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Stamps unlimited
"There was a child went forth every day, And the first object he looke'd upon, that object he became And that object became part of him for the day or a certain part of the day Or for many years or stretching cycles of years." _ Walt Whitman
THE HAPPIEST persons are those who indulge in activities close to their heart. For Mr. M. O. John, retired Deputy Director of Education, of Borno State, Nigeria, more than any other achievements in life, it is this pastime that makes him cheerful and contented: Collecting stamps.
Cute little things always fascinated Mr. John. He was born in Karukutty, near Angamaly. His maternal uncle, Mr. Devassay, who himself was a collector, encouraged and supported young John. In those days he used to collect whatever beautiful things came his way, liike matchbox stickers, coins, stamps, and wrappers. "It was only a school boy's fascination then," recollects Mr. John. Since his college days, he has concentrated only on stamps and other postal materials. Enthusiastic John procured stamps mostly through exchange and utilising whatever pocket money he got. "Philately is the most effective hobby to ease your tensions and pressures of everyday life," says Mr. John. Simultaneously, he gathered plenty of information about various countries and numerous subjects. ``That is another advantage of philately. A philatelist has to go deep into history and the background of each stamp, which widens the horizon of knowledge," adds Mr. John.
A postgraduate in Chemistry, Mr. John started his career as a lecturer in St. Thomas College, Thrissur. Since then he could spend more money and time to pursue philately. In 1962, a teaching assignment was offered to Mr. John in Nigeria and he says this overseas vocation became a gateway to the Philatelic world. Till his return from Nigeria in 1990, he was collecting stamps from far and wide. In the process he made plenty of friends all over the world too.
After his retirement, Mr. John came back and started to sort out the enormous collection of stamps and arrange them systematically. To house the collection categorywise, he designed high quality albums. Mr. John now owns hundreds of such designer albums, full of stamps.
He produced three huge volumes of designer albums presenting the entire range of Indian stamps, right from the very first stamp of Indian Union, issued in 1947, to the latest one. Apart from having the whole range of stamps of many countries, he also possesses the entire range of stamps on Queen Elizabeth II, including the latest Philatelic-Numismatic commemorative issue of the golden jubilee of the queen, released recently in London.
Sitting relaxed at his residence, Manavalan House in Sivarama Menon Road, Ernakulam, Mr. John feels happy that he could accomplish much in the world of philately. His complete collection of Vatican stamps is a very rare one, perhaps the only one of its kind in India. Similarly, many other innovative themes he focuses are unique, like Life of Jesus Christ, travels of Pope John Paul II, members of the United Nations and Millennium celebrations around the world.
Since 1990, Mr.John has been participating in `Kerapex', the official philatelic exhibition and won prizes in all the items he participated. He is a regular participant in other philatelic exhibitions as well and has presented many papers in seminars on relevant topics of philately. Mr. John also finds time to propagate and encourage philately among the young generation.
He visits philatelic clubs in schools and other organisations to give lectures on philately. He feels happy that many schools in Kochi have active philatelic clubs. His collection does not end with stamps. He has a large collection of miniature bottles, antiques, and handicrafts from all over the world. Widely travelled, Mr. John has visited many countries of the world and has a wide network of friends across the continents. He is glad that his sons and grandchildren are also interested in his favourite hobby.
An active member of Religious Stamp Exchange Club of Ernakulam, which regularly meets and exchanges stamps for the past 30 years, Mr. John also keeps a happy relationship with the postal authorities to encourage philately and offers his assistance to any one interested in philately. (He can be reached by email: manavalan1@vsnl.com).
Septuagenarian Mr. John believes that a hobby is essential for every individual, irrespective of their profession, social status and age to diffuse the tensions of life. "The advantage of philately is that it enlarges the field of knowledge and vision and brings in good friends at all levels of society. It is a good investment too as the value of the stamps appreciates as time goes by. A good collection of stamps is a good asset that makes you feel rich and proud," adds Mr. John.
Premium price for penal errors
RARELY DO stamps and other postal materials come out with printer's devils and crucial errors. Sometimes we get stamps with faulty printing or wrongly perforated stamps. We usually ignore or overlook such lapses. But how many of us know that these defective stamps get a premium price in the philately market?
Two of the valuable and exceptional albums of Mr. John are of faulty stamps, titled `Errors, Freaks and Faults'.
The errors are colour differences, missing print (blank stamps), dislocation of impressions, colour draws, dry prints (impression defects), doctor's blade (splitting lines), irregular inking, kiss prints (the impression is on the back), double prints, perforation defects, freaks (cracks in the printouts) etc.
Most of these defects arise during the process of printing. Some errors appear in all the prints and they are called `constant variety'. But a majority of the errors are seen only in certain batches or lots. These philatelic collectibles become hot property in the philately market, whose value is determined by gravity and rarity of the error. Another category of errors, known as `design errors' occur at the design stage.
Sometimes the carelessness of the artist may contribute to such errors. In the commemorative first day cover of the golden jubilee of the Dandi March, the illustration, depicting two legs of Mahatma Gandhi, shows different footwear in each leg.
Once Mr. John's timely intervention saved our Postal authorities from selling inland letters with a grave error. Our country's name was printed on it in Hindi as `Marath' instead of `Bharath'!
As soon as Mr. John pointed out the mistake, the Postal authorities withdrew the lot then and there. In the brochure issued in connection with the release of Firaque Gorakhpuri's stamp, instead of the photograph of Firaque Gorakhpuri, Bakthivendanta Swamy's photograph was printed, whose stamp was issued a few days later.
In the stamp on the conquest of Kanchenjunga, the title was printed as `Conouest of Kanchenjunga'. In a batch of a Himalayan Flower stamps released in 1982, the title of the stamp itself is missing.
"Errors stamps are there in all countries" says Mr. John. Once in the United States, a stamp was issued in commemoration of Pilgrim tercentenary. It depicted the ship `May flower', but in few strips sold out, the `Mayflower' was printed upside down.
US Post did not want these stamps to become a rare one. So they printed and sold out plenty of such .
T K SADASIVAN
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