Bihar father-son duo set to represent India in US stamp show

Patna: A father-son duo of Bihar will represent the country at the World Stamp Show to be organized at New York, US, from May 28 till June 4, in which 120 countries will participate.

The father and son philatelists, Pradip Jain and Pragya Jain from Patna, will be participating in the philately exhibition at Javits Centre in New York. Over 2.5 lakh visitors are expected to attend this eight-day extravaganza of stamp collectors. Six persons from the country - two of them from Bihar - have been selected to attend this event.

Talking to TOI, Pradip Jain, a senior philatelist of the country with over four decades' standing, said he would show his collection on Mahatma Gandhi memorial issue of 1948. On the other hand, Pragya Jain, a budding philatelist under the guidance of his father, will be showing his collection on 'A study of first issues of India 1852-1854'.

According to the Jains, there are seven categories of filing collections - traditional category, postal history, aero philately, postal station, thematics, Open class and literature.

"An aspiring participant has to file his/her entry one year prior to the exhibition. The participants are selected on the basis of merit of collection," said Pragya.

Talking about his journey as a philatelist, Pradip said it began as an amateur stamp collector, but today he is an established consultant in the philately circles of the world. He is a consultant for Bhutan, Malaysia and many other countries in south East Asia.

Pradip Jain also has published numerous research papers on philately, of which "Indian airmails" and "1984 Gandhi memorial stamp" have been particularly acclaimed. He has been honoured with several medals and citations in national and international circles for the past 40 years.

The philatelist has also earned the distinction of Fellow of the Royal Philatelic Society, London in 2015.


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