Travel allows you to learn a great deal about distant lands. Unfortunately, it’s not always possible to travel to far-flung locations.
Stamp collection is one of those hobbies that can help one to study a place's culture, architecture, and people without actually travelling. It was, in fact, a favourite hobby for, both, children and adults in the pre-internet era.
With the rise of social media and e-mails, this hobby has taken a backseat. However, individuals like Goa-based MR Ramesh Kumar, a retired chief scientist at CSIR-National Institute of Oceanography, Dona Paula, still cherish it, and has a collection of over 1 lakh stamps.
These stamps are based on various themes such as Antarctica, World War I and II, biodiversity of India, its geographic indicators, India’s unsung heroes, scientists, freedom fighters, female freedom fighters, the country's cultural heritage, festivals, Portuguese India, Olympics and oceanography.
Currently, his five-frame philatelic exhibition on the theme of ‘Saint Francis Xavier’ is being held at the Philatelic Bureau in Panjim, and will run until January 5, 2025.
With his love for the hobby, it comes as no surprise that he also has a wide collection of Christmas stamps.
“I started collecting Christmas stamps a few decades ago. I had been collecting Indian festival stamps such as Diwali, Dussehra, etc., so I thought why not other festival stamps such as Christmas, too. I have around 300 Christmas stamps from various countries,” says Kumar.
FESTIVE STAMPS
Many countries around the world issue Christmas stamps, which are regular postage stamps (in contrast to Christmas Seals) and are usually valid for postage year-round (in some countries they have a discounted value and are for use exclusively on Christmas cards).
These usually go on sale sometime between early October and early December, and are printed in considerable quantities. The choice of designs is highly variable, ranging from a religious image of the Nativity, to secular images of Christmas trees, wreaths, Santa Claus, and so forth.
The oldest Christmas stamp in Kumar’s collection is a 1963-stamp from the US. He is working to acquire Christmas stamps released by countries around the world, including the USA, UK and India. However, he notes that there are relatively few from India.
“India Post should release more stamps on Christmas theme such as Christmas trees, Santa Claus, snow, stars, angels, and other innovative things such as stamps featuring churches, QR scan Picture Postcards, and also Augmented Reality Picture Postcards. This will attract more philatelists to this particular theme or topic,” he opines.
Kumar has been collecting these stamps for more than five decades. It is a hobby passed down to him by his father, MV Ranganatha Pai. For him, it is a passion and he takes great care to preserve it.
“I keep the stamps in stock books, First Day Covers in acid-free plastic folders or even albums, far away from direct light and moisture,” he shares.
Kumar also plans to host an exhibition where he can showcase these Christmas-themed stamps and share interesting information about on them.
While MR Ramesh Kumar’s Christmas collection is currently not open to the public, his philatelic exhibition on St Francis Xavier is on view at the Philatelic Bureau in Panjim till January 5, 2025.