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.