Year Book of Indian Philately -2009

Hi ! Here is another nice book on Philately which was published recently.  I wish to write about it as I have just gone through it….It is  ‘Year Book of Indian Philately 2009’ by Mr Madan Middha of Gwalior. Mr Middha is a well known philatelist and an enthusiastic compiler and writer. His great efforts enabled him to bring out this book. It is very informative for all collectors as it contains almost all necessary data of Indian philately and activities during the year 2009. Besides different data, covering different aspects of Indian Philately 2009, it contains comprehensive articles by noted philatelists of India. Articles cover all important topics of Philately. The book contains more than 200 pages with 22 Chapters and it covers stamps, Postal stationery, Stamp Packs , APS Covers, Miscellaneous issues, Postmarks/ Cancellations, Events, Society News, New services from India Post and recent developments, Philatelic Periodicals, Current Postal Rates & List of World Postal Authorities. The book will prove to be useful for all Stamp Lovers. It is an essential reference book which is recommended to all the lovers of Indian philately and philatelists in general . This is all for this Post….Till Next Post ….Have a Nice Time !

 

YEAR BOOK of Indian Philately 2009 

- Madan Middha

 PREFACE   

The decision to re-start the publication of the Year Book of Indian Philately in the modern times of Electronic Media, needed a great love and affection for this greatest hobby.... and fortunately we had that.  The reason after stopping the publication of the Year Book, way back in the year 2000, was nothing but a disillusion which frustrated us enough to abandon the task we loved the most. Thank God , that all is over now and we are  ready again to play a new inning of our favorite job.

      A lot has happened in Indian Philately in  the last decade. Some towering personalities have left the scene and some new faces have emerged to make their mark. Some pioneer  institutions / organizations have left the space blank and some new generation organizations are trying hard to fit in the block. Some prestigious and path-breaking publications have abandoned their journey on the way and some new age electronic bulletins have started impacting the path. Organizational philately in India has been crippled severely caused by the clash of personal egos at the summit levels.

      In collecting and exhibiting, some earlier classes have gone out of reach for a collector with limited  resources, while some new and innovative classes have emerged to attract new collectors and collectors with defined means. Philately has taken the form of a niche' investment avenue from an entertaining and interesting pastime. This King of the hobbies has become truly a  Hobby of the Kings in every sense of the word . But still there are people out there who have held the torch high for " Philately - the Hobby ".

      On departmental front, a large number of innovative philatelic products were introduced during the period. Customised Envelopes, Greeting Post's Imprinted Envelopes (a delight for the Thematic collectors !), Different Modern Postmarks  (resulted due to various types of services provided by the department) and a number of similar items have made Indian Philately richer in variety. A collection made today with limited resources, on any new product / service of India Post, can never ever be duplicated, no matter how much you wish to spend. New Services, New Techniques, New Approach, New Products and New Atmosphere at the India Post  are conducive for the grand advancement of Philately in India . But has it   happened ? If not , then why ?

  We wished we could have been able to report and record all of  it........ LIVE !

      Belatedly, we wish to cover all this and also all others, not mentioned above but impacting the Indian Philately in either way. We seek the help of our learned readership to let us have the inputs on all the subjects that effect Indian Philately in any way.  Some of these subjects are part of this edition of the Year Book and we wish to take on some others, and the remaining, in the forthcoming editions. If you can help, this will be a great thing for us. Please do write if you can and wish to !

      On publication front, We wished to excel our all  previous efforts this time. Some of our good friends have helped us immensely  by providing the valuable inputs to this edition of the Year Book and also suggesting a lot of improvements. But, how successful are these efforts; only you , our beloved readers, can judge and and have a right to pass a verdict on the outcome. We wait for your verdict !

      We wish to share with you some good news as well . This Year Book won a Silver Bronze Medal @ Indepex-Asiana 2000, an FIAP/FIP International Exhibition held at Kolkata from 7th to 12th December 2000. It has also won another Silver Bronze Medal @ Philakorea, an FIP International Exhibition held at Seoul, Korea in August 2002.

      We could not report these achievements due to sudden stoppage of the publication of the Year Book. They say " Good News Can Be Shared Even Later", and we do it now. Hope you will be pleased to hear this news .Thanks to our  learned, sharing and accommodating readership for these achievements.

Thanks, Enjoy the Philately the ways it was meant for,

- Madan  Middha      

Editor / Publisher

Contact Address : Madan Middha, Saket Vihar, Phalka Bazar, Gwalior 474001.

e - mail : madan_middha@yahoo.co.in