02 May 2022

Reflections

Hello everyone! 

My theme for my eighth AtoZ challenge was inspired by an online talk by Daniel L Nikrent of Cornell University, USA held by Maharashtra Vriksha Samvardhini about Parasitic Flowering Plants featured on Stamps

I am not a stamp collector nor a fan of stamps. But I do love plants and feel sad about the 'plant blindness' that is so common. I hoped that my posts will encourage readers to look around them as they move around in their cities. Notice the trees/herbs/climbers their leaves, flowers and how the plants change with seasons. 


In this process, I was introduced to the world of stamps and found it is extremely fascinating. Even though I kept myself restricted to India Post stamps, during my research, I saw many lovely stamps from around the world. I learnt that there are stamps on gold/silver foil, 3D stamps, scented stamps, stamps on wood, fabric... Wow!  

Philately is indeed a wonderful hobby. It can also be a tool to introduce children to various topics. 

Several scholarly articles have been published that use stamps (from all over the world) to study other subjects like Palentology, Fossils and Minerals. I am sure this can be extended to Animals, Architecture, History etc. Just needs some creativity on part of the teachers.

I was a bit apprehensive if my readers would enjoy my posts and I tried to strike a balance between plant and stamp information. Idea was that all visitors would find the post interesting. 

Dear readers, a big Thank You for all your feedback! And encouragement! Most of you (and I) remember having collected stamps at some point as was evident in your shared thoughts. 😌

Some comments really stand out .. In my Q postTimothy S Brannan commented that stamps were 'like tiny history lessons'. So true!! 

Viyoma has creatively used info from my posts which she commented on in my V post. I am so happy she found the post useful. 

Arlee Bird who has been collecting stamps for 60 years had most encouraging comments. In my B post he said, "In my years of stamp collecting I never acquired many stamps from India. This is a beautiful example of stamp art. A nice addition to any collection." 

A big Thank You to Afshan Shaik who has commented on every post!  

There were a couple of queries which I shall try to answer. 

In the T post, Radhika and Pradip Nair had commented about denomination of stamps. I consulted Dr Ajit Vartak - a famous geologist and stamp expert and Secretary of Maharashtra Vruksha Samvardhini in Pune. According to him, the denomination is based on prevalent postage rates. 

Jayashree had asked if Ashwagandha is used in Tea. Yes indeed. Apparently Ashwangandha Tea has huge health benefits but should not be consumed in case of immunocompromised individuals, pregnant women. Here is an article on this topic. 

Some other info about my theme. A general search on the Colnect site showed over 100 stamps by India Posts featuring plants. Of these more than 40 had botanical names on them, 30 had local names of the plants. I found 7 stamps with Roses and 3 with Jasmine. Other stamps had plants or flowers or fruits as part of overall stamp design. 

This is not a complete count.. there will be stamps that I have overlooked. 

There are many stamps that I could not include in my posts. These include many Orchids, Roses and medicinal plants. Stamps featuring trees like Cochlospermum religiosum , Chinar, Parijat, Coconut, Cotton, Coffee, Wild Guava also could not be included. 

Maybe I should showcase them in another post. 

Denominations have varied over the years. In my selection, 25INR was the highest in the Z post. 

Here is a cover that I have and been saving for the last post. It features the 2013-issued Round Leaf Asia Bell flower and is 5INR denomination. Its the only plant stamp that I possess. The plant is a native climber that grows in the Himalayas at 188-3600m elevation.

Codonopsis rotundifolia of the Campanulaceae family

Special Cover ' Mission Devrai' 


So that's curtains on the 2022 April AtoZ. I reconnected with 'old' AtoZ blogger friends and made new ones too! This year saw some awesome blogs. You can catch up on all the 2022 AtoZ bloggers here

Stay Happy folks! Stay Healthy! 

A ready reckoner for my previous AtoZ journeys:

2020 Experiences Of A First Time Grandma

2019 Caring For The Care Giver

2018 Contemporary AtoZ

2016 Herbs

2015 Gardens in Pune

2014 Exercising for Fitness

2013 Mixed Bag

20 comments:

Afshan Shaik said...

I enjoyed reading ur posts and know so much about our country in a fun way! I did my own reflections post today :) good day

Ronel Janse van Vuuren said...

Congrats on finishing the A-Z -- and it's awesome that you found plants on stamps for each of the letters :-) I just love finding new plant life on my morning walks...

Ronel visiting for A-Z Challenge Reflections 2022

Archana said...

@Afshan Thank you so much!

Archana said...

@Ronel Yes, morning walks can be a most rewarding experience. Thank you so much.

Crackerberries said...

Howdy... stamps are one of my best friends, however I do not collect them. I am an old fashioned letter writer so I try to find ones that are very specific to the topic I'm writing about. I remember one year we had a solar eclipse and the UPSP made stamps that changed with the putting your thumb over the stamp similar to a mood ring. Very cool. Congratulations on completing the A2Z challenge.
Cheers
Barbie

Timothy S. Brannan said...

Congratulations on completing this year! And I am so pleased you liked my comment!


--
Tim Brannan
The Other Side | A to Z of Conspiracy Theories

Deborah Weber said...

I truly enjoyed your series Archana. Although I didn't get to all your posts, I will definitely be circling back and catching up on them. I LOVE flowers and it was so lovely to see many of India's that I wasn't familiar with. That's such a treat - it always makes me feel like my world has expanded in a most delightful way. Congratulations on completing the challenge and thank you for brightening my world.

Hannelore Adler (SteampunkCowCorn) said...

What a beautiful theme you chose! I really need to visit your posts soon.
I remember that my mom used to collect stamps, too. I remember seeing some photo albums covered with many stamps as I was very young. I´m going to ask her about them. :D

Archana said...

@Timothy Thank you so much!

Archana said...

@Absenta Thats lovely! Thank you so much. Hope you enjoy the other posts as well!

Archana said...

@Deborah I am honoured! Thank you so much! I hope you can read the other AtoZ posts as well! :-)

Archana said...

@Crackerberries Wow! That is a really cool stamp created by the UPSP. Thanks for your appreciation! And so happy to see you here! :-)

Ria said...

I had to go to the dictionary to look up ‘presbiopic’! Lovely stamps and lovely plants! Congratulations on another A to Z win! For me, this was the first one. Sorry I couldn’t visit you during the challenge; caught up in the rush of daily posts! ~Ria

Archana said...

@Ria Presbiopic was a supposed to be a round about way of saying middle-aged! 🤦🏼 As you know, manypmany have to wear reading glasses after crossing 40. I am glad you could stop by. Thank you so much! 🙏🏻

Pradeep Nair said...

Congrats for completing the Challenge with many engaging and wonderful posts about flora and fauna. It was quite informative as well.
Thank you so much for taking my question and getting an answer for it. I really appreciate the effort you made.
Looking forward to your future posts.
Post-book blues



Archana said...

@Pradeep Nair Thank you so much! 🙏🏻🙏🏻

Red said...

Congrats on surviving the month! I'm happy to have "met" you through A to Z.

Archana said...

@Red Likewise ! 🙏🏻 Thank you!

Wendy said...

I didn't find time to visit you during the challenge but sounds like your posts were very interesting and informative. You obviously put a lot of time and effort into the challenge. Congratulations on completing it.

Archana said...

Thanks Wendy! Happy to connect via the AtoZ! 🙏🏻