Trusting sixth sense: When art lover Ashish Vohra bought a painting for Rs 20,000

One often hears of incidents where art aficionados are duped into buying fakes, but hotelier and art lover Ashish Vohra had a different experience. In 2013, he chanced upon a scrap shop in Udaipur. "The vendor had all kinds of magazines and newspapers. My curiosity got the better of me and I opened dialogue with him. That's when he showed me some of Raja Ravi Varma's prints," Vohra said, describing the frame as old, dusty and battered."They looked absolutely original to me and my sixth sense told me to buy them. I immediately sent them to our trusted art certifier and she, to my amazement, assured me that they were, indeed, originals!" Vohra said, who paid a mere Rs 20,000 for the art work.

Such is Vohra's love for art that he refuses to part with it for anyone. "Once my wife's brother asked me for some artworks from my collection for his new office, which I refused. I am very close to my brother-in-law but, no, I won't part with my art," said Vohra, who is running out of wall space in his home to flaunt his acquisitions.