Where the hobby has an artistic stamp

From stamps that smell of roses and sandalwood to those with the head of the calm Buddha, to that containing the image of RM. Alagappa Chettiar, the Puducherry Head Post Office’s Philately Bureau is a place where stamp collectors will rejoice. The bureau has good collection of stamps in its own albums and also sends newly released stamps to its 837 philately account-hollers of whom 167 are quite new.

“They have joined us after our exhibition of stamps held in November and more children are evincing interest in joining as members since they get stamps or covers worth Rs.200, which is the initial amount that they have to pay to become members. There is no membership fee as such,” V. Santhanaraman, Senior Superintendent of Post Offices told The Hindu.

Recently a meeting of members of the Philately Bureau was held and 100 of them turned up. They exchanged contacts so that they could exchange stamps and information. The post office plans to organize such meetings once in three months. The bureau has been in existence since the 1990s and sends stamps in singles or sheets or in fours or first-day covers or topical stamps and also info sheet if opted for by the member.

“Stamp collection is done only in the initial stages. After a few days, the collectors try to exchange stamps and get stamps that are needed for the specific topic that they are interested in. At this stage only vendors and exhibitions keep stamp collectors interested. People also get stamps from used foreign letters”, added Mr. Santhanaraman. Himself a stamp collector in the past, his daughters now collect stamps.

“We also go to schools regularly and ask them to start philately clubs for the children. We take our application forms to schools and also conduct regular workshops in schools on how to collect and preserve stamps,” said R.P. Balaji, Public Relations Inspector.

Anyone can become a member of philately bureau here on any working day between 10 am and 5 pm or can contact Mr. Balaji on +91 413 – 2336532 or +91 9443577115.