Solving jigsaw puzzles is a passion for Arvind Gokhale, who spends months at-a-stretch on solving ones with 5000 pieces

Arvind Gokhale's hobby of assembling jigsaw puzzles might seem unusual for someone, who is in his late 50s. However, a look at the three-feet-by-two-feet jigsaw puzzle of pilot transfer of a wooden ship caught in rough weather framed and hung in the living room of Gokhale's residence catches you by the eye. It is not just the vastness and clarity of the puzzle, but also its importance. "This puzzle depicts the first wooden ship that arrived at Madras port," Gokhale says.

It was the very first puzzle of about 2,000 pieces assembled by Gokhale five years ago. "I took four months to assemble it," he proudly says.

His friend's daughter staying in the US used to get puzzles of 100 to 200 pieces. "I tried one and my interest developed. I also got to know that there are bigger puzzles, up to 12,000 pieces available in the market. Later, when my daughter traveled to the US, she got me this puzzle of the wooden ship," says Gokhale.

Today, Gokhale boasts of eight such assembled puzzles between 2,000 and 5,000 pieces, seven of which are framed in his and his son's flat in Kothrud. These include one of a Monalisa, Seven Wonders of the World, a palace in UAE constructed with interlocking stone blocks and an Italian palace among others. "Each has some historic importance attached to it, which makes it all the more exciting to assemble," he says.

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