“Health is Wealth” – Health is an important asset of human being which decides what and how you achieve things through multiple stages of your life if you are physically strong and fit. As the world evolved, the human curiosity to explore the dynamics of human cycle, diseases, prevention etc too upgraded with time with exploration of quality research and development. The health research across the world has provided a window of solutions as well as questions to understand what/how/why/when a human health is affected??what are the solutions to prevent diseases in human beings??how diseases spread?? etc.

For the general public of 21st century,Health was not an important and prioritised topic of discussion until COVID-19 pandemic transitioned our life. Hence we all started to think about how across the years we have been unknown about many different types of communicable diseases but there was always a solution available to us since the day we are born. We were unknown because while the health research across the world started improving in the late 20th century- multiple technologies, treatments were introduced to reduce or vanish spread of many deadly communicable diseases. One of the many solution was “Vaccine and Immunisation”.

As quoted by World Health Organization (WHO), Immunization is a global health and development success story saving millions of lives every year.

By giving vaccines,it reduce risks of getting a disease by working with human body’s natural defences to build protection. This blog post is on the journey of vaccine through different postage stamps of several countries.

Vaccine is although a final solution but to prepare one, it takes decades starting from understanding the disease to working on multiple trials and then the final version to provide to human beings.The first vaccine (small pox) was discovered in 1798. The most striking success of these efforts has been the eradication of smallpox disease from the planet.The concept of vaccine is based on the field of immunology. And with the passage of time, multiple developed as well as developing nations across the world has built up mass vaccine production facilities to cater to the needs of providing vaccines of diseases like Tuberculosis,Measles,Polio to large number of population

Usually vaccines for Immunisation is given at the early childhood age and there are many nations who has dedicated towards eradicating communicable or spreadable diseases through effective implementation of giving vaccines to concerned population. I have mentioned one stamps from Bangladesh showing expanded programme for Immunisation of children.

Immunization programmes in India

Immunization Programme in India was introduced in 1978 as ‘Expanded Programme of Immunization’ (EPI) by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Government of India. In 1985, the programme was modified as ‘Universal Immunization Programme’ (UIP) to be implemented in phased manner to cover all districts in the country by 1989-90 with the one of largest health programme in the world(Ministry of Health). India has been so far successful in eliminating or reduce spread of some major diseases like polio,measles,diptheria, Tuberculosis. Some of the vaccines under UIP are BCG, Hepatitis B,Oral Polio Vaccine,Rotavirus etc.

In India, multiple not for profit or internationally recognised organisations contribute to providing information or updating public on life saving vaccines to many unreachable corners of the country. Some are Red Cross Society ,Rotary International, UNICEF etc

COVID-19 Vaccination in India – The recent Success story

We all remember the clueless year 2020 when Covid19 pandemic hit our lives and there have been massive loss of human life from then unknown virus with only clue available to see the light at the other side of this dark tunnel- Vaccines. Researchers across the world as well as India worked and developed a vaccine to save lives across all groups of population. Indian covid vaccination program started on 16th January 2021 and it has reached to 220 crore vaccinations now after covering most parts of the nation hence saving lives. Thanks to the courageous health workers and stakeholders that made it possible

India released a special stamp to commemorate first anniversary of Covid19 vaccination and hence it is so far the world’s largest covid vaccination programme which has seen a massive progression to cover large set of population who were under risk. Therefore, health research and development determines a nation’s economic progression as it directly benefits the population to be saved from unknown illness and wealthy life comes when you lead a healthy life.

As we are gearing up for #festive moment next month with Navratri,Durga Puja and Diwali coming up ,I was thinking to write about #Ramayana and #Indiancultural connection in South East Asia and came across this beautiful Miniature Sheet stamps from my collection released by #Indiapost on the ASEAN India summit in 2018 and thought to write about each stamp with a small storytelling with #philately

1. Torana Gate is symbolic gateway in Kualalumpur,Malaysia to mark the friendship between India and Malaysia inaugaurated in 2015. The gateway is inspired from Indo-Buddhist Architecture and identical to Great Stupa at Sanchi,Madhya Pradesh

2.Menyembah is a dance form from Brunei Darussalam which means in Malaya a custom of Worship

3.Pattam Katha is scroll painting tradition from India – a  way of storytelling , below mentioned the painting on sita swayamvara

4. Darangen is an Maranao epic poem from Philippines.Maranao are indigenous community  of Philippines who has its local version of Ramayana which is “Maharadia Lawana”.It is a collection of tales which is passed from generations symbolizing the Wealth of Knowledge of Maranao people

5. Phralak (Lakshman) Phralam (Ram)  is the Lao version of Ramayana. It is the national epic of Laos.Below is the symbolic representation of Hanauman(Lord of Monkeys) who is considered as son of Phralam and Nang Phengsi who conveyed message to Nang Sida(Sita) prisoned in Lanka.

