ABOUT THE COLLECTION

I am extremely happy to share with you those cherishing golden memories of people and incidents, which even today giving me the inspiration and encouragement to attain new heights in linguistics and philately. Ever since the childhood, I experienced an intrinsic urge to  knowing something new and  apart from my textbook, general knowledge books were my first influence leading to be a regular quizzer. Besides, I nourished hobbies of inventing my own code languages and collecting stamps. One of my English tutors’ fortuitous glimpse on this and his eventual appreciation and advice to become an expert in the sphere of languages had a profound impact on my adolescent psyche.  Those inspiring words of my teacher around the age of 12 helped me to enter into the magic world of alphabets. Tamil was the first language I tried; I learnt it from one of my classmates. Simultaneously, with the help of the instruction manual of pesticides I began learning other Indian languages like Kannada, Telugu, Punjabi, Gujarati, Bengali and Oriya.

During my pre-university studies, I could master four languages including Arabic and Russian with the help of my uncle. The strange Russian scripts baffled me in the act of precise identification of the stamps from the Russian belt. In course of time, I began to concentrate on each stamp to find out the language and read the inscriptions on them. My Parish priest taught me Greek and Hebrew. In Physics, Chemistry and Mathematics the Greek letters were familiar but only after a hazardous endeavor, I could garner the exact idea of how they were used as a language for communication. By the year 2001 I gained mastery over the letters of 18 languages.

Later in 2002, I joined for paramedical course but my zeal of mastering new alphabets along with my philately was on a high augmentation mode. When I get new stamps from new countries with unfamiliar scripts, it opened doors to a new opportunity and an urge to conquer them. I spent my pocket money for learning foreign languages alphabets via internet and I could succeed in this venture and could reach at 50 languages by the middle of 2005. Once, one of my friends from a junior batch introduced me to a news correspondent from the leading national daily The New Indian Express. Her interview of me found a statewide news presence. I had an increscent evolution in popularity, indisputably because of the blessings of God and my long-standing friends who helped me in gaining more contacts worldwide.

In the due completion of my academics, I received a placement in a reputed hospital in my hometown, paving a helping path to attend the monthly meetings of local philatelists and their exhibitions. It is then I realized the essentiality of achieving mastery over a language instead of learning just the scripts. I stopped learning new scripts of languages to concentrate on philately. At present I am able to read and write 140 languages, just only 2% of the total world languages. Later I started to concentrate on thematic and systematic way of continuing my hobbies; I started banknote collection and philatelic cover collection.

I understood that there is no meaning in simply collecting the stamps; it would be great if they are on covers, reached in my post office in my address. Initially I used to keep all the envelopes from abroad. As Facebook and other such online communities became more popular, I happened to meet many big cover collectors and circuit clubs worldwide. Their way of collection inspired me to rethink about my way of collection. After the research in cover collection and the themes, I decided to start my own way of thematic cover collection in a different and attractive way. I designed and printed airmail envelopes myself to keep uniformity and also to keep standard quality materials.

I started the collection of envelopes by keeping them which were reaching from my friends who exchange letters and banknotes as a hobby. I came across many people who were collecting covers worldwide; some were collecting them as thematic, some kept all the covers without any specific theme or plan and some preferred the covers in a particular size. I had several covers from different countries then, but I was not fully satisfied because all of them were in different sizes and shapes, different handwriting, some of them had no postage stamps using only the postmarking or franking labels etc. After visiting the blogs of various collectors, I decided to organize my collection in a more attractive and systematic way. The most annoyed thing was the size. Also, I truly missed the blue and red stripes on the borders of the envelopes, which I had seen plenty in my childhood. I decided to bring back the design. Initially I decide to buy such envelopes, discussed with my friend in Saudi Arabia, but its long size again made me uncomfortable. Then I designed the envelope my own in preferred size, which is lesser than the long envelope and a little lengthier than the common C6 envelope. Majority of the collectors especially in Europe prefer C6 size, but I felt it inconvenient to affix a set of stamps and Registered mail barcode labels etc. So after my research about the appearance of envelopes, I decided to make the envelope in 11x19 cm size with blue and red stripes in a high standard 90gsm paper. I designed the file in Photoshop and consulted a printing company in my hometown, they agreed to print, but I was not satisfied in the output, especially in the color. Then I consulted another firm, they made it perfect. Even though it is very costly than buying from market, I was really happy in the shape and its ideal size to accommodate in FDC album.

