Basudeb Ganguli has a vast collection of rare stamps in his collection
Basudeb Ganguli is hands-on in communication, both in his profession as well as passion. A retired BSNL engineer, Ganguli would help connect people through phones and as a hobby he nurtures a deep interest in stamps that enabled people to write to each other, though such a practice is obsolete. His house in Bally is a philatelic treasure trove and anyone who wants to see his collection needs to spend an entire day at his house. Basudeb Ganguli is more than willing to host such guests at his stamp room on the second floor of his house, where there are albums, boxes and packets full of stamps numbering about a few lakh. These are rare and unique stamps that he has been collecting over the past 50 years.
a Charlie Chaplin postcard with a stamp preserved in Ganguli’s collection. Pictures by Anup Bhattacharya
The septuagenarian has worked hard to build this magnificent collection and is a passionate collector of stamps from around the world and India. When he took up philately seriously in 1964, Ganguli decided to do it systematically. “Over the years, I have made both country-based collections and theme-based collections. I wanted to do both so that I could take part in competitions,” said Ganguli. He is one of the few philatelists in West Bengal to own such a vast collection of stamps on various subjects and countries. One of his prized possessions is his collection on Charlie Chaplin. Some rare postcards of Chaplin, featuring stills from his films or pictures of the actor, along with stamps are in his collection and many people come to see these. “I was always fond of Charlie Chaplin, so I thought of making a collection of his stamps and rare postcards. I don’t think anyone has such a vast collection on Chaplin,” said Ganguli.
Stamp-collection became a casual pastime when Ganguli was in Class III and he found a Pakistani stamp on the road. “I would collect stamps that would interest me at that time. Later, I decided to take it up seriously,” he said. Juggling his duties as an engineer of the telephone department as well as maintaining his passion, has been difficult for Ganguli. However, he has never failed. “I would always keep in touch with my sources and they would inform me whenever they got any new stamps. I would manage some time out from work and collect them. I have been more directly involved after retiring in 2002,” said Ganguli.
He has been equally passionate about participating in philately competitions in India and abroad. He has been to several such competitions and out of those, he has won eight silver medals. “I have always missed the vermeil by a few numbers, except at one competition in Jaipur. However, those who have seen my stamps at competitions across India and the world, always appreciate my collection,” said Ganguli.
A one penny postage stamp of England
At international competitions, Ganguli has also bagged second prizes. His thematic collection on electricity won second prize at a competition in Kiev, Ukraine. The collection was arranged to tell a story about electricity, from its evolution to its modern uses and sources of energy with the help of stamps. “I had to think about how to design the theme and I thought explaining the evolution of electricity would be informative and I would be able to show my collection. Of course, I had to collect relevant stamps,” said Ganguli.
In his country-based collections, Ganguli has won accolades and another silver for his Great Britain collection in a philately competition in the UK. “I was the first Indian to have won a prize at a philately competition in UK. The collection was based within a certain time frame. I chose to focus on the period from the pre-stamp era to Queen Victoria’s time, between 1700 and 1900,” said Ganguli. Another priceless collection is that of 14 maritime mail covers, that are now obsolete and are rarely found anywhere in the world. “These are covers of letters that were sent between 1870-71, when maritime mail was first introduced. After a year the system had stopped and was revived later. It was believed that there are only four such covers, but I have collected 14 of them,” smiled Ganguli while he displayed the covers, kept carefully in plastic folders. Another prize-winning series is the one on chess which he had displayed at a competition in the US.
Among other subjects, Ganguli has also collected a series on Rabindranath Tagore. At present, Ganguli is working on a collection of stamps on mountaineering. “I hope to make an interesting series on this subject,” said Ganguli. Numismatics also interests Ganguli who, at present, has kept the subject restricted to India alone. “I collect coins on India, but I started late. Bangladesh came out with a coin on Rabindranath on his 150th birth anniversary. I collected that,” said Ganguli.
Lately, he has also taken to collecting match boxes. “I took to this from a friend and had collected a few hundred boxes on my own as well as with help from friends and relatives. I have got hooked onto it. On a trip to the Amarnath temple, I was actually looking for match boxes, instead of worshipping the deity,” laughed Ganguli.
MORE ABOUT BASUDEB
DoB: February 6, 1940
Born in: Howrah
Education: BA
Family: Wife, two daughters
Loves: Philately, numismatics, growing plants
Hates: Any kind of addiction
Dalia Mukherjee
