India Post teams up with Delhi Quiz Club for first iteration of philately quiz

-A stamp features Sarla Maheshwari, a Doordarshan newscaster who anchored the telecast of the 1982 Asian Games in Delhi. Why is this telecast notable as a technological milestone?

-In 1985, the postal authority of this country dedicated two stamps honouring a pair of “eastern and western” entities measuring 138 ft and 125 ft in height. A few years later, the government collapsed. What entities were the stamps commemorating, which do not exist anymore but recently are in the process of being restored?

-Thermochromic ink is a special type of ink that has the property of changing colour as the temperature varies. In June 2017, to mark a certain event, the US Postal Service released a stamp with thermochromic ink, where by pressing a finger (a heat-activated change) a hidden image was revealed. What was the event? What was the image?

At 10 am on Saturday, a group of people waited eagerly for the doors of the National Philatelic Museum to open. Aged between 20 and 50, the men and women were ready to be questioned on everything from the first colour telecast and the Bamiyan Buddhas to the use of thermochromic ink in depicting a solar eclipse and a hidden moon, in a quiz organised jointly for the first time by India Post and the Delhi Quiz Club.

From the world’s first adhesive postage stamp, the Penny Black, issued in the United Kingdom on May 1, 1840 (it featured a profile of Queen Victoria) to colonial India’s first recorded use of an embossed stamp in 1852 (the words “Scinde District Dawk” circled the rim, and it held the East India Company’s emblem in the centre), communication has come a long way. Even millennials would remember licking a stamp and posting an envelope — an act that sealed deals, professed love, conveyed crucial messages of births and deaths, informed about college admissions or delivered missives from the bank, or an offer letter. Now, postal services are facing a challenge of dwindling users and competition from delivery services. Last December, India Post discontinued its Book Post services that allowed books to be delivered across the country at nominal rates. Yet stamp lovers have endured — and the love for all things postal seems to cut across ages, as the May 3 event showed.

“As curious people ourselves, we jumped onto the idea to do a quiz on this. The fact that we can blend the hobby of collecting stamps with a quiz filled with stories and trivia felt like a perfect marriage,” said Sumantra Sarathi Datta, the quiz master, who is associated with the Delhi Quiz Club. “I hope India Post and philately communities continue to bring in new generations. Stamps can be a medium to collect information and stories,” he said.

The club, which has been around for the past eight years, regularly conducts quizzes across the city, and even nationally. They also hold an annual festival tying up with colleges.

On May 3, almost 30 quizzers from college-goers to senior philatelists and regular quizzers rubbed shoulders in teams named Stamp Paglus, Dak Dak Go, Self Adhesives and Post Mail Clarity.

Dr Colonel S. Bhattacharya, who travelled from Hisar, Haryana, to participate in the quiz, said “I vividly remember in 2001, when the National Stamp Exhibition took place in Pragati Maidan. Stamps opened up the world to me. It is the king of all hobbies and hobby of kings.”

Another participant, Balagopal Menon, 29, a doctoral student in Indian Institute of Technology, Delhi, said, “I like learning new things and it’s also a great opportunity for me to meet people and make new friends. At this point most of my friends are quizzers and most of my weekends are spent in this activity.”

Menon isn’t alone in seeking more meaningful offline experiences. Activities like quizzing and hobbies like philately are increasingly allowing urban youngsters to connect and find like-minded friends. The Delhi Philatelist, for instance, hosts monthly meetings where people can even auction stamps from their collection.

Dweepobotee Brahma, 34, an economist who enjoys collecting, said, “To me, stamps that countries choose to commemorate tell a story of its milestones.”

“We are organising events to spark curiosity and engagement around the world of postage stamps and philately. The idea is to celebrate not just stamps, but the rich stories, culture, and history they carry,” a representative of the Department of Post’s philately division, said.