I am proud to say that I have won the Silver medal (the highest eligible in Youth class) and my exhibit was adjudged as the Best Exhibit in Youth category @ TANAPEX-2017. I had some key changes to my exhibit based on feedback from the SIPA Diamond Jubilee exhibition. These included, removing FDCs, improving the narrative, removing stamps that seemed like they were padding etc.
This time also, I got some valuable feedback from the senior members. You can find the entire list of winners here .
I was asked to deliver a brief acceptance speech at the event.
Mylapore, is the Oldest residential city and cultural hub of Chennai. "Myl" means peacock in Tamil and "Mylapore" means Land of Peacock. This town is more than 1000 year old and is famous for Kapaleeshwarar temple(see link for story behind the name) and the Kesava Perumal temple. India Post has introduced the Permanent Pictorial Cancellation depicting Peacock and Punnai tree leaves on 14th November 1979. Hindus believe that those who are wishing for kids worship this Punnai tree, they will be blessed with kids. When you visit, you will see lot of small cradles tied on the punnai tree.
(photo taken from the net)
I plan to visit the town post-office to get the pictorial cancellation on the below Peacock card with peacock stamp on it.
4th January, the birth day of Louis Braille is celebrated as a World Braille Day every year. Louis Braille is the French man who invented the Braille Code for the blind people. He lost his eyesight completely in an accident in his childhood.
Before the invention of Braille code, blind people used "Hauy System", which is an embossed Latin letters. Since this system required lots of training, Louis tried to introduce an alternative system and he succeeded in his attempt. Braille Code is an embossed dots, uses a rectangular 3x2 cells and each cell represents one alphabet. The simplicity of this code enabled the publishers to print Braille books in large numbers.
"The Anna Centenary Library" based in Chennai-India, is one of the largest libraries in South Asia. It has a separate section for the Braille books on the ground floor. Below is the stamp issued by Luxembourg Post in 2009 for his birth Bicentenary. The cost of the stamp (0.90 Euro) is shown in Braille on top. The image itself is depicted overlaid on a fingerprint.
Thanks to the efforts of Sanctuary Asia, I had the opportunity to visit the Guindy Nature Park. We walked around 1.5 kms inside the reserve accompanied by guard and guides. We went as far as the ground where Black Bucks usually roam around. It is interesting to note that on Google Maps, the Black Bucks ground is marked as a "Polo Ground". Maybe it is used to play Polo occasionally?
Until early 1900s, this stretch of forest extended all the way till Tiruchirapalli. Hard to imagine that it is quite isolated now and the 8th largest National Park in India. Originally owned by a Britisher named Jeffries, it was used for game hunting and had almost 500 hectares of land. Post Jeffries death, it was sold to the Govt in 1910 to settle his debts. Subsequently, in 1947 it was established as a reserve. Currently 270.54 Hectares are demarcated as reserve and the rest is occupied by Raj Bhavan, IIT, Children's Park, Cancer Institute etc.
Today's walk was organized by Mr. Vinoj Matthew Philip with additional guidance from Mr. A.K.Sahay. Mr. Sahay has written a few books including : Glimpses from India's Natural World and Green Tops of Goa. We were accompanied by Mr. Kanniappan, Mr. Parthasarathy - Park Staff and Ms. Kamala Devi (My School Teacher).
The native deer (Indian Black Buck) are not vastly outnumbered by the Spotted Deer. The only predator are the Jackals and they are also rapidly growing in number. Indian Black Buck is one of the fastest animals on land and prefers open pastures for grazing. While the Jackals are scavengers by nature, they do their own hunting in this park.
As with any nature reserve, there are snakes, though mostly non-venomous. The top 4 venomous snakes including the Cobra and Russells Viper are also found here.
You can see the Black Bucks romping around in the video below. The 'real black' ones are the male and the rest are females.
You can see Mr. Vinoj talking about misconceptions around snakes while standing near a termite hill.
Below, Mr. A K Sahay is explaining the reason for rapid climate change and how it is going to affect all of us. Towards the end, you can see some Black Bucks as well.
Since this is a blog on stamps (!), I am including an assorted set of stamps of India depicting animals and birds.
Recently I had a chance to do a project on Heritage sites of India. I decided to take this opportunity to showcase my stamps. This is the second project I am doing with stamps (Earlier I did one project about Chennai using stamps). Through this I am trying to show that stamps are also helpful in your school work/studies. Click on the images to see a larger version..
Turtles are ancient creatures and they remain unchanged for millions of years. Ancient turtles like Dino Turtle are twice as big as today's biggest turtle Leatherback. To give you a sense of perspective, an adult Leatherback is as big as a double bed.
Below you can see a stamp issued by Malaysia in 1979 depicting the Leatherback (scientific name: Dermochelys Coriacae)
Six out of seven sea turtle species are in danger. To bring attention and increase knowledge and respect for turtles, World Turtle Day has been celebrated from 2000 onwards. Various volunteer organizations are working to protect this species from becoming extinct.
Greenpeace is working to establish a global network to form protected ocean sanctuaries on the open seas, areas beyond any one country's jurisdiction. These protecting areas will keep them safe. Give your support to this network to achieve protected ocean sanctuaries.
In Chennai, India a voluntary organization called "Students Sea Turtle Conservation Network" is working to save sea turtles, especially Olive Ridley. They conduct free walks during the hatching season (December to April) when they ensure the safe passage of baby turtles back to the sea.
Below is a miniature sheet issued by Sri Lanka depicting two animals. One of them is a Hawksbill Turtle.
We always confuse Tortoises and turtles. Most people use the term “turtle” to reference any reptile with a shell on its back, but there are several differences between these two unique creatures. Tortoises are turtles, but not all turtles are tortoises.
Tortoises have more rounded and domed shells whereas turtles have thinner, more water-dynamic shells and are streamlined to aid in swimming.
One major key difference is that tortoises spend most of their time on land and turtles are adapted for a life spent in water.
Tortoises have club-like forelegs and 'elephantine' hind legs. Because tortoises are often larger and heavier, their elephantine hind legs help them move around and carry the extra weight! Turtles will have more flipper-like legs, or webbed feet to make it easier to cruise through the water.
