From edible stamps to stamps with seeds, this 11-yr-old has some rare postal memorabilia

“The event took place in the city after 10 years. It has given the newbies a chance to showcase their collection and learn from senior philatelists who attend the event,” said Dilip Chaskar, Deputy Director of the business department, GPO.

Among Gogri’s quirky collections were embroidered stamps, fragrance stamps, diamond stamps and much more, which she has been collecting for the past three years. The Belgian post office recently came up with their edition of edible chocolate stamps. The glue on the stamp had cocoa essence, which could be eaten, explained her father Kapil. Tia has inherited her love for stamps from Kapil, who is the governing council member of the Philatelic Society of India. Plantable stamps had seeds stuck to a flower, which could be pulled out and sowed, she explained.

“She has grown up watching me collect stamps, but she was never interested in the traditional Indian ones I collected. She could not connect with those. Once when I brought home a diamond embedded stamp from Austria, she immediately showed interest and started collecting since,” Kapil Gogri said.

Another striking stamp Tia added to her four-frames collection was a gramaphone stamp. A piece of music has been imprinted on the record part of the stamp sheet using a special coating. When one takes off the circular, ready-for-postage stamp off the sheet and places it on a gramaphone recorder, it plays a brass band version of the Swiss national Anthem. An Austria-based stamp Tia showcased was a comet stamp. The stamp had particles of real comet that had fallen in Morocco.

Among the other attractions, which won a prize in the senior philatelist category, was a collection tracing the history of Dinosaurs through stamps and postcards. ‘Make your own stamp’ cubicle saw the maximum footfall. Right from newly-weds to old couples took a sheet of 12 stamps with their pictures imprinted along with an image of the Taj Mahal or the Ajanta Ellora caves or a simple train.

On the first day of the gathering, Maharashtra Transport Commissioner Mahesh Zagade released the special commemorative cover in the presence of Nutan Mumbai Tiffin Box Suppliers Trust chief Raghunath Medge, who runs the association of 5,000-plus dabbawalas.

On the second day, a special cover on Dr Bhauji Lad Mumbai City Museum was released. On Sunday, S K Sood, general manager of Central Railways, released a special cover on Mumbai’s August Kranti Maidan from where Mahatma Gandhi had given the Quit India call in 1942. The event showcased collections of 25 philatelists, covering varied themes, from across the city.