DKPA : Review of Philately a Hobby for All

The CD is a movie, an introduction to philately. This is more suitable for schools and clubs if they have plans to introduce children to the wonderful world of stamps. A bowl of popcorn and soft drink would make a wonderful accompaniment and more enjoyable.

The story is about a boy Rahul who hunts around for stamps, talks about stamps and is very enthusiastic about them. His grandfather (Prof Magal) happens to be a famous philatelist well known in the philatelic community and the philatelic bureau of Hyderabad. The grandfather tells the boy and his friends about the wonderful world of stamps on Sundays. The movie has a good introduction to different type of stamps. It describes the various type of collections country wise, thematic etc. There is a description of how to build up thematic collections on sports, personalities and children. On the whole it is a very good introduction to philately.

The interesting part is the procedures for handling stamps. The video gives a better picture of how to soak stamps, dry them and mount them on the albums. The various types of albums, mounts, hinges available can be clearly seen. Grandpa is a good narrator and makes the whole thing very interesting. The dialogue seems a little artificial but can be ignored considering the philatelic content. The description of how the stamps are printed, the various stages in the process is a good addition. A video of the actual printing process would have been more interesting.

There are images of a few stamps, especially the classics. The quality is not that good as they are not scanned images but video films. To sum up the presentation is good and even a four year old can sit through the 30 minutes movie without fidgeting. (One did).

Suggestions for the next edition

The story line can be improved with a visit to a hobby shop, the printing press, postal museum and an actual exhibition. Actual photos of Scinde Dak and some stamp rarities can be added. A look at the stamp sites on the internet using a home computer would tell the children how vast and widespread is this hobby.
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