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A rare collection
Majeed with his proud collection.
WHEN YOU see an elderly person exhibiting his prized stamp collection with the enthusiasm of a child, the realisation suddenly dawns that there are hardly any children interested in philately these days.
Once, a very popular hobby among children the hobby is no longer hot. "Children's interests have changed. They no longer have time for stamp collection with the advent of Internet and the likes. Moreover, philately has become an expensive hobby,'' says Habeeb Abdul Majeed, a senior philatelist.
He boasts of a collection of 1,700 Indian stamps (pre- independence era to 2002) and hundreds of foreign stamps including those of Hong Kong, China, Russia, Australia and United Kingdom.
Among his prized possessions are the complete country collection of United Arab Emirates stamps from the time the conglomerate came into being and before. For this meticulous collection, Majeed has won medals at the A.P. Philatelic Exhibition in 1999, National Philatelic Exhibitions in 2000 and 2001.
``There was no way I could have obtained all the exquisite stamps of the world. So, I decided for specialisation and go in for a collection of UAE stamps because the country came into being in 1971 only. That makes it easier to source,'' says the 61-year-old Majeed.
Though he started philately as a hobby during his school days and collected many stamps, lack of penpals plus adequate finances prevented him from pursuing it vigorously. But, after he went to UAE the hobby got a fillip. He also exhibited his maiden collection there during the mid-90s.
``Philately requires lot of patience, hard work and finances too,'' he explains. Passion too, you may add. Majeed, a life member of Hyderabad hobbies and philatelic society affiliated to the Federation of International Philately at Geneva, is presently gearing up to participate in the next National Philatelic Exhibition to be held at Bhubaneswar during the last week of February.
``If something is not done to encourage philately among children soon stamps would be confined to the museums,'' he says. Before he gives up his collection, Majeed wants to up his philately score of 66 to 70 that would enable him to participate in an international exhibition.
By Geetanath V.
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Life
Bangalore
Chennai
Coimbatore
Delhi
Hyderabad
Kochi
Madurai
Thiruvananthapuram
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