STAMP OF CLASS
SHORT STORY
A game of hide-and-seek leads Shreya to the attic of her grandparents’ house. And there she finds a treasure...
Shreya had come to her grandparents’ house in Shimoga for the holidays. She was playing hide-and-seek with her cousins in the large, ancient house. Most of the rooms had been tried and tested by Shreya and her cousins, so there wasn’t much choice. But it was fun, nonetheless, with all the shouting and screaming, and scampering about.
Shreya decided to hide in the attic this time, and hoped that the other children would not get the same idea. She took the stairs inside the house, and climbed three floors to reach the attic. The second floor was practically deserted, with the family choosing to conduct its activities on the lower floors.
She gingerly stepped on the spiral staircase which led to the unused attic. She opened the door to the attic, which was on the ceiling, and stepped in. She looked around. The attic was filled with abandoned things. Unused furniture and broken odds and ends. She found a bookcase, with its door hanging open on its hinges. She opened it, and found several dusty books.
Among the many books, she came across a leather-bound book. It was very dusty and looked very old. Curious, she opened it, expecting it to be a photo album. But surprisingly, she found the plastic sleeves in the album filled with stamps. She flipped the pages with growing wonder. There were stamps of different sizes.
She was able to make out stamps from India with portraits of eminent people. She also found stamps from other countries. There were stamps from Sri Lanka, UAE, France, Singapore and a few other countries.
Wanting to find out more about the album, she stepped out of the attic, and came down, to the ground floor.
She went up to Ajji and asked her, “Ajji, what is this?” Ajji looked at it and said, “Oh, that is your uncle’s stamp collection. He was very passionate about collecting stamps as a child. Ask your Thatha about it. He was the one who encouraged your uncle to begin his collection.”
Shreya abandoned the game and went looking for Thatha, who was in the balcony, in his favourite armchair. He was reading the newspaper. He looked up when Shreya came to him. “Enjoying yourself, maga?” he asked, affectionately.
“Yes Thatha, very much. I found this in the attic. Ajji told me that it is a stamp album, and you would be able to tell me about it”, she said. Thatha took the stamp album from Shreya and gazed at it for a while. “Yes, this is a stamp album. Your uncle used to collect stamps as a boy. But now, he seems to have forgotten about it.”
“What is a stamp album? And why did uncle collect stamps?” Shreya asked.
“Stamp collection is a hobby. Ever since stamps were introduced in the mid 19th century, people started collecting them,” said Thatha. “It was good fun and if your friends also collected stamps, then you could exchange stamps with each other.
“Apart from filling up your spare time, it could also be a source of pocket money. If you had a rare stamp, then you could sell it to other collectors for a tidy sum. Some people would also sell their collection, which again fetched a good sum. Stamp collection can be an interesting hobby as you can keep adding unique stamps to your collection. You can never have enough stamps. There are the regular stamps that we see commonly on most letters. Then, there are commemorative stamps, which are released to mark specific occasions, and also in the name of famous personalities. These stamps are issued for a short while only,” said Thatha.
Shreya nodded in understanding.
“Nowadays, stamp collection is not so popular, owing to other modes of communication, such as e-mail. There could be a handful of stamp collectors. Did you know that John Lennon of the Beatles, tennis player Maria Sharapova, and Franklin Roosevelt avidly collected stamps?” Thatha said.
“Wow, Thatha,” smiled Shreya.
“Here, you take this album Shreya, and try to add to it,” said Thatha, giving her the stamp album. “I shall buy you a new album, so that you can put the new stamps that you collect into it.”
Shreya beamed. “Thank you Thatha, I shall continue our legacy!” she said.
