YEAR BOOK OF INDIAN PHILATELY: 2011 by MADAN MIDDHA

2011 edition 0f Year Book edited by Madan Middha has been released with many varying contents in 26 chapters.  It starts with the Preface by the Editor and articles by noted philatelists Mr Ashok Bayanwala, Naresh Agarwal, Rajesh Paharia and Jeevan Jyoti on different branches of Philately. It covers details of philatelic activities of the year 2011 like Postal history, new issues, Postal stationery,Club News, exhibitions and many other important aspects of Philately. The book is a must for true Philatelists and would be helpful companion for all stamp collectors too . The Editor has taken pains to bring all related topics under one roof and has given a form of this wonderful book with a reasonable Price.

Excerpts of  PREFACE of the Book:

It is one of the greatest mysteries I have ever encountered in my life! After all Philately is what? Is it an accumulation of a government product called stamps? Or it is collection of the pre-payment tokens for a service, i.e. the delivery of letters? Is it concerning a commodity or a commercial activity? Is it a pastime or a profession? Is it a hobby for the youth or is it a serious recreational pastime for the matured? Is it History or is it a research subject? Is it the world itself or a window to the world of culture and humanity? Is it a specialised trade or a new investment avenue for the investors? After all what is it? How can Philately be explained and defined properly?

How should this great hobby be presented before others including the new-comers? Let us ponder over it once again.

Philately is a Great Recreational Hobby........
Philately is a Great Pastime for the Elderly........
Philately is a Great Friend Maker / Socialiser........
Philately is Aesthetics and Great Inspiration........
Philately is a Great De-stresser........
Philately is a Great Internationaliser........
Philately is a Great Learning process for the youth........
Philately is the Greatest Illustrative Encyclopedia........
Philately is the Biggest Window of the World........
Philately is a research Universe........
Philately is History........
Philately is a serious Study........
Philately is a Professional Activity........
Philately is a Niche' Investment Avenue........

Now what can we extract from all the above discussion? After all what is philately? Which word can explain all its traits?

After going through a number of dictionaries and thesauruses I fail to find a word which can define the Philately with all its qualities, except the word Philately itself !

So, what now? We surrender. Let the Philately be Philately. Nothing can explain it, but only our pure love & respect for this great hobby. Come; let us re-devote ourselves for it, for it has given us major portion of all our happiness & enjoyments. AMEN.

As usual, let us conclude with happy notes once again. Blessed by the good wishes of our learned readership the “Year Book of Indian Philately” has won a number of more awards. It started the year with a 'Bronze' at the 'INDIPEX 2011' at New Delhi in February 2011, followed by a 'Silver Bronze' at the 'NIPPON 2011' at Yokohama in Japan in August 2011 and a ‘Bronze’ at 'CHINA 2011' at Wuxi in China in November 2011. At home it has won a 'Silver' at the 'SINE 2011' at New Delhi in November 2011. We have surprisingly discovered that the Year Book has won a medal at every competitive exhibition, it has participated in!! We are reproducing here-in-after the score card of the Year Book of Indian Philately for an instant view. Is not this a delighting news? But this imposes a new set of duties too. We have to commit ourselves to higher standards to maintain this record, and…… WE DO.

You can expect a better outcome every next time. We are committed to this.

We trust to have the usual whole hearted support of our learned readership, all the ways; all the times.

Thanks.
Madan Middha
Editor

For Book Contact : Madan Middha (Editor)
email : madan_middha@yahoo.co.in
Price : Rs. 250/-  US $ 20