khan Ghori, a Malayali woman settled in Sharjah, has entered the Limca Book of Records for her staggering collection of Disney plush toys worth over Rs 57 lakh. Born to Abdul Razackhan Ghori and Mrs Razackhan Ghori, Rizwana began collecting Disney plush toys at 12; now she has 1,100 of them which are kept in a rented two-room flat!
She expresses her intention of trying for a Guinness record, during an email interaction. “I will do it, but for now, I’m just enjoying the moment, and slowly adding to my collection.”
It all started after her mother told her the story of Cinderella and she craved for a doll of Cinderella. Soon, she was the proud owner of one. “I have never borrowed money from my family, friends or relatives for these toys. I used to save up a lot from my pocket money to buy them.”
She gives a lot of credit to her father, who never discouraged her from indulging in her passion and in fact rented a two-bed apartment to house the toys. Her mother, however, was more disapproving of her hobby.
How did she manage to lay her hands on rare ones like the limited edition Molly Cunningham? Her father’s brother is in the US, she says, and he helped procure some of them. Of late, she has also been shopping online. Rizwana remembers that she spent the first five years of her life in Jawahar Nagar, Thiruvananthapuram. “Though I grew up in the UAE, I feel connected to my motherland and am proud of my roots. My father comes from capital city while mother from the cultural capital of Kerala.”
Mother of a three-year-old, Rizwana says she will never grow out of this hobby and will keep collecting all her life. But at the same time, she imagines that one day she would auction the plush toys and give the proceeds to some charity.
She signs off by quoting Walt Disney who famously said that if you can dream it, you can do it.