Initially I was sending blank envelopes to my contacts who lived abroad, to send back the envelopes by affixing stamps and getting postmarked, the address written by them. After receiving few envelopes, I again started feeling uncomfortable with different handwritings, and also the stamps which are affixed on them. Some of them had different size of stamps, not affixed in order, mixed theme and sometimes with no attractive pictures on them. I, then, restructured the plans and finalized the rules of my cover collection as follows:

01. The covers should be in the size of 11x19 cm with blue and red stripes, printed by myself.

02. The return address should be in my handwriting with Luxor ink pen.

03. Purchase the valid stamps in advance with the preferred flora and fauna theme, in same size and shape.

04. Limit the number of stamps between 3 and 5 on the front side of the envelope, to avoid spoiling the beauty of the envelope.

05. Design unique Airmail labels for all countries and postal administrations and use them on my envelopes to make it increasingly unique.

06. Request the sender to ensure the clear date postmarking on the stamps, which is the only proof that the envelope is posted from the origin. Unclear postmarked covers were redone later to make them more authentic.

07. Collect one envelope as registered from all postal administrations (Not from territories because the postal service of the parent country will be managing the services, so the label design is usually similar). Even though it is very expensive, it stands as the more official and authentic proof of a travelled envelope which was posted from the origin.

08. Use a single recipient address - my office address in Bangalore International Airport.

09. There are a few countries, which are not allowing self-prepared envelopes other than their official envelopes to send registered mails. In such cases, contact their postal administration office or philatelic office, explain the rationale of using self-made envelopes and collect special permission to use those envelopes for postmarking.

10. Make a tracking record for all envelopes both dispatching and receiving it will help me in tracking them, understand the time span used to travel and even the mail routes.

The aforementioned concepts and aspirations began to breed from the beginning of 2012. Initially my ambition was to collect postmarked and travelled envelopes from all the countries and postal administrations in the world. I had not set a time limit as I found none who completed a collection of covers or postcards from all the countries in the world. Later when I started to sense that I am almost near to the goal, I decided to collect envelopes from all Russian Federal Republics and federal subjects. There also I clung to a special rule, the covers should have the stamp which has the name of the Region. Russia had issued a series of stamps from 1997 to 2011 with the names of each Russian Federal subjects. I collected all of them and started to prepare covers. Finding contacts were very difficult especially from Siberian and Caucasian regions. There are 85 Federal Subjects in Russia including 22 Republics. 95% of the task is already completed and I am waiting for the remaining which are on the way. I also plan to collect covers from all US States with regional flag and state name on the stamp, the covers from all the 13 Canadian provinces with the regional flags and name on the stamps and all 14 Malaysian states’ definitive stamps issued with state names. All the envelopes are ready and the endeavour will be consummated in the near future.

Finding the contacts from the sundry part of the world, especially from Central and West African countries, Caribbean, certain South American countries and Pacific islands was a toilsome task. Many of my friends, even celebrated collectors judged it as an utopian idea not practical in this life-time as it is a herculean task for a normal collector, whereto I am even adding extra rules and methods turning it as an unattainable goal. With the full sense of its difficulty, practicality and the expense, I did hang around the strong decision and never compromised in the method of collecting the envelopes.

The blog of Dr.Florian H.Tirk (a general philatelist, collecting travelled covers worldwide but no specific way or theme is followed) inspired me a lot to collect covers. I started contacting my friends who were abroad and explained my plan about starting a collection of envelopes and they all happily helped me to get them back in a perfect way. Later, I met a famous cover collector called Holger Kaufhold - a German residing in Belgium. He was very impressed with the way of my collection and agreed to help me with his contacts. With help of him I got in touch with famed globe-trotters, postal staff and other serious cover collectors seriously helping me in achieving my goal from remote locations. Holger, when visiting the remote countries in Africa, helped me to get the envelopes in the exact way I wished for as it is too difficult to get from African countries registered envelopes especially with pre-affixed postage stamps. Many of the countries accept the stamps which are directly purchased from their post office instantly, and the registration fee should be paid in cash even if one affixes the sufficient value of stamps on the envelope. It was big hurdle for me to get registered mails from such countries.

