Karnataka - Bijapur   

He finds stamps irresistible

Suresh Bhat

Arvind Khodke

BIJAPUR: Stamp lovers who go to a philately exhibition are likely to come across Arvind Khodke, a dedicated philatelist from Bhopal. He attends district-, State- and national-level exhibitions with his stamp and first day cover collections.

If it is a national-level exhibition, he participates in the competition. At smaller exhibitions, he participates as a vendor, selling the extras from his collections. Sometimes, he is on the jury that selects the prize-winners. He himself has won many prizes in State- and national-level competitions.

He has a stall at `Bijapurpex-2006,' a three-day philately exhibition organised by the Department of Posts at KEB Samudaya Bhavan here.

Mr. Khodke says his obsession with stamps and covers began when he was 12. He was born into a poor family in 1950 and worked as a labourer to make his way through college.

His parents were ecstatic when he got a clerical job in Indian Bank. But the job came in the way of his passion, and he quit in 2000. He says the hobby requires a lot of homework, patience, and money. He has well over 7,000 stamps and first day covers on which he has invested at least Rs. 6 lakh.

He also conducts free workshops for budding stamp collectors. He raises money for all this by vending rare stamps at exhibitions.

Not many people are aware that the Department of Posts has a separate wing that deals with philately. Apart from the usual postage stamps, the department releases special stamps and first day covers on events, places or individuals.

Those interested can open a philatelic account in head post offices by depositing Rs. 200. Whenever the department brings out new stamps and special covers, the philatelic wing will send them to account holders, depending on their stated themes and preferences. Stamps and special covers of foreign countries can also be collected in the same way.

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