Collecting stamps in the age of emails is fun and rewarding

Stamps. I had lots of them. I considered my father’s collection as an inheritance. And then it grew bigger. My mother used to bring me stamps from her office to add to my collection. I had all the patience to sort them, soak them in water and scrape out all the extra gum or chits that were stuck behind. I used to categorise them country-wise and place them neatly in the album. When my father’s album was full he got me a new one. I was over the moon! It was a smaller one but then I was only a beginner. And officially I became a philatelist doing my job; philately.

I did have other collections to take care of. I cut off buttons from old worn out clothes, colourful bread packet clips and also wedding invitation cards. But these were all to pass time while the stamps were getting dried up in the sun. Once I started a career and got hold of more stamps from my work place, it was even more enticing for me to keep going with my hobby.

And then came the realisation. Gradually but surely. Electronic mails had arrived and who ever wanted to write anymore! This species was on the verge of extinction. I was left stupefied.

It was at this juncture that a competition was being announced for art lovers and stamp collection was one of the items among others. I had to compete hard with the only other participant who had truckloads of stamps all of which she could not exhibit due to space constraints. While I, contrastingly, had arranged well and thoroughly for all my well-wishers to gather. Though obviously I took home the second prize I was remarked well for my stupendous effort that stood the test of time and that was all worthwhile.