Philatelic Delight for Chennai

Arts, Culture & Entertainment, Historical Links, Pre-Independence
Students taking a look at some of the rare and special stamps displayed at the Philatelic Exhibition | Albin Mathew
Students taking a look at some of the rare and special stamps displayed at the Philatelic Exhibition | Albin Mathew

Think of a platform where Zodiac signs, butterflies and Sachin Tendulkar came together. If you haven’t left your letter-writing skills behind you, then you would have known the answer – which, of course, is the Indian Postage Stamp.

The two-day District Level Philatelic Exhibition CHENSPEX 2014 began in Chennai on Saturday with an array of stamps traced from around the world on display. About 50 students from various schools had put up their stamp collections at the exhibition. In addition, philatelists from the South India Philatelists’ Association also showcased their collections.

Stamps released in November 1947, just after the Indian independence were some of the highlights of the exhibition. Stamps from places like Trinidad and Tobago, British Solomon Islands and even colonial England were on display.

ThematicStampsCF18feb2014

But the main attraction at the exhibition was definitely the thematic stamp collection. Stamps that formed  part of a range of themes – from Indian cinema and political leaders to rarer collections like butterflies, Christmas and Indian festivals – were on display at the exhibition.

India Post also put up several stalls at the exhibition that sold some of their most popular and latest stamps, including the one of 100 Years of Indian Cinema and the 12 Zodiac signs, besides the stamp that was released for Sachin Tendulkar’s 200th test match. Mervin Alexander, Postmaster General for Chennai City Region said that people today bought stamps for their collections rather than to post letters.

“Interesting ones like Sachin’s 200th test match stamp get sold out immediately. If people buy stamps only for collection and not for posting letters, then we do not know how long we will be able to sustain this,” he said.

The exhibition also had a workshop on philately for students, conducted by senior philatelist P S Seshadri. Indu Gupta, the Chief Postmaster General for Tamil Nadu, also released a special cover to mark the exhibition.

source: http://www.newindianexpress.com / The New Indian Express / Home> Cities> Chennai / by Express News Service – Chennai / January 29th, 2014