Tributes to Gurudev Rabindranath Tagore

 

7th May – Birth Anniversary of Gurudev Rabindranath Tagore

Today is birth anniversary of India’s greatest literary genius and Nobel Laureate Rabindranath Tagore. Many postal administrations have honored him on their postage stamps. Some of the stamps have been shown here. This Post is a tribute to Gurudev.

 

Rabindranath Tagore (7 May 1861 – 7 August 1941), was a literary genius who reshaped Bengali literature and music, as well as Indian art with Contextual Modernism in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Author of Gitanjali and its "profoundly sensitive, fresh and beautiful verse", he became the first non-European to win the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1913.

In translation his poetry was viewed as spiritual and mercurial; however, his "elegant prose and magical poetry" remain largely unknown outside Bengal. Tagore introduced new prose and verse forms and the use of colloquial language into Bengali literature, thereby freeing it from traditional models based on classical Sanskrit. He was highly influential in introducing the best of Indian culture to the West and vice versa, and he is generally regarded as the outstanding creative artist of the modern Indian subcontinent.

 

 

Stamp Exhibition on Tagore in Kolkata by Souvik Roy

From 9th to 17th May 2015 at Rabindra Tirtha, New Town, Kolkata

 

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23 March - Martyrs’ Day

Tributes to great heroes of India - Sardar Bhagat Singh Rajguru and Sukhdev

 

23rd of March is declared as the martyrs day in India to remember the sacrifice and pay homage to the Bhagat Singh, Shivaram Rajguru and Sukhdev Thapar. Bhagat Singh, Shivaram Rajguru and Sukhdev Thapar  fought for India against the British rule for independence.

 

“Bhagat Singh” a name of supreme sacrifice that become a synonym of sacrifice in youth of India. 23rd March 1931, it was the end of Bhagat Singh’s fight for his country's freedom and he sacrificed his life at a very young age for his country. Every year we celebrate this Shaheed-Diwas in memory of Bhagat Singh, Rajguru and Sukhdev.

In the year 1929, on 8th of April he together with his companions threw bombs over the Central Legislative Assembly reading slogan “Inquilab Zindabad”. They charged with the murder and hanged at 7.30 pm in the Lahore jail on 23th of March in the year 1931. Their body was cremated at the banks of the Sutlej River.  A big Shaheedi Mela (Martyrdom fair) is held at the birthplace Ferozepur, at the National Martyrs Memorial in the Hussainiwala (Indo-Pak border).

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New stamps from India – Swachch Bharat

 

Date of Issue : 30 January 2015

The Minister for Communications & Information Technology, Shri Ravi Shankar Prasad along with the Minister for Urban Development & Parliamentary Affairs Shri Venkaiah Naidu and the Minister for Rural Development Shri Chaudhary Birender Singh released Commemorative Postage stamps on the theme of Swachh Bharat to mark the Martyrdom Day of Mahatma Gandhi today..

Shri Ravi Shankar Prasad speaking on the occasion said the Government intends to make cleanliness a part culture of this country under the leadership of Shri Narendra Modi . He pointed out that the design for the stamps were selected through a competition among the children on the theme. The Minister for Urban Development Shri Venkaiah Naidu also appreciating the idea said that if the practice of cleanliness catches with our children, it would spread as a mass movement in the country. He hoped that Swachhatha will become a Jan Andholan. Shri Chaudhary Birender Singh said the release of the stamps on the Martyrdom Day on this subject of cleanliness, which is very close to the heart of the Father of the Nation, is an apt tribute to him.

The Department of Posts, at a function this morning issued a set of these three Commemorative Postage Stamps on the theme of Swachh Bharat. Swachh Bharat Mission was launched by the Prime Minister on the 2nd October, 2014 on the occasion of Birth Anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi. This all encompassing Mission covering our surroundings seeks to achieve “Clean India” and aims to provide access to toilets to all households in the country, and making adequate arrangements for Solid and Liquid Waste Management.
Release of a set of three stamps and a miniature sheet on the theme Swachh Bharat is a part of this effort to achieve the vision of Clean and Healthy India.

Courtesy – PIB , Indian Philatelists Forum

Tributes to Mahatma Gandhi

 

30 January – Death Anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi

Philatelic Tributes to Father of Nation

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Tributes to RK Laxman, the great cartoonist of India

 

R K Laxman was a cartoonist, journalist, illustrator and humorist. For decades, he showed the Indian citizen who we are. He holds some of the highest national and media accolade for his exclusive work on the “The Common Man”. R K Laxman’s great sense of humor gave birth to extensive ingenuity in political satire. Men with like him are rare to find.He was best known for his creation The Common Man, for his daily cartoon strip, "You Said It" in The Times of India, which started in 1951.The stamp issued by India Post  celebrates The Times of India, with the iconic cartoonist R.K.Laxman's "Common Man" .