Another well-known world traveler David Langan, an Irish businessman, happened to see my collection and he agreed to help my project. He also collects postcards personally posted by him during his visits in the countries. He was very much impressed by my airmail labels designs requested me to design postcards for remote countries where the postcards are not available. I happily did it for him and afterwards we started to discuss the postage stamps, postal services, mail routes etc. based on the data collected before his world tour each time, and it helped me to prepare my envelopes in advance and send to him with the desired stamps. He visits all the remote post offices for getting postmarks. He visited Somalia once only for meeting the postal administration, but the country had no working postal services since 1991. He presented my envelopes to the Chief of Postal services of Somalia who got postmarks on my envelopes. It happened in 2016 and I published the images of my envelopes in my blog and Facebook community for cover collectors. The news had an international reach and many contacted me to know the current status of the postal services in Somalia. The envelopes were sent to me via DHL because of the absence of International Postal services. He helped me similar way from the remotest parts of the globe like Penrhyn Island of Cook Islands, Bougainvillea Islands of Papua New Guinea, Nauru, Kurdistan Region of Iraq, Artsakh Republic and South Ossetia etc.

Philatelic bureaus played a big role in sending back my envelopes as in my intended way and gradually I made a good relationship with the officials. Many of them got impressed on my way of collection, and also were happy to see the unique airmail labels of their country which is affixed on the envelope. Officials from Cayman Islands, Nauru, Papua New Guinea, Comoros, Palestine Post – Gaza requested me to get the copies of my self -designed airmail labels and I happily sent them a sheet of labels.

My working process of a postmarked airmail envelope is simple -  I do a thorough search about the stamps recently issued by the country where I plan to send my envelope for postmarking. Alongside, I conduct a minor research on the postal system, valid stamps, postage rate and the special rules for sending mails. After finding the ideal stamps, I search them with local stamp dealers, online shops or the country’s philatelic shops to purchase . I order them and once it arrives in my hands, I affix them on the envelope, writing my address in own handwriting, putting a thick paper inside the envelope to keep it in shape, then put inside a plastic cover which is fitted for the envelope for protection while returning after postmarking. Then I pack them well with a letter which explains how to send it back. After packing, I send the packet as registered mail to the contact. Once they received the packet, they will send back the envelopes from the post office as postmarked and registered.

Many an occasion I have encountered bitter experiences in getting back the covers. From the African countries due to mishandling of the envelopes, covers reached as wet, torn, or stamps are removed. Some covers reached as crumbled and corrugated. Receiving covers in such conditions after a long impatient waiting from a remote area obviously made me very disappointed. So, I decided to use plastic protective covers. It worked well - many African covers reached in perfect condition, free from mud stain and wet. It doubles the expense but I was not ready to keep ‘some ordinary something’ from a country. So, I tried till I got the better one. Another disappointing experience is the envelopes coming back without postmarking or a sign of posting. So, the total effort becomes waste, forced to redo till I get the envelope postmarked. Sometimes the envelopes may have illegible postmarks stacked under the genre of non-perfect covers  forcing  to redo the process.

