Now Reading: Ex-serviceman preserves rare 1947 ‘Jai Hind’ stamps in Kozhikode
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Ex-serviceman preserves rare 1947 ‘Jai Hind’ stamps in Kozhikode
Ex-serviceman Sarin Kumar Nair from Kozhikode owns a rare complete set of Independent India's first postage stamps, the 1947 'Jai Hind' series, Mathrubhumi English reports. The set of three stamps, the National…
The Story in Brief
Ex-serviceman Sarin Kumar Nair from Kozhikode owns a rare complete set of Independent India's first postage stamps, the 1947 'Jai Hind' series, Mathrubhumi English reports. The set of three stamps, the National Flag, the Ashoka Stupa, and a Douglas DC-4 aircraft, is nearly 80 years old. Nair says only about five or six people in Kerala have the complete series.
Nair's collection also includes stamps from all 195 UN-recognised nations and rare colonial-era issues from British, French and Portuguese India. He has won third place in state and national philatelic exhibitions and participated in a virtual exhibition from Boston.
The Indian Opinion
This is a feel-good Independence Eve story, and that is fine, but it risks turning patriotism into a commodity. The owner himself says only five or six people in Kerala own this set, so the hobby remains elite. Does the media really need to frame stamp collecting as a form of national service? A better test: can Sarin Kumar Nair or any other collector get schoolchildren in Kozhikode to trade their phone screens for albums?
Source: english.mathrubhumi.com
This story was synthesised by AI from the source linked above.
