The proud possessor of over 55,000 stamps, Rev Father Tom from Ranchi loves to collect moments of euphoria
From Lady Diana to Kapil Dev, Reverend Father Tom John has followed them all. Well, not personally, but in their 2x4 frames. The proud possessor of over 55,000 postal stamps, Father Tom from Ranchi is now in search of an able successor of his priceless collection which has not only fetched him laurels, but has also given him a chance to meet his real life idol, Team India captain, Mahendra Singh Dhoni.
Talking about his collection, Rev Father Tom says, "My first thematic collection was on Christmas. Now I have stamps on various themes like flowers, animals, cars, sports personalities, locomotives, Greek paintings, political figures, festivals, maps, cricket and important days like Women's Day, Independence Day of various countries."
However, his personal favourite is a special collection on Princess Diana and cricket as a sport. "I have around 1,000 stamps on Diana that traces every stage of her life and more than 450 stamps on cricket, since the inception of World Cup in the year 1975," says the Catholic priest, admitting that love and cricket are meant to bind human beings.
One can see various stamps of personalities like Don Bradman, Sir Vivian Richards, Brian Lara, Sunil Gavaskar, Kapil Dev, Ian Botham, Imran Khan, Arjuna Ranatunga and Steve Waugh among cricketers in the album, apart from his personal favourite — a postcard-sized stamp issued on Princess Diana, prepared out of 10,000 small stamps of flowers. "I have stamps on cricket World Cup 2011 released by a small island country St Guinea-Bissau, in the African continent. I also have stamps of legends like Sunil Gavaskar and Kapil Dev, both of whom were in the 1983 World Cup winning team. The stamps were released by St Vincent and the Grenadines in the West Indies. I hope, someday, our country's postal department will honour the legends on their home turf," he adds.
Rev Tom, who has pledged to continue collecting stamps, regrets that India has not issued a stamp on any cricketer while other countries have released stamps on Indian cricket heroes. "I have spent `5 lakh to buy those stamps. Cricket is one of the 186 subjects of my collection. Now I am in search of a young, sporty chap who can preserve my collection. In India, cricket unites people and teaches them to love the sport," admits the priest laughingly, who is currently in search of the stamp released on the inaugural day of the newly made JSCA International Cricket stadium, in Ranchi.
From Lady Diana to Kapil Dev, Reverend Father Tom John has followed them all. Well, not personally, but in their 2x4 frames. The proud possessor of over 55,000 postal stamps, Father Tom from Ranchi is now in search of an able successor of his priceless collection which has not only fetched him laurels, but has also given him a chance to meet his real life idol, Team India captain, Mahendra Singh Dhoni.
Talking about his collection, Rev Father Tom says, "My first thematic collection was on Christmas. Now I have stamps on various themes like flowers, animals, cars, sports personalities, locomotives, Greek paintings, political figures, festivals, maps, cricket and important days like Women's Day, Independence Day of various countries."
However, his personal favourite is a special collection on Princess Diana and cricket as a sport. "I have around 1,000 stamps on Diana that traces every stage of her life and more than 450 stamps on cricket, since the inception of World Cup in the year 1975," says the Catholic priest, admitting that love and cricket are meant to bind human beings.
One can see various stamps of personalities like Don Bradman, Sir Vivian Richards, Brian Lara, Sunil Gavaskar, Kapil Dev, Ian Botham, Imran Khan, Arjuna Ranatunga and Steve Waugh among cricketers in the album, apart from his personal favourite — a postcard-sized stamp issued on Princess Diana, prepared out of 10,000 small stamps of flowers. "I have stamps on cricket World Cup 2011 released by a small island country St Guinea-Bissau, in the African continent. I also have stamps of legends like Sunil Gavaskar and Kapil Dev, both of whom were in the 1983 World Cup winning team. The stamps were released by St Vincent and the Grenadines in the West Indies. I hope, someday, our country's postal department will honour the legends on their home turf," he adds.
Rev Tom, who has pledged to continue collecting stamps, regrets that India has not issued a stamp on any cricketer while other countries have released stamps on Indian cricket heroes. "I have spent `5 lakh to buy those stamps. Cricket is one of the 186 subjects of my collection. Now I am in search of a young, sporty chap who can preserve my collection. In India, cricket unites people and teaches them to love the sport," admits the priest laughingly, who is currently in search of the stamp released on the inaugural day of the newly made JSCA International Cricket stadium, in Ranchi.
Source : http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com
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