The journey through the envelopes helped me to achieve a vast knowledge about how the postal system works in the world. And also, could gain good knowledge about the status of postal services in each country, special rules, postage rate, permissions and restrictions and so on. There are countries like Australia, New Zealand, and Afghanistan allowing only their own custom-made envelopes for sending registered mails. The country Kirgizstan has two postal service providers, one is government owned and other one is a private company, but both are issuing postage stamps and have philately services. This country had a strange rule before - only one stamp is permitted to be used on the envelope. If many stamps affixed on the envelope, only the least valued stamp will be considered. At the same time, a number of stamps they produce even in sets are thematic. When the new competitor came in private sector, the strange rule got abolished. Colombia, Bolivia and Uruguay don’t allow the use of stamps overtaking the mandatory value. The stamps affixed on the envelopes should be exactly what is necessary to reach the destination. But there are a number of thematic stamps in different values. So, the main post office or philatelic bureau only has the right to allow such envelopes for sending or postmarking which has stamps more than the value affixed. One of my friends visited Uruguay promising postcards for other collectors; she prepared all the postcards and affixed a set of thematic stamps to make it attractive. She visited the post office, which was outside the main city, and the postmaster refused to accept none of them. Later when she came back home, she contacted me and I could help her to get all of them posted from Uruguay after discussion with the philatelic bureau chief. In Palestinian Authority, The West Bank post offices will not accept stamps which are produced from Gaza local government even though it also comes under Palestine post. But Gaza accepts Palestinian West Bank issued stamps – which are considered in international as real Palestinian stamps. From Gaza, the international registered letters with “PS” barcode are not available, just a strip with the city name and a 6-digit number only. The mails go through Israel Post, they again affix a barcode tracking label with Israel “IL” code. From West Bank, the letters go via Israel Post but they can use own country tracking code.

There are two semi-recognized countries called Abkhazia and South Ossetia, having own postage stamps, postal service and own country code too. Actually, the country code called ISO 3166 is issued by an international body, but these countries made country codes by themselves with the support of Russia, and it is used as their mails tracking code. These codes are traceable too because once the tracking codes are registered in Russian Postal System, it goes as Russian mails. The first registered mails to India from South Ossetia and Abkhazia with their own postage stamps and barcode were received in my address.

These are only tip of the iceberg. I have planned to write a book about my cover collecting experience, with such inspiring stories, details of each postal administration, mail routes, postal rules, strange and interesting facts from different postal regions etc. All the knowledge what I have garnered from this hobby, is archived in my laptop for the next unique goal – writing a book about my experience in carto philately. Right now, around 2200 airmail envelopes are there in my collection sent from 338 countries/Regions. I have made a list for my future plan of collecting regions, which includes all states of USA, Canadian Provinces, Russian federal subjects and Malaysian states, and then the final number will be 510. I am also planning to collect covers from all Indian states, and also from all Districts of Kerala too.

On December 05, 2018 I achieved my goal, when I received my last missing country – Isle of Man. That was the moment I completed my collection of airmail covers from all sovereign nations in the world. By end of December 2018, I applied for Limca Book of World Records; they considered my application and asked the photos and videos for further verification. By May 2019, I received the confirmation about my application for the record is accepted and approved.  In November 2019 I received the final confirmation informing the record is set for 2020 LBR edition, which has gone for printing. On March 06, I received the LIMCA BOOK OF RECORDS certificate by Speed Post.

Another noticeable achievement in my life happened in the month of August 2020. I am appointed as the Chief Editor of the World's Oldest Philatelic Club called CCCC. The club established in 1947 at Waterloo in USA, issuing monthly newsletters regularly. Mr. Holger Kaufhold from Germany is the present Managing Director. We have various plans to modernize the club, planning to announce in the event of 75th Anniversary of the club, which will be held at Waterloo, Iowa, USA on March 05, 2022.

Here I am listing the highlights of my collection:

01. World’s largest collection of uniform airmail envelopes which were travelled through post

02. Postally travelled airmail covers from all countries in the world – 338 countries/territories

03. Largest collection of registered airmail envelopes in the world. 301 countries. There are a few countries that have suspended registered mail services and hence, the number is varied from the world countries’ list.

04. Largest collection of airmail envelopes from all countries in the world which are delivered to a single person through a single post office – Bangalore International Airport Sub Post Office, PIN 560 300.

Other Highlights :

01. I have collection of used postage stamps from all the countries

02. I have the collection of banknotes from all the countries which have own currencies at present.

03. I have designed unique airmail labels for all the postal administrations in the world.

04. I can read and write 140+ languages – which was published by media in 2005 and 2006 in leading local and national dailies. (The New Indian Express, Malayala Manorama, Mangalam, Deshabhimani, Kannadaprabha, Navika, Chutuka, Sudha , and the leading TV channels like Asianet, Indiavision etc)

On the right side of the page, you can see the name of the countries and territories are listed, click on them and start your world tour through the travelled airmail envelopes.