THE INDIA STUDY CIRCLE FOR PHILATELY

Celebrations for the 75th Anniversary of the ISC took place on Wednesday the 7th of May, the first day of EuroPhilEx 2025, held in Hall 9 of the National Exhibition Centre, on the outskirts of Birmingham, UK, and were a great success.

Between 1pm and 3pm, a Display Meeting was held; Piyush Khaitan gave a presentation on ‘Indian Crash Mails’, followed by Paul Allen with ‘Indian Mail Going East’ and Peter Webb rounded off with three frames of sheets on the subject of ‘Indian Hospital Ships of World War I’. Although a fairly small room, it could seat about 30 people and at times there was standing-room only. Members then returned to the main hall where Dinesh Kanabar (‘The Treasure of British India Archives’), Markand Dave (‘The 1929 Air Mail Stamps of India’ and ‘The Rocket Mails of India 1934-44’) and Dan Walker (‘Hyderabad – A Princely Indian State’) talked through their exhibits at the frames.

At 5.15pm, a booked coach took those members and guests who were going to the continuation of the Jubilee celebrations from the NEC to the Jilabi Restaurant, a short distance in the direction of Birmingham city centre. The group of 26 included participants from Argentina, Germany, India, Pakistan, the UK, the USA and, importantly, David Feldman and representatives of David Feldman SA, International Auctioneers of Geneva, Switzerland, who had generously sponsored the production and distribution of the 75th Anniversary book and also an open bar.

In the Restaurant’s Private Function Room, between starters and the main meal, copies of the Diamond Jubilee Book were unveiled for everyone to examine, to great acclaim (although members’ individual copies were not given out, as they are due to be posted to every ISC member directly from the printers in India.) The atmosphere was very relaxed and convivial and, although there were several speeches, these were quite informal. The proceedings finished at about 9.30pm.

Another Meeting in the series of Zoom displays was held on Saturday, the 12th of April. Paul Allen gave a presentation on ‘Victorian Mail Going East of Suez’ and Sandeep Jaiswal gave his postponed presentation on ‘Jammu Old Rectangulars’.

The ISC was the only convening Society at the BOXBORO PHILATELIC SHOW 2025, which was held from the 18th to the 20th of April at Boxborough, Massachusetts, USA. Paul Allen, Robert Gray, Sandeep Jaiswal, Thomas Puthanangady and John Warren exhibited and they obtained a total of seven medals and nine other awards.

In addition to the ISC 75th Anniversary celebrations that were organized around the first day of EuroPhilEx 2025 (see above), fourteen ISC members from around the world were among the exhibitors at the show, which took place from the 7th to the 11th of May in Hall 9 of the National Exhibition Centre, near Birmingham, UK. These members obtained a total of 29 medals and awards (although not all for India related subjects).

The ISC will be holding a meeting at MIDPEX 2025 on Saturday the 5th of July at the Warwickshire Event Centre, Leamington Spa, Warwickshire, UK, between 2 and 4 pm. Members and guests are invited to attend and to bring along some material from their collections to display and discuss.

Members should by now have received their copy of India Post issue No. 235. This has been produced using offset-printing, which has given superior results compared with the previous digital-printing.

The ISC’s Expertization Service is now operational. A submission form was inserted in India Post no. 235 and members may access further copies on the ISC Website. Note that members may obtain one expert opinion per year free of charge.