New Website on Philately

 

http://www.indianphilatelics.com/

Praful Thakkar’s Exotic Gallery of Indian Philately

Mr. Praful Thakkar, President of Gujarat Philatelists’ Association has launched today a dedicated Website, http://www.indianphilatelics.com/ to Philatelic resources of India. It provides wide range of Information on various topics of Indian Philately like Stamps, Covers, FDCs, Se tenants, Cards, Folders, Cancellations etc… The Website is launched with a view to promote the hobby of Philately and serve the interests of Philatelists without any Commercial angle. The object of launching this website is to provide collectors the right information & various Checklists for his or her Themes. It will enable them to prepare and present their Exhibits in proper perspective. This is a wonderful website useful for all collectors of Indian philately. It is very useful for thematic collectors in searching items for their collection. Many many congratulations to Mr Praful Thakkar on launching this beautiful website.

About the website

This Website is presenting some facets of Indian Philately viewed by him from his window. As a collector of various collectibles, he has faced many difficulties in collecting, understanding and arranging the collection. At the same time he realized that the same may be happening to new collectors and they might be facing similar hurdles too. To overcome such situations and to encourage philatelists and hobbyists, he has made the attempt of designing this Website www.indianphilatelics.com   Nowadays, in philatelic fraternity, focus on modern Indian philately has gathered grounds. It has carved out an important niche in the hearts of new philatelists and collectors. This has happened because in last few years India Post has issued varieties of stamps, se-tenants, Miniature sheets, Sheetlets, Presentation Packs, FDCs and many more philatelic items which have attracted the collectors not only in India but all over the world. This site gives view of all such philatelic items from his window i.e. from his angle. It is experienced that philately is a very wide, colorful and creative hobby which touches various aspects of life, society, nature and universe. Different countries of the world have produced various stamps of their countries which represent tradition and culture of them. Here one can find stamps and related items of INDIA only. Mainly he has focused on Modern Philately. Here one can find philatelic items with a special focus on modern stamps, se-tenants, sheetlets, folders, first day covers, cards, cancellations, etc. In Miscellaneous category, some of the most interesting subjects, which could not be boxed in the specified categories, are presented. Here, he has tried to present Official and Private FDCs and Folders from 1947 to 1964 i.e. from Anna Value to Naya Paisa Value. This is an early classic period during which creative philatelists and dealers have produced many colorful and meaningful Private Covers. Similarly, he has tried to narrow down the subject of FDCs and Folders without missing or losing its charm focusing more on FDCs and folders of Set of Stamps, Se-tenant Stamps and Miniature Sheets which form the total of about 450 till 2012. This subject of modern philately is a fascinating section which is capable to delight the collector’s eyes with various sizes, color shades, cancellation marks, legends and creative designs which have a religious, cultural, historical, political and commercial overtone. It has colors, creativity and charisma. In the bottom toolbar, apart from other subjects like Hobby of Philately, Abbreviations, Bibliography, Philatelic Glossary and Useful Links, Phila Info and Checklists are two very interesting and useful subjects for the collectors. Phila Info provides some good philatelic articles and Checklists give list of various philatelic items which philatelists collect and would be interested to organize. On the right side column, some subjects which are useful, popular or interesting are presented. Information about various facets of philately, books written by him etc. are shown. Here in 'Exhibits', one can see Virtual Exhibits. Modern technology has created this great philatelic possibility. Some of the good philatelic Exhibits are presented for the benefit of philatelists to facilitate online study and to have thorough idea about the Exhibits on Indian aspects. These Exhibits may help to those who are collecting on similar subjects as a reference material. This on-line viewing of exhibits to everyone, irrespective of distance, is done to promote Indian philately. One very interesting facet of 'Creative Philately' is shown where one can see various types of creative combinations of stamps, Se-tenants etc. They are made by collectors to show their creativity, vision and understanding, to make some historical masterpieces which are value added items. This shows that there are possibilities and potentialities of varieties & variations, combinations & creations which educate and entertain the collectors. The effort is made in this section to put such creative masterpieces. Another interesting facet is 'Philatelist's Delight'. Just as Creative Philately gives pleasure to collectors in creating a historic masterpiece which is the creation of his imagination, Philatelist's Delight gives him a treasure which is the creation of the Postal Department. As such these items are postal products but are made unusual and uncommon because of the dimension given to them. They are the source of delight as they have the 'Midas Touch' of creative philatelist. It is so because they are found out by sharp eyes and formed by deep imagination mixed with untiring efforts of the passionate collector. They may be rare and may be... 'Others Envy & Collector's Pride ..' One very special facet of the site is that he has made an attempt to make it more user friendly. Apart from many checklists which can be a of great help to collectors and hobbyists to organize their collection, one can easily search his desired philatelic item either by year or by alphabet. Lastly, for him Philately is his passionate hobby along with other hobbies. It is true that for him 'Living with Hobby is Living in Happiness'. To preserve classic Indian Heritage and to present it in its right perspective, apart from writing books on various hobbies, he has also made attempts to present the fineness of these hobbies through his Websites www.indianautographs.com ( Limca Record Holder 2009) and www.indiannumismatics.com. This Website is also a step in that direction so far as the hobby of Indian Philately is concerned.