India Post released a postage stamp on 13 November 2013 on 175 years of The Times of India,  featuring “ Common Man” cartoon made by RK Laxman .

Rasipuram Krishnaswamy Laxman (24 October 1921 – 26 January 2015) was an Indian cartoonist, illustrator, and humorist, started his career as a part-time cartoonist, working mostly for local newspapers and magazines. While a college student, he illustrated his elder brother R K Narayan's stories in The Hindu. His first full-time job was as a political cartoonist was for the The Free Press Journal in Mumbai. Later, he joined The Times of India, and became famous for Common Man character.

The greatest cartoonist  passed away on the evening of January 26, at the Dinanath Mangeshkar hospital in Pune, where he was on life support for the past few days. He was 93.Born in 1921 in Mysore, Laxman had no formal training in cartooning but the work he put out over decades was sheer genius. He began by drawing for local papers, and illustrating the stories of his famous elder brother, novelist R K Narayan, while still at college.

After stints at various publications and even a film studio after his graduation, he came to Mumbai in the 1940s. After a brief spell at the Free Press Journal, he came to the Times group in 1947 and stayed there for the rest of his glittering career.

The recipient of numerous awards, among them the Padma Bhushan, Padma Vibhushan and Magsaysay Award, Laxman's fan base ran into millions. He never let them down, drawing two cartoons a day, always brilliant, with consummate ease. His Common Man, created in 1957, was the symbol of India's ordinary people, their trials and tribulations, their little joys and sorrows, and the mess they found themselves in thanks to the political class and bureaucracy. But despite the sobering reality of this, there was never any rancour in Laxman's cartoons. His humour was always delightful, and no one could hold a candle to his brushstrokes.He will always be remembered as the greatest cartoonist of all time.

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New Stamps from Poland

 

 

Meteorological phenomena

Date of Issue : 30 September 2014

Polish Post recently published a set of four stamps on "Meteorological phenomena" and another set of four stamps on “Alternative energy sources".

 

Alternative energy sources

 

Date of Issue : 26th September 2014

Club News

First ever mobile stamp exhibition cum workshop

Mr Rakesh Walia and Philately Exhibition Van

Mr.Bishon Singh Sr.Supdt. of Post Office  flagged off  the van during the postal week the first ever mobile stamp exhibition in chandigarh for visiting various schools for one week informing the children about the educative benifits of stamp collection through workshops done by noted philatelist  Mr. Rakesh Walia. In total there are 12 frames consisting of 200 sheets. Around 2000 stamps are on display on various themes. MY STAMP Service has also been provided at this exhibition.

 

 

Philatelic Tributes to literary and music legends of India

 

10th October – 108th Birth Anniversary of RK Narayan

Rasipuram Krishnaswami Iyer Narayanaswami well known as R. K. Narayan (b. 10 October 1906 - d. 13 May 2001), was an Indian writer, best known for his works set in the fictional South Indian town of Malgudi.

Tribute to Great Ghazal Singer Jagjit Singh on his third death anniversary.

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Philatelic Tributes to Nelson Mandela

 

   

(18 July 1918 – 5 December 2013) 

Philatelic Tributes to the Great Leader

Today is Birth Anniversary of Nelson Mandela the great leader of South Africa.He was South Africa's first black president and anti-apartheid icon   died last year at the age of 95.  Various Postal administrations have issued commemorative postage stamps to celebrate the life and legacy of the anti-apartheid icon. I am sharing here some stamps issued on Nelson Mandela as a philatelic tribute to the great leader .

A copy of a postal stamp with a portrait of Nelson Mandela, launched at the Mandela Foundation for the 24th anniversary of his release from prison, in Johannesburg, South Africa."Printed in silver to reflect the richness of Mandela's legacy and his stature, the miniature sheet features a portrait of Madiba in duotone

Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela   was born on 18th July 1918 in Mvezo, South Africa to a Thembu royal family.On April 27, 1994, he was made the first President of South Africa elected in a fully represented democratic election. Mandela was also the first black President of his country.

  

His government focused on throwing out the legacy of apartheid by ending racism, poverty, inequality, and on improving racial understanding in South Africa. Politically a believer in socialism, he served as the President of the African National Congress (ANC) from 1991 to 1997 and adopted new Constitution of South African in 1996 that prohibits all discrimination, based on language, religion, handicap and sexual orientation, not only on racism. Internationally, Mandela was the Secretary General of the Non-Aligned Movement from 1998 to 1999.

Mandela received more than 250 honors, including the 1993 Nobel Peace Prize, the US Presidential Medal of Freedom, and the Soviet Order of Lenin. He is often referred to by his Xhosa clan name, Madiba, or as Tata ("Father").

Mandela was sick for several years during his retirement. He was hospitalized in late summer of 2013 from a continuous lung infection and  died on 5th December 2013 in Houghton Estate, Johannesburg from the lung infection. He was 95 years old.

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