New stamp on 50th Ann. of first human space flight

Date of Issue : 12 April 2011

Azerbaijan has issued a set of stamps on 12 April 2011 to commemorate the 50th anniversary of first human's flight to space. The stamps feature the International space station, "Vostok-1" in which Yuri Gagarin made first space flight and the painting of outstanding Azerbaijani artist Tahir Salakhov "To you mankind".

Club News

Chitralekha publishes interviews of philatelists..

Chitralekha, famous Gujarati magazine on which India Post has issued a postage stamp on 20 April, has published in its recent issue, a special article on philately in continuation to the release of Stamp on Shri Vaju Kotak & Chitralekha. Articles tells about the hobby of philately and they have also published interviews of noted Indian philatelists Shri Ashok Bayanwala, Shri Vijay Navlakha (Ahmedabad), Shri Dhirubhai Mehta (Mumbai) and Mr Prashant Pandya of Vadodara.

Small part of article translated in English is given below for the Readers….

History of Stamps

Chitralekha has done it once again and this feat in question has been unparalleled in the field of Gujarati journalism. Ministry of Communications through its Posts & Telegraph released a commemorative stamp on late shri Vaju Kotak, founder of Chitralekha, to engrave in history the 60-year glorious journey of the publication. The ever-alert editorial of the magazine seizes this moment to apprise the readers of the philately and its past traditions. Ketan Trivedy & Samir Paleja give us a glimpse into the colourful history of the past and present traditions of philately.

The hobby of stamp collection has always been a rage in every generation. The cover story begins with a unique case that aptly illustrates the craze for collection. A gentleman named Arthur Hind purchased a postal stamp titled British Guyana, worth one cent, at Rs 1, 68,886 way back in 1922. One day he got a call from another collector claiming that he too had the identical stamp with him. Arthur checked the authenticity of the stamp and then bought the second stamp from the new collector. What he did thereafter was really incredible. He flipped out his lighter and ignited the newly bought stamp right in front of the seller. Reason? Arthur wanted to ensure that he was the sole owner of this exclusive stamp and therefore never wanted to let there be any other identical stamp. This is what you call height of his passion, his craze for stamp collection.

So welcome to the exclusive world of philately and philatelists where the latter that are spread across the world, collect the used/unused stamps and other related postal stationeries of various countries just for pure fun. Stamp collectors look out for quirky stamps and would not hesitate spending millions to grab stamps bearing the Queen’s picture with her head printed upside down. Admittedly, in this world of emails and smses, use of postal stamps has considerably gone down but it has not dampened the spirit of these stamp collectors. Even today there is a virtual scramble whenever a new stamp and first day cover are released.

The cover story reveals that the first ever postal stamp was released in Great Britain on 6 May 1840. Before the practice of postal stamps was introduced, the charges for delivery were taken from the addressee. Legend has it that a British mother refused to pay these charges for the letter received from her son. Her logic was that there was no reason for her to pay for receiving a blank letter from her son which was enough for her to know about his well being. Yes, that was the first ever ‘miss mail’ of the world.

And this incident prompted authorities to suggest and introduce reforms in postal services and this is how postal stamps came into being. In India first postal stamp was released on 1 October 1854 when the British were ruling the country. It was therefore no surprise that the stamp would bear the picture of the Queen. It is however learnt that a couple of years before the first stamp was brought out, the Governor of Sindh had authorized a stamp for local use though, which continued till 1854.

How then the words like philately and this craze for stamp collection came into use? It is believed that a British lady requisitioned for postal stamps through ads in paper so that she could embellish her dressing table with them. This apparently spurred people to collect stamps. And the word philately was given by a French man.
This and many such tidbits are strewn across the story which is amazing, full of details that were hitherto unknown and least written about. You need not be a philatelist to be able to enjoy the story. However chances are that you might turn into one after reading the story. Happy reading, happy collection.And yes, let us not forget in conclusion that for those associated with Gujarati journalism and the Gujarati community at large, this is a proud moment that one from among them appeared on the face of a postal stamp. A rare feat and a glorious moment for all of us indeed..!!

From Chitralekha website: http://www.chitralekha.com/chitraguj/engsummary.php

 

Special Cover on Tagore

A special Cover on Guru Rabindranath Tagore will be released at RABINDRA PARISHAD, RABINDRA BHAWAN PATNA   on 9 May 2011. The cover has been designed by Mr Souvik Roy of Kolkatta . 2000 Covers will be issued and the covers will be available from Rabindra Parishad Patna. For more details,  Mr Souvik Roy may be contacted at email : lorenzosouvik@gmail.com