D A I J I W O R L D

July 7, 2006

Does profession demand great sacrifices? Does entry into this phase of life mean exit to ones hobbies, which in childhood were the most priced possession?

This may be true in the case of most of the professionals, but for Premnath S Kudva of Mangalore his interest in these hobbies has grown over the years.

An Executive Director at Canara Springs Maroli, Kudva’s interests include stamp, coin and currency note collecting, which he has kept up with keen enthusiasm of a high school boy. In stamps he possesses a collection of mint stamps, mostly directly from the postal administration of the country he is interested in.

“I was interested in stamps like any other kid when I was small, but it went on the way side and I stopped after school. Then when India celebrated its 50th year of independence, a news item came out that India was releasing a coin (set of coins) commemorating it. I thought buying this coin would be of great value since it commemorated our independence.

I brought this coin and showed it to everyone at home and my in-law's house. That's how I came to know about the circulated and uncirculated business in coins. Also from my father-in-laws pal I came to know about his Indian stamp collection.

Kudva joined the Philatelic Bureau at the Head Post office here. /this was how his Indian stamp collection started. “I collect mint stamps only and not stamps that have been cancelled. I do collect interesting covers from other countries.

In order to upgrade his collection, avid stamp collector Kudva even bought the entire year sets of stamps issued by India since Independence from an agency in Meerut. The beauty of collecting Indian stamps, says Kudva, is that they are not as expensive to collect as compared to overseas stamps. Last years one year’s set of New Zealand will cost about Rs 5500, whereas India's last years set will cost about Rs 500.

Kudva has some sets of expensive India series including the first Gandhi stamps, which are expensive not strictly for philatelic reasons.

Besides mint stamps Kudva also buys Year Books and Year Sets of several selected countries like New Zealand, Switzerland, Canada, Australia and Great Britain.

“At ebay I have been able to buy quite a few commemorative proof coins for my collection. I also buy a few selected proof coins issued by the India Government Mint, said Kudva to Daijiworld.

Kudva has an amazing collection of Indian currency notes, most of them in UNC condition. Several of them he got from the bank and friends at face value, while others, which are not in circulation, were obtained through eBay and Baazee (now eBay.co.in) auctions and once at a stamp exhibition here in Mangalore.

His US Mint Proof set collection made him notice the American Eagle silver proof coin more popularly called the Silver Eagle coins which he added to his collection. “My intention is to complete the 50 state coin collection when it ends in 2008 and stop further purchases. Right now I have these coins complete up till 2006. Two of these sets are in the US awaiting arrival here, informed Kudva.

He also has a collection of scale model cars and dreams of having a model train layout sometime in the future.

Happily married to Suchitra, Kudva has two daughters, Sneha who is eight and a half and Kavya who just turned three in March 2006.

A voracious reader, Kudva has a ritual of reading lots of magazines and books. “Though I have reduced reading fiction due to paucity of time. I have a large collection of books. So much so that when we built our house in 2001, I had a library room incorporated into it, says Kudva.

Kudva’s fascination towards stamps, coins and scale model cars is a testimony that such hobbies can open a world of fun and learning at any age of life.

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