Daijiworld Media Network - Udupi (SP/HB)

Udupi, Oct 28: Laxminarayana Nayak from Kallianpur here has been an avid philatelist, and he has been collecting stamps for the last 40 years. His collection boasts of about 28,000 different types of rare stamps. Nayak is of the opinion that if the children cultivate such hobbies their thought process will expand and the time they spend will be worthwhile unlike the mobile addiction that results in wastage of time.

Perhaps he is among the firsts in coastal Karnataka to be having a special collection relating to Kannada Rajyotsava. Out of 95 stamps released by the state government about different achievers, tourist spots and centres of faith, water, land, culture, etic, Nayak has 87.

So far, Nayak has organized over 50 exhibitions in schools, colleges, Sahitya Sammelans etc. His plan is to complete 75 exhibitions.

Not only postal stamps, Nayak has the hobby of collecting gold, silver, aluminium, copper coins. He collects foreign currency notes and coins too. He has also collected stamps on specific subjects like Mahatma Gandhi, Lord Ganesha etc.

Nayak began to cultivate an interest in this field when listening to lessons in Kallianpur Hindu higher primary school due to encouragement by the teachers and he drew inspiration from his father too. He confesses that when mobile phones were unheard of, he derived entertainment through collection of stamps. He says he entirely used his pocket money for this hobby. He has collected coins and stamps brought out by the government on various special occasions.

Nayak says that the government releases stamps after identifying places which contributed to the development of Karnataka, people who represent the culture here, and also tourist spots. His collection has stamps with the pictures of Sir M Visvesvaraya, Dr Rajkumar, fish, Dr TMA Pai, Shankarapura jasmine, Konkan rail etc. He also has coins which the kings presented during the times of his ancestors. Some of the stamps he has are very old and therefore they need to be preserved carefully, he says. Laxminarayana wants to hold exhibitions in more and more places and urged the parents to encourage their children to cultivate this hobby.