How old is your oldest bulb? This one's 70

By Asit Srivastava, Lucknow, Jan 13 : Seventy years old and still glowing. It's a light bulb, which has recently become the most prized possession of Lucknow resident Girish Chandra Gupta, who now aims to enter the record books, claiming to have a 'rare bulb'.

"It was only last month that I came to know the importance of the bulb after coming across an article in a Hindi daily," says Gupta, who runs a grocery shop from his small house located in a congested lane in the Hussainganj locality of this Uttar Pradesh capital.

"The article was on the world's oldest 65-year old bulb, which belongs to a lady in England. It was then that I realised the significance of the bulb that was installed at my shop and I replaced it with an 'ordinary bulb'," adds Gupta.

In comparison to light bulbs one sees nowadays, the one possessed by Gupta looks quite different.

The 100-watt bulb is thinner and has a long filament with several more loops than modern bulbs. Its base is of copper and it takes longer to get to full brightness. The light it then sheds is a darker yellow than with modern bulbs.

Gupta, 45, said the bulb originally belonged to his grandfather Durga Prasad. With time, the label of the company that manufactured it faded.

"In 1938, my grandfather moved here from Calcutta (now Kolkata) to start a business and used this bulb for the first time after taking an electricity connection in this house," said Gupta. He is not sure of the shop from where the bulb was purchased.

"After the death of my grandfather, this bulb, although in use, served as a keepsake. My father K.C. Gupta used to tell me that the bulb was a memento of my grandfather, and that I should preserve it," recollects Gupta, who has his own fond memories of this bulb.

In 1987, the bulb was on Gupta's study table. "I clearly remember, under the light of this bulb I had prepared for my BA part I exams," he recalled.

Now Gupta has sent information about the bulb to the editors of the Limca Book, the benchmark publication for records in India. "I am waiting for their response," he said.