Ever since e-invites have taken over, I have stopped looking into my letter box. But four days ago I was pleasantly surprised to find a pink envelope peeping out. I tore it open to find a birthday card from a friend who lives in Madurai. Why post when she could have made a local call, I wondered, till my eyes fell on the stamp. A beautiful pink Cineraria stared at me and there was more by its side. The familiar logo of a girl dressed in pink and holding a cupcake. I was amused to find my favourite Puppy’s Bakery on the stamp!
An immediate call to Vichitra Rajasingh, the CEO of Bell Hotels and the bakery, revealed a beautiful story. “There are ways you can honour people and their memories and since stamps are treasured pieces of history, we decided to celebrate my grandfather’s birth centenary last month by printing a series of stamps,” she says.
It was her father, Rajasingh Chelladhurai, the Managing Director of the group, who had read about “My Stamp” series and chose to stamp his father’s contributions and achievements on his big industrial family and beyond.
For each wing of the expanding Bell industry (from printers, match sticks and fireworks to bakery, hotel management institute, jumbo restaurants and hotels), a different template of a customised theme of India Post was chosen and printed along with the company’s logos. The family also came out with a special individual series carrying the faces of fourth generation children who came together for the occasion from all over the world.
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“All the grandkids were thrilled to receive the personalised sheets of stamps with their photos on it and the celebration was one big fun,” says Vichitra. “But it was my father’s idea to subtly tell about the man who impacted so many lives by setting up the Bell group,” she says and adds, “when the kids see their photos in the stamp it induces in them a sense of importance and responsibility.”
“The personalised ‘My Stamp’ series is a timeless souvenir for all,” says Sharda Sampath, Postmaster General TN Western Circle Coimbatore with additional charge in Madurai. “It fulfils the common man’s aspiration to feature in a stamp,” she notes. The commemorative stamps brought out by India Post are only for the famous and dead and the approval comes after a whole lot of bureaucratic processes. But the ‘My Stamp’ personalised sheets of India Post are easily made for anybody.
“The personal stamps are not for decorative purpose alone. Though they make beautiful memorabilia, they also have postal value and can be used as postage stamps for all regular mails,” she adds, pointing out that schools, colleges and companies even use them to honour their best students and employees.
My Stamp is a brand name for the business development of India Post. It was first introduced during the World Philatelic Exhibition at Pragati Maidan, Delhi in 2011. Following a huge demand for it during the exhibition and later, it prompted the Department to launch it as a scheme for stamp lovers and general public all over the country. It came to Tamil Nadu in May 2013 and three months later was extended to Madurai Philatelic Bureau followed by Coimbatore in 2014 and Udhamanagalam in 2015.
The idea is to cover all Postal Circles by making the scheme available in all philatelic bureaux and important post offices. Across Tamil Nadu, the My Stamp counters operate from the head post offices in Dharmapuri, Erode, Krishnagiri, Namakkal, Pollachi, Salem, Suramangalam, Tirupur and Tirupattur.
Those who do not want self-portraits can also choose photos of their choice from images of wildlife, monuments, artwork, heritage buildings, famous tourist places, historical cities, pets and other animals, birds and flowers. With the Department earning revenue from the scheme, various discounts and offers are available to individuals and corporate customers.
“There is joy and pride among people when their chosen photos become custom stamps that could be unique for some special event, function or announcement,” says Sampath. “Each time we communicate electronically, we lose some delightful opportunities and pieces of work that commemorate our heritage. Personalised stamps can help to revive the tradition of hand-written letters,” she hopes.
My Stamp is simple
The customer needs to fill up the My Stamp Order Form indicating choice of stamps from available stamp sheetlets. India Post has over a dozen templates of selected commemorative postage stamps. These include the Red Fort, Mysore Palace, Taj Mahal, Hawa Mahal, Ajanta caves, Qutub Minar that also come with bits of information besides a host of colourful flowers, butterflies and the underwater world of Port Blair Island and also the oldest working steam locomotive in the world – the Fairy Queen built in 1855.
The personalization is achieved by printing a thumb nail photograph of the customer, his or her family/friends/relatives or logos of institutions, or any other image of choice alongside the selected commemorative postage stamp.
The cost
A 12-stamp sheet costs Rs.300. The postal value of each stamp is Rs.Five. Balance cost is towards designing and printing the sheet. While individual customers can buy two to 100 sheets and avail 10 per cent discount, a minimum quantity of 100 sheets is mandatory for corporate customers.
In 2016-17, Coimbatore topped revenue realisation from My Stamp earning the Western Circle Rs.7,71,380 followed by Madurai with Rs.5,67,120 and Kanyakumari Rs.5,52,960
