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Keeping a dying fad alive
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Though philately has lost much of its sheen, a handful of philatelists are doing their bit to promote the activity
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Photo: A. Muralitharan
Fading hobby Children must be brought closer to such activities
Ever since electronic mails replaced the traditional postal mail, a visit to a post office in an urban setting to buy a stamp or an envelope, or to drop a letter in the post box, has become a passé. With the corporatisation of education, activit
ies like philately and numismatics have stopped being a source of knowledge.
Though philately is just a hobby today, thanks to the advent of technology, there are a few stamp lovers who had been doing all that they could do to keep the activity alive and kicking besides trying to increase the number of the tribe involved in promoting philately by organising activities for school children.
Successful philatelists
Guntur city has an amazing number of philatelists who bagged prizes doled out by the Guntur Numismatic and Philatelic Society at the State and the national level. M.R.K. Murthy of Narsaraopet in Guntur district has made a mark at the national level by successfully running the National Philately Society for two decades at a stretch. M. Kesava Rao of Hyderabad has a collection of the country’s rare and ancient coins and currency notes and is an acknowledged ‘best numismatist’ in the country. His work titled Stampula Sarada released in 1970s aimed at popularising the activity.
Krishna Rao, a retired assistant commissioner of Income Tax department has earned the title of the Father of Philately in Guntur for having largest collection of stamps on auto marking. Though it began in Germany but today it is prevalent in 60 nations. “You can print your own denomination on any design of stamp pre-loaded in the machine that provides variety to people and saves time for post offices,” explains Rao. The collection of Automatic Marking (German) stamps won him a Large Silver Medal at the national philatelic exhibition held at Chennai recently.
His persuasion encouraged the local Kanna English Medium School to start a philately club. Students who are members of the club have been participating in the State and national level exhibitions.
Inspirational
MVS Prasad has come of age. From an ordinary stamp-collector to winning national awards for presenting the best theme on Indian Railways, the philatelist today hosts the GNP Society meetings at his residence to encourage participation of school kids in expos. “Buying or collecting stamps is not the end of the hobby. It creates special interest in science, life sciences, biological sciences, birds, or geography, depending on one’s aptitude,” he says.
An employee of Guntur railway division, Prasad’s collection of 112 sheets of stamps from 135 countries on ‘Eternal Journey of Railways’ has won him a Large Silver Medal. He is among the few in the world to have the first stamps on railways from India, United States, United Kingdom and a couple of other nations. The Vatican City Collection by students of Kanna English Medium School has also won the Large Silver medal at the national level. Birds’ collection by Ch. Venkateswara Rao, another active philatelist from Guntur, won him the silver-bronze medal, while V. Saikrishna of Repalle has the largest collection of speacial covers on Andhra Pradesh and a stamp collection on the title Telugu Velugu.
Keeping pace
A latest catalogue on stamps to determine authenticity is a must. The society in Guntur secures the latest information before sending entries to exhibitions, to help its 60 lifetime and 100 ordinary members.
In Vijayawada city, R. Appa Rao, manager of a branch of the State Bank of India, is a prolific stamp collector. He intends to provide an impetus to the hobby by launching a Philately Club. With a rare collection of stamps on Gandhi and Health Sciences, he boasts of 20 themes, which could serve as a learning ground for many youngsters. Mr. Appa Rao can be contacted on phone No. 9849279960 or 0866-2530198, while Mr. Prasad will be available on phone Nos. 0863-2231261 and 9866710379.
RAMESH SUSARLA
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Metro Plus
Bangalore
Chennai
Coimbatore
Delhi
Hyderabad
Kochi
Madurai
Mangalore
Puducherry
Tiruchirapalli
Thiruvananthapuram
Vijayawada
Visakhapatnam
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