Dear Philatelists,

As this is our first interaction with you, let us start with the basics. The how and why of our National Exhibition has been discussed threadbare by friends and self-declared foes alike. My answer to all of that has been simple from the start, it was Madhukar’s dream and we are all helping him in transcending that dream into reality. Now it may be asked, what is our motivation?

There is no one at SINE who is interested in self-promotion, we are here for philatelic promotion and that in turn will be beneficial to every member of the philatelic community. We are involved in order to broaden the base of Indian philately. We are involved so that simple collectors turn into philatelists and philatelists turn into consistent exhibitors.

And most importantly, we are involved because we LOVE philately and want Indian philately to reach international standards.

SINE is in fact the beginning of a movement to organise all facets of Indian philately and in the coming weeks, this objective will become clearer.

Now about the story so far, the last fortnight has witnessed an unprecedented deluge of exhibit applications. But there are those who have missed the deadline, hence the date of accepting applications has been extended to 31st August 2010. And to those who may misinterpret this, there is a bad news for them; we have already exceeded a thousand frames. And I repeat – we have already exceeded a thousand frames. This has been brought about by the hard work of the SINE GHQ and the sheer strength and credibility of the Stamps of India brand.

To further the cause of exhibiting, SINE has brought about a unique innovation. The SINE GHQ has nominated State Representatives who shall assist exhibitors in submitting entries as well as transporting exhibits to New Delhi. The complete list with phone numbers is now available at: http://www.stampsofindia.com/ChaloDelhi/SR.htm

As for the Sales Stalls, two-thirds are sold out with wise dealers availing the early bird rate of Rs. 12,500. For the wiser dealers, the rate stands at Rs. 15,000 and already a couple of stands have been booked at these rates. The international dealer presence at SINE is still small but significant and shall increase after September/October when the SINE GHQ shall be duly represented at international philatelic trade shows in Europe.

Our product issuing programme is almost ready and philatelists will be more than pleased with the array of products that will be issued in due course. As SINE commemorates movement of the capital from Calcutta to Delhi, our philatelic products will present an interesting and happy marriage of British India and Independence Philately.

Until next time, I sign out with a bit of Venetian Latin indulgence addressed to our common but first and foremost love, philately:
s-ciào su – I am your slave.

Ciao,

Ashish Talwar
Secretary General
Stamps of India National Exhibition