6. Yama Zatdaw is the Burmese Version of Dasaratha Jataka. It is Jataka Tale found in Buddhist Literature about the previous life of the Buddha as King named Rama. It was introduced during King Anawratha’s reign and went adaptations through separate invasions by Thai kingdoms

7. In Cambodia,”Reamkar” is the epic poem based on Ramayana.”Reamkar” adapts the Hindu ideas to Buddhist themes and proposes a balance of good and evil in the world.Below is the temple sculpture of Kumbhkaran,where he is being tried to wake up from sleep.

8. Kate festival is the highlight of the year for ethnic Cham people, also known as Mbang Kate. Over 3 days, the Cham people honour their dead and heroes from their history.The epic Ramyana amd Dam Sun of Vietnam witness similarity in the potrayal of heroes

9. Mariamman temple is the oldest hindu temple of Singapore established in 1827 by Narayana Pillai.Mariamman is a rural South Indian mother goddess who is especially worshipped for protection against diseases.The Temple has a Dravidian architecture.

10. Khon is a dance drama from Thailand. Best known character in the drama is the monkey warrior Hanuman. It has been performed live since Ayutthya Kingdom. Thailand Version of ramayana is called as Ramakien. It was this version that found its way to the walls of Wat Phra Kaew

10. Ramayana came to Indonesia in 8th or 9th century. In old javanese language,it is known as Kakawin/Yogeshwar/Swarnadeep Ramayana. The ramayana has its dominance in the culture in Bali,Java and Sumatra.The epic is performed through shadow puppetry known as Wayang Kulit,Wayang Purwa

So ,a beautiful amalgamation of the Indian cultural roots in south East Asian countries what makes the relationship between India and its Far East countries unique. It’s always interesting to learn about Indian culture and with storytelling infotainment it gets more fun. Hope you all enjoyed the reading

Time and Tide waits for none and hence as we say time is precious so are these beautiful clock stamps which just makes my stamp collection precious

As we are stepping in to celebrate 75 glorious years of Independence of Modern India,let’s reconnect to our nation,it’s diversity and culture with 15 selected themes. #INDIAAT75

1. TEMPLES

We know how artistically magnificient and culturally rich Indian temples are which have a story of its existence, architecture,location and tradition.

2. FESTIVALS

India is a land of #festivals and every festival is celebrated with happiness.A #philately display of some festivals of all the religions of India.Every festival has a moment of joy,celebration,excitement of its own

3. UNESCO WORLD HERITAGE SITE

India has the sixth largest number of UNESCO world heritage sites,in which 32 are cultural sites. So here are the stamps of 23 cultural sites- a showcase of culturally #vibrantIndia with a timeline of different phases of #Indianhistory

4. NATIONAL FLAG – TIRANGA

As #HarGharTiranga campaign is ramping up for #IndiaAt75 celebration, let’s look at #tiranga on some stamps of India
“Vijayi Vishwa Tiranga Pyara,Jhanda Uccha Rahe Humara”

5. INDIAN DANCES

The Indian Dances are a unique combination of creativity, storytelling,rhythm and melody. They are divided into #classical and #folk dances as derived from centuries old tradition of art, folk culture of India.

6. INDIAN RAILWAYS

The rail and road network connects the diverse India of different terrains.Train journeys are special mode of transport as it create memories of connecting with the grounded India.#Indianrailways are the Fourth largest rail network of world.

7. INDIAN FOLK PAINTING

Indian #folkart are a symbol of expression of culture shared by a tribe,community,region. Art depicts the tradition of storytelling archived in painted form.Some stamps on folk art of India to showcase the rich heritage of #indianfolk

8. INDIA IN INTERNATIONAL SPORTS ARENA

Indian players at international sports competition are bringing glory with medals and best performances. The recent medal showers in Commonwealth games and Olympics just made me look into the theme of Indian #sportsonstamps.