Praful K.Thakkar, is an ardent collector of autographs, stamps, FDCs, coins, medals, tokens, badges, badge plates, etc. since last more than 50 years. 'Share the Knowledge & Spread the Knowledge' is the motto of his life. As I.A.S. officer he has served the Government of Gujarat for more than 31 years. Even after retirement he has still continued this hobby of philately and he firmly believes 'Hobby is for Health & Hobby is for Happiness'.

Mr. Praful Thakkar writes…

For me , Today is an important day..... Today is..... 25th Feb 2014, I am entering into 75th year of my life. Today I am launching a Website on Indian Philately...

From my childhood I have lived in my own world of hobbies. I had, and even now have, fascination of collecting autographs, numismatic items and Philatelic objects. They are favorite themes as they are educating, energizing and enriching hobbies. They all have given me new energy and enthusiasm. All the three hobbies have very attracting, fascinating and interesting themes of objects for the collector. People have hobbies for happiness and harvesting profit in future. For me it is for keeping good health too. Therefore, my life's motto is ‘Hobby is for Health & Hobby is for Happiness’.  It is a part of my life. I have enjoyed and am enjoying these hobbies as a collector.

During my pursuit of these hobbies I have experienced collector’s pranks. I have realized that collector needs right information, Checklists for his themes, proper way of presentation through Exhibits etc. In short, he requires a touchstone to measure his efforts and to further improve his collection. For this he needs some appropriate books or catalogues. This again depends upon his knowledge about such catalogues and then procuring these catalogues. Hence I thought, in this modern era of Internet technology, Website is a medium which can come to the rescue of collectors all over the world. And this thought has become my driving force in creating this Website www.indianphilatelics.com

I always worship Hobby as Goddess as it keeps me pure, fit, healthy & happy. On this 25th Feb 2014, I am entering into 75th year of my life. Hence on this day as mark of my worship, I am to dedicate a flower of website www.indianphilatelics.com at the feet of Goddess Philately. I thought, in this modern era of Internet technology, Website is a medium which can come to the rescue of collectors all over the world. And this thought has become my driving force in creating this Website http://www.indianphilatelics.com/

I do accept that I am not an authority on this or any other subjects. My effort here is to share my happiness, which I got from this hobby, with philatelic fraternity. Hence my slogan on this website is 'Living with Hobby is Living in Happiness'.

Here the selected subjects are from modern philately...and that also viewed from my window. All subjects of modern philately may not be there.

Philatelists would be able to appreciate in the Bottom Toolbar Phila Info, Checklists etc and in right side Pillar Exhibits, Creative Philately and Philatelist's Delight.

However I would be putting more and more information of various subjects in categories of Covers, Folders, Stamps, Cards, Cancellations etc. In these major categories there  will be many more sub-categories which will further present more and more useful pictures of different philatelic items.