Today is 15th August
and India's 67th Independence Anniversary. I remember that 1st
Anniversary many many years ago when I came into possession of the now
famous Gandhi Memorial Stamps.
There
is very little that I can add to the vast knowledge people already have about
this Great Man. So, I will only talk a little bit about the Gandhi Memorial
stamps, which My Father bought for me. I remember (I was just a tad less
than seven years old then) going with him to the Post Office that day, stand in
line for what seemed hours to me and getting this wonderful folder and the four
stamps mounted on them. And it is these stamps that marked the beginning
of my stamp collecting career, and the start of the finest hobby anyone can
indulge in.
15th August 1948, the 1st Anniversary
of India's Independence was commemorated by issuing postage stamps on "Mahatma
Gandhi" in 4 denominations viz., 1 1/2 as. 3 1/2as., 12as. and 10
Rupees. The first 3 lower values are in Sepia-brown (Brown), Purple- blue
(Violet), Dark-green (Grey -green) respectively. The high value 10 Rupees stamp
is in Grey with a Reddish-brown background (Purple-brown and lake). incidentally these are the only set of stamps printed
outside India after independence. “COURVOISER S.A.,LA CHAUX-DE-FONDS of Geneva printed the set.
The clothing of
Gandhiji in stamps, in no way approximated to the Indian grab or the way
Gandhiji used to wear clothes. Actually the original photographs showed the
Mahatma unclothed above the waist. However, the anglicised
bureaucrats thought that it would be derogatory to portray of the 'Father of
the Nation' in such a manner. So they asked the Swiss Printers to
adequately cover the naked portion of Gandhiji's body, but they couldn't
reproduce it in the Indian Way.
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