THE ECLIPSE

When The Sun shines bright,
The Lady Earth became tenderly affectionate for him.
It glows with supreme radiance.

But no body knew, that there is a poor Moon as well.
Sharing the sky at the same time.
He is timid.
He is innocent and shy;
And has poorer radiance than The Sun himself.

But he never stops.
He tries always to help the beautiful Earth and her people.
He is consciously aware that the Sun is the king.
But he never stops trying.
He never stops learning.

And when the night comes.
He tenderly opens up his light to the Lady Planet,
During when the King Sun is away.
But now The Earth and her people is busy in sleep.
She never notices moon is still awake for her.

Moon feels the pain each night.
It mutilates him and starves him.
But he adjusts, he learns.
Such is life maybe, he thinks.

Maybe moon is meant to be like that.
That's what God made him for.
That's what moon has to accept.
That's his harsh reality.

The next day the Sun rises again.
With its blinding power of radiance.

The little Moon yearns,
Waiting for that one day...
To match the grace of the king.
And the heart of Lady Earth and her people.

Then he conjures up courage,
And takes his shot at redemption.
A redemption on his fate, and carve out his own destiny.

Over an ever illuminating Sun, the moon tenderly blocks him in between.
It's the day of THE ECLIPSE.
Its the day of the Solar Eclipse, the day when the Earth went blind and dark.
The day the moon dreamed of; the day he desired the most.

He blocks the mighty sun, right in between.
His sides start burning; but he withstands the pain.
The lady Earth jumps up from her siesta to this surprise.
A moment when the mighty Sun is blocked by the little brave Moon; and his glorious rays starved.
The moon stands there, looking down on her.
His face had the beauty of a magnificent triumph.

And unknowingly, THE ECLIPSE offered to the Earth a sublime gift;
The Diamond Ring...
The Diamond Ring that formed when the Moon courageously blocked the mighty Sun.
The Earth smiled.
She loves a man of courage. She delicately accepted the beauty of the ring.
The day The Moon had thought in his quest for redemption had arrived.
THE day of "THE ECLIPSE" had arrived.




P.S: The "diamond ring effect" is a visual phenomenon that occurs during a total solar eclipse, when the moon comes in between the Earth and the Sun forming a collinear line in space, blocking the sunlight to the Earth for a small period of time. The Ring Effect is seen from the earth during a TOTAL SOLAR ECLIPSE, when standing in the umbra of the moon's shadow.

I dedicate the poem to this beautiful phenomenon of Nature.

Because Freedom is Venom...

How do you define freedom? Is it a state of being, or is it a state of mind?

Human race is subjected to a life, which ultimately isn't under their control. They believe they are free, but they aren't. Some may conversely believe they are subjugated, but they aren't.

Freedom in its purest form is dangerous. It is venom. It paralyses the arm. It stalls the brain into inaction. It is fatal. Why? Maybe because freedom is a terminator. It is the end. In freedom, you are locked. Why? Because it is the ultimate destination where human race wants to reach. There is no way ahead of it. It sounds dangerously criminal hence.

Post Olympic Stress Syndrome: A condition that Olympic achievers experience post the psychological high after the Olympics are over. Training for the Olympics and the mental and physical turmoil that accompanies it, is something that they unknowingly love. For once, everything in life for them was the field, the training, the coaches, the fear of losing and the quest for that adrenaline rush when on the podium. 

Ultimately, after being on the podium, when the Olympic Gold has been conquered, when you have defeated the best in the world, when you have conquered the paramount peak in your sport, there suddenly becomes nothing more to achieve. The next day you wake up to voidness. You are blank. There is suddenly no purpose. There is suddenly no meaning. There is suddenly nothing left to achieve. They now miss their turmoil, their strife back in the training days. They had a goal to achieve then. For now, sight is lost perhaps. The Olympic triumph is itself culminating into a mental loss. The journey is over. Is this the meaning of being free? I ponder.

Isn't it then fair to say, that the journey towards that imaginary state of freedom, is itself the true essence of freedom?  

Isn't it then fair to say, that being captive in a complete mess, in the pursuit of freedom, is better than being in the state of freedom itself?

Subjugation is necessary, albeit to the quest of what 'you' believe is worth going for. The moment when the mind feels that freedom is the epitome of desires, his life collapses like a pack of cards. Why? Because freedom is venom.

A TRYST WITH PHILATELY

Featuring SAGAR DIGHE and his exotic collection of stamps

It was an usual lecture day in college. We were flooded with streams of data from the Professor teaching Antennas. It was like a daily Information Overload scenario. Quite unassumingly, a normal looking notebook reached me after doing its round in the classroom. I opened it to see the name.

"SAGAR DIGHE"

Believing it to be a misplaced notebook of my dear friend SAGAR, I closed the book to parcel the item back to him; who was sitting engrossed in the lecture some metres away.

Impulsively, I thought to open the book to see what it was hiding under its cover. Behold! A large collection of stamps from most of the countries on this planet.

Stamps are something that many of us always feel associated with. It can withstand the test of time. It not only is a custom made legal evidence of payment of postage, but a vast resting place of the country's Geography, Politics, History, Culture and its Scientific Innovations that etches its place on that tiny piece of paper. A look through the stamps of the bygone era can significantly help you point out the mood of the nation during that time. Study of the vastness of this subject and associating the knowledge that this small piece of paper holds is what learned ones call PHILATELY. 

I discovered a new budding Philatelist that day, my friend Sagar. It was a pleasant surprise to know that he collected stamps all the way from his childhood. I vowed to bring some elegant stamps from his collection into the online digital world.

For his painstaking collection, classification, sorting and documentation of stamps from the entire world, I dedicate this article to him. May his collection breed like an epidemic.

