Thiruvananthapuram, Dec. 2: Antony Augustine is a weary man and not only because the hands that once played the violin now have to push an iron. Dreams of millions, the suspense over the authenticity of his treasure and the tension of safe-keeping are weighing him down.

The 65-year-old resident of the former Anglo-Indian town of Fort Kochi has found that his violin carries the prized Stradivarius label ? like the Kohinoor among diamonds. But he cannot afford to put it away in a bank locker, and worries constantly about its safety.

Before an appraiser pronounces the genuineness of the instrument, Antony, whose grandfather got it as a gift from an Englishman, is left swinging between hope and despair.

If the instrument is traced to the class of 1,100-odd musical instruments handcrafted by the master, Antonio Stradivari, of Cremona, Italy, some 260 years ago, humble Antony will be a millionaire.

If not, he will have to be content with ironing clothes for a living at a roadside shack at Amaravathy, near the spice market of Mattancherry in Kochi.

A genuine Strad is worth $2 million to $3 million.

However, copycat Strad violins are everywhere, most of them being unpretentious tributes to the master. Stradivari made some 550 violins, besides violas, cellos and guitars during his lifetime from 1644 to 1737. Some 650 of the total 1,100 have survived.

Experts believe that ?the chances of finding the real thing are slim to none?. To establish genuineness, three different profile pictures of the instrument will have to be sent to an authenticating agency like the American Federation of Violin and Bow Makers.

Antony is too poor to do all this. But he cannot disbelieve his eyes. An inscription, ?Antonio Stradivarius Cremonensis Faciebat Anno [date]?, is etched on the inside label, below the ?f? mark on the facing board. The year of manufacture is 1721, 16 years before the death of Stradivari.

Antony said an antique dealer at Mattancherry recently offered Rs 75,000 for the violin. He now lives on the dream that an international auctioneer would come knocking at his door. But keeping his ?precious possession? safe is turning out to be a nightmare.

A small-time musician who learnt to play the violin by the ear, Antony was blissfully ignorant about a Strad. He lost his peace of mind when he saw a news item a few months ago that a person in Kozhikode had discovered that he had a Strad with him, of the same make as one that had sold for ?767,200 at Sotheby?s, London, in November last year.

Antony took out the family legacy and his breath stopped when he read the label. His first reaction was to corroborate it with his son, a tabla artiste of sorts.

He hid the violin at a friend?s place and later transferred it to a bank locker. But the rent of Rs 600 proved too much, and he has had to move it elsewhere.

Antony recalls that his father might have had a faint idea that the instrument was valuable. He had discouraged his son from tinkering with it. Antony had bought a second-hand violin and learnt to play a few popular songs. His modest skills had earned him a job in the background music troupe attached to theatre groups.

Once his father died, Antony, who heads an extended family of his wife, three children and brothers, took the violin to a repairer in Ernakulam town. ?There was no major work, apart from re-pasting the wooden parts,? he said.

Till that knock comes on his door, Antony is living in the hope that his grandfather?s legacy will be worth a fortune.