Karnataka - Mangalore   

Collection of rare stamps at Pandeshwar

By Our Staff Correspondent

MANGALORE, SEPT. 12. Postal stamp collection has always been a fascination to many, especially those that have come to be rare, old and those marking a famous event or an occurrence. But Vishwesh. K has an uncommon collection of stamps. This young philatelic has been accumulating stamps that have pictures of animals, not just any, but only those that come under the category of mammals.

At the exhibition held by the Dakshina Kannada Philatelic and Numismatics Association at the Head Post Office at Pandeshwar, postal stamps with images of different kinds of mammals were displayed. The collector, a first-year B.Sc. student at MGM College, Udupi, Vishwesh.K, has been gathering such stamps for the last seven years.

Each of the stamps with their unique images of animals almost seemed to represent the country they came from, for example, the stamps from Falkland Islands had images of whales and marine life that come under the category of mammals. It was a fact hard to miss that most stamps with wildlife images on them came from African countries, no wonder, since the region is known for its intense flora and fauna.

Perhaps the oldest stamp in the collection was the 1920s stamp from Malay, presently known as Malaysia. Unshaped stamps, those that were not in the customary rectangle or square shapes were also on display. The unshaped stamps had images of dogs and cats and came from China.

Initially, Vishwesh took over the little collection that his father had managed over the years. He continued to assort these stamps from acquaintances, other philatelic, dealers and other sources.

Vishwesh is quite adamant on not wanting to put a number to the amount of stamps he has accumulated.

"I want to keep collecting as many stamps, especially those that have images of wildlife on them," he says.

Printer friendly page  
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Karnataka

News: Front Page | National | Tamil Nadu | Andhra Pradesh | Karnataka | Kerala | New Delhi | Other States | International | Opinion | Business | Sport | Miscellaneous |
Advts: Classifieds | Employment | Updates: Breaking News |

Stories in this Section

• Major district roads neglected
• Minorities complain of police `inaction'
• AIDS awareness workshop held
• Collection of rare stamps at Pandeshwar
• Readers' Mail

Copyright © 2004, The Hindu. Republication or redissemination of the contents of this screen are expressly prohibited without the written consent of The Hindu