Like most youngsters I too started a stamp collection and like most gave it up. Many years passed and I had entered the world of Television and Cinema as an actor and one day I came across an article in a magazine, it was either Time or Newsweek , on a stamp released by the U.S Postal Services to honour Marilynn Monroe.That caught my fancy….I started to check out on such issues honouring Film personalities and to my surprise found a large number of stamps.The world had celebrated the centenary of Cinema in 1995 and there was a huge lot waiting to be collected.This was the first step.
I then joined a local Stamp club- The South India Philatelists Association and got to know what Philately was all about. Thanks to a number of friends and classmates in the US and the internet, access to Stamp dealers was possible. I have since then been an avid collector of these Stamps on Cinema. In fact I have been responsible in a small way for the Indian Government to issue Postage Stamps honouring a few Famous Film personalities , in that I prodded the families of these great men to apply for the issue of a stamp, followed up with the authorities, helped collect data,suggest designs and in short played a supportive role, a bridge between the Government and the families of these great film makers.
I hope to get some kind of proficiency in this blogging so that I can attach pictures of some of the nice stamps that India has brought out….like Charlie Chaplin , Raj Kapoor, Shantha Ram, Guru Dutt, N T Rama Rao and many more…….yes,I was as surprised as many when I found that India has honoured the “Tramp” with a Stamp. In fact a surprising piece of information…is that After Mahatma Gandhi , who has been the single most honoured person world over…..charlie chaplin probably gets the next spot…….Yes , Princess Di, Marilynn Monroe happen to decorate a number of stamps but a large number of these are from countries like Tajekistan, Krygystan,Fujeira, a number small islands in the caribbean which do not have great Philatelic Value….. Most of these countries are using Philately as a means of raising foreign currency…it is not actually postally used……indeed , many of these countries probably have lesser number of Post Offices than some of the smaller towns in India. The Judges at most Philatelic exhibitions frown at these country’s stamps.
I wish there were more collectors on this subject for me to exchange information , stamps and learn.