9. INDIAN HERBAL DIVERSITY

India’s herbal diversity is very unique and some herbs are very common thing we keep in our household and they are also used for medicinal purposes. It is estimated that out of 17000 plant species,India’s medicinal herbs stands at approx.7500.

10. INDIAN MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS

#Indianmusic is a masterpiece which just mends your mind and heart positively when you listen. There are many Musical instruments which are unique to South Asia. “Indian Folk and Classical #music“make you fall in love with India’s diversity

11. INDIAN FLORA AND FAUNA

Indian Flora and Fauna are in its edge of conservation and in effort to do that around there are 106 National parks in India which covers approx. 1.4% of the total geographical area of India.
Some stamps on our famous national parks of the country

12. YOGA

Yoga and it’s principles are best acknowledged to be given by India to the rest of the world. It is not just an exercise but promotes the need to be mentally and physically healthy in a significantly busy and challenging world

13. INDIAN UNIVERSITIES

Some pre-independent era universities of India were a centre of discussion,thoughts,integrity and prestige which may have given edge to post-independence educational development of India,some Stamps on prestigious universities established.

14. PUBLIC HEALTH PROGRAM AND AWARENESS

India is yet to go far in the field of #publichealth,with a 21st century pandemic being witnessed,there is need for strengthening #healthcare in India,in 75 years some programs including #COVID19 vaccination are good takeaways,some stamps on healthcare

15. NATIONAL ENTITIES

“National Entities” of India on stamps.Starting from “National River-Ganga to National Heritage Animal-Elephant” #IndiaAt75 . Wishing everyone #Independenceweek

Philately is not only about stashing stamps and postal stuffs,it’s also about knowing things with the resources you have and be more vocal about the positive insights the hobby gives you. As an Indian,I would love to showcase our diverse nation through a series of picture of stamps representing the #statesofindia.I am writing this post at a time as we are approaching to celebrate 75th Anniversary of Indian Independence or we say “Azaadi ka Amrit Mahotsav“. So let me show you the #statesofindia as well as the Union Territories through limiting 3 or 4 philatelic items showcasing each state. I may say each of our states are diverse in its culture and maybe incorporating each into 3 or 4 philatelic collectibles was challenging but I hope I managed to organize this.

1. ANDHRA PRADESH

2. ARUNACHAL PRADESH

3.ASSAM

4. BIHAR

5.CHATTISGARH

6.GOA

7.GUJARAT

8.HARYANA

9.HIMACHAL PRADESH

10. JHARKHAND

11.KARNATAKA

12.KERALA

13. MADHYA PRADESH

14. MAHARASHTRA

15.MANIPUR

16. MEGHALAYA

17. MIZORAM

18. NAGALAND

19. ODISHA

20.PUNJAB

21.RAJASTHAN

22.SIKKIM

23. TAMILNADU

24.TELANGANA

25.TRIPURA

26.UTTAR PRADESH

27.UTTARAKHAND

28. WEST BENGAL

SOME SHOWCASING OF UNION TERRITORIES OF INDIA

So that’s all for the post,I tried to showcase India through its state and UT through philatelic collectibles,hope you all have enjoyed it and I would be happy to get interesting feedbacks for improving my posts. Thank you

If someone is an avid traveller, someone archives the photo of the location visited. During the pandemic,if something was restricted it was travelling and being confined to home at that time,I started to think what if I can bring the location to my home only without any digital mode 🤭😁 (sorry I am not telling about going to quantum or VR world). With some off time while in “work from home” mode,I found some input articles about postmarks or pictorial cancellations of India and gradually found there is a whatsapp group where you can get info of the places/tourist location/location of national importance through postmarks (which is a philatelic branch which may not include stamp collecting also),I connected with some friends across India and got to know this is so interesting to collect postmarks where you can know so many interesting things about this country just by a simple black postmarks and this is how started being curious about places about India which I am completely unaware about except some. So posting some pictures of the pictorial postmarks where nearby post offices issue cancellation based on the locations importance. Sharing some of them received so far via postcrossing.

I hope you will find it interesting with travelling the whole India through postmarks the way I got curious too. That curiosity motivates me to learn more about this nation and also be curious in the work I do.