Showcasing selected stamps from Sagar's collection along with some snippets on certain interesting stamps:

INDIA

           

Engaging stamps in this collection include the 100 Year Census Centenary Celebration stamp. 1871 was the year in which the first comprehensive census of India was initiated under the British Empire. In 1971, a hundred years later, we had a new postal stamp glorifying that milestone.

The stamp to its right honors Michelangelo, depicting a part of his masterpiece, The Creation; a picture that surpasses the boundaries of time in showcasing its greatness.

In the last row we have India's greatest philosopher Shri Ramana Maharshi. It was noted that the founding fathers of Psychology, Carl Gustav Jung, on his maiden visit to India, feared meeting Ramana Maharshi in Kerala, as he felt he would be intimidated by the vastness of Maharshi's knowledge.

                

One of the stamps here include Indian Navy's major warship during the 1970's, INS Nilgiri. Interestingly, the authorization date on the stamp is marked manually as 1969. Yes we have an authentic copy of a stamp that is more than 45 years old.

Other standout stamps include India's greatest painter Raja Ravi Verma and the beautiful Kishangarh style painting of Radha.

But the most historic amongst these is the depiction of 6th Century BC Persian King Cyrus the Great, who wrote the first HUMAN RIGHTS CHARTER. The roll in which the original charter was written is still preserved centuries later at the British Museum. The stamp interestingly marked the 2500th anniversary of this Charter.

               

Cricket is what catches the eye instantly here. 1971 was the year India won its first series in England. Probably its biggest landmark ever, considering it was its first. The stamp proudly shows its birth year as 1971.

What also enthuses me here is India's first satellite Aryabhatta in an orbiting posture in space. 1975 is the date on the stamp. The satellite was launched on April 19 1975, making ISRO and India own a satellite in orbit for the first time ever. We have now come a long way from there to now own our first orbiting satellite around MARS!

Notice how the stamps beautifully correlate the historic achievements of  the nation during that point in time. It etches an achievement forever and can pass the message onward to generations to come.


       

It is 1969 and only one thing strikes hard; the first man on moon. Here we have it; "ONE GIANT LEAP FOR MANKIND", christened as a stamp during that time.

Right on top we have a celebratory stamp of 25 years of Indian Air Force, released in 1958!

Today Indian Air Force ranks amongst the top elite air strikers in the world.

ENGLAND

                  

A complete domination by Queen Elizabeth. Most of the stamps are from 1975.

UAE, BAHRAIN, SAUDI ARABIA, QATAR and PAKISTAN

Notable stamp here is of the CONCORDE Aeroplane. Scheduled passenger planes of the world's first supersonic aeroplane were started between London and Bahrain. Hence Bahrain thought of adding this milestone onto their stamps.

Oil refineries started taking mainstream role in the Gulf. This is the point marking the wealthy transition of the Gulf into what it is today.

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA and CANADA

USA is a nation that keeps great pride in the valor of its past Presidents. Be it stamps or aircraft carriers, they name them rightfully after their Presidents. Here we have Mount Rushmore, a phenomenal mountain sculptor of four US Presidents at the top row. 

Other stamps include Presidents Jefferson, Eisenhower, Washington and Lincoln. The White House also takes prominence in their stamps.

But my favourite here, is the very first stamp from 1957. It was the year when the two superpowers, Russia and USA, ended the space race by a beautiful experiment. Both of their respective space vehicles Apollo and Soyuz were blasted off simultaneously with people on board. When in space they docked with each other and we had the first, most important hand shake in space. Such a sweet moment! The stamp glorifies that moment of docking.

SINGAPORE

A very eye catching stamp here is that of the Bharathnatyam dancer in a Singaporean stamp! It very precisely points out the Indian diaspora and its cultural connection to Singapore.

In fact the name Singapore itself is derived from Sanskrit roots "Simha Puram", which means the town of the Lion. 

HONG KONG

Quite astoundingly, we have the Elizabeth series of stamps, similar to the England ones, here in Hong Kong as well. It was released during the British rule of the Hong Kong. 

Now, Hong Kong is served as a Special Administrative region of China. 

We also have a stamp dedicated to the royal visit of Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip circa 1975.

DENMARK

 Stamp features King Frederik IX from 1967. We also have the State Seal of Denmark: the three lions and hearts.

SOUTH AFRICA, MALI, KENYA and TANZANIA

One of the central stamps here showcase all the flags from the African continent. It symbolizes their internal unity that made way to a special trade fair in 1972.

 JAPAN

Japan uses their state name as NIPPON in all their stamps. They even follow this in all internal references to their name. NIPPON is also frequently preferred for official purposes, including money, and international sporting events.

PEOPLE'S REPUBLIC OF CHINA

  AUSTRALIA

Queen Elizabeth II series again repeats here in Australia. The British left quite a formidable footprint in all the areas they governed using their stamps!  

FRANCE

PORTUGAL

GERMANY and THE NETHERLANDS

ISRAEL

GREECE

UGANDA AND KENYA 

 GREAT BRITAIN and FRANCE

 SRI LANKA

EGYPT 

CZECHOSLOVAKIA

ZAMBIA

AUSTRIA

SPAIN

 NEPAL

 ARGENTINA

TURKEY 

SWITZERLAND

 Helvetia is the female national personification of Switzerland, which is used as the official name of Swiss Federation.

ELIZABETH REGINA COLLECTION

BELGIUM

SWEDEN, RWANDA, BURUNDI, CYPRUS, ROMANIA 

Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR)

ITALY

KOREA

MAURITIUS

SOME MORE EXOTIC AND RARE INDIAN COLLECTION: 

Wishing the dilettante of Philately and my dear friend SAGAR DIGHE all the best in life. May his collection culminate into an even bigger treasure. Hope the explorer in him never dies.

Thank you for reading!