Enjoyyyy watching the postmarks 😉🙂

Because “Har postmark ek kahaani hai”

This year , an unprecedented milestone date came into everyone’s life in the month of February and just recall ,what you all were doing on that date!!!! That date was 22-02-2022 which was a very special date as it was a palindrome date(it can be read from both sides),ambigram date (it can be read in upside down if written in seven segment display format) and a complete date with all ‘2’s”.Infact, as the day was Tuesday on this date,this day will be fondly remembered as “Twosday”.

As a philatelist it was going to be a special one too as it’s all about saving the archived dates through postal memories. I was working in my lab on some mathematical data when I realised what was the date and I rushed to my local post office to get one postcard cancelled as a special archived memory.

And later as I have a pan India philately network friends, I received multiple postcards from different locations of India with this special “twos day” cancellation. I am posting some cancellation on this famous date which I received as a special surprise from my postcrossing friends. Although,I couldn’t do much effort in writing too many letters to postcrossing friends as weekdays are complete priority for work.I just archived one postal cancellation of university post office in my philatelic memory so that post 10 years I will remember what I was doing on that day!!!!

So stay tuned to see some of my “2’s day cancellation”

And just to make it clear!!! Next 3’s day will be coming in the next millenium (don’t know if human beings will be humans anymore!!!,dinasour may again come back 😅🥲)

When I got to know about this term, I was like it’s a damn crazzyy!!!!! thing but never knew I would soon join that club too. This is a field which is more exciting for a philatelist who enjoys photography at the same time for a photographer who finds a perspective while capturing photos to combine with philately. Here are some of my captures where philately was combined with the objects near me.

Here I am compiling some of my science,scientist stamps with photos together,hope you will enjoy this philatelic thread

1. Nobel Laureate Albert Einstein was born on 14th March,1879.He is best known for his theory of relativity which changed the entire course of physics but also his contribution to quantum mechanics is highly acknowledged as well.#scicomm #philately #sciphilately #AlbertEinstein

2. Remembering the legend #StephenHawking on with a special cover-one who inspired millions on how to create scientific impact irrespective of whatever challenge you face.His renowned work on cosmology unveiled curious corners of universe #philately #sciphilately

3. “Science and the Scientist” with #philately – Computer with a stamp on Charles Babbage regarded as the father of computing because of the research into machines that could calculate #xtremephilately #sciphilately #sciencecomm with stamps.

4. “Science and the scientist” Friedrich August Kekule was a famous German chemist who reported his discovery of benzene ring as the basis of major group of carbon molecules (he discovered the ring shape while in a day dream of snake seizing its own tail) #philately #sciencestamps

5. “Science and the Scientist” with #philately. Issac Newton and the ” falling of Apple” which changed the entire course of physics

#sciencestamps#sciphilately#scicomm#stampcollections

6. “Science and the scientist ” Nicholas Copernicus formulated a model of the universe that placed the sun rather than earth at the centre i.e. Heliocentric theory of the universe #sciphilately #scicomm #philately #stampcollection

7. “Science and the scientist “- Albert Einstein was awarded the Nobel Prize in physics in 1921 for his contribution to Theoretical Physics and prominently the discovery of the law of the Photoelectric Effect #scicomm #sciphilately #xtremephilately #philately #stampcollection

8. “Science and the Scientist”– #philatelic tribute to the scientists across the world who made it possible to see a ray of hope in the form of #vaccines in overcoming the challenges of this deadly pandemic “we shall overcome” #philately #covidvaccine #scicomm #sciphilately

9. “Science and the Scientist”– “Alexander Graham Bell Day” was granted patent on March 7 for transmitting vocal sounds telegraphically,3 days later he sent the first message through transmitter”Mr Watson,come here I want to see you”#philately #sciphilately #scicomm #invention

Last but not the least – A repository of some of the science stamps which is not just a piece of paper but a story in itself etched through scientific history,events, breakthrough inventions and many more.

As a philatelist, I have got quite a big repository of stamps, and I try to do something and others to bring some innovation in promoting philately. And in holidays or free time,I do one thing with my stamps other than sorting them i.e. Making philatelic collages that is arranging stamps in a order according to particular themes or colours and etc. The collage creation doesnt take too much time on making it,you just have to understand the patterns that’s all. I am sharing some of my philatelic collage so that one can get it better how it looks like

1. Collage on India on theme “Azaadi ka Amrit Mahotsav”

2. “Philtelic Monochrome”

3. Collage with flower stamps

4. Collage with Bird stamps

5. Queen Machin stamps of Great Britain

6. Stamps together from different countries