Philatelist Umesh Shenoy's collection has won him accolades at the Olympics
Umesh Shenoy has done the country proud at the Olympics thrice. But he is not a sportsperson. A philatelist, Shenoy has been collecting stamps on the theme of Olympics for over 20 years now, and it is this collection that took him to the Olympics' philately competition for the first time in 1996, where he won the Bronze medal. "Though I had been collecting stamps since childhood, it was only in 1986 that I chose a theme for my collection. I chose Olympics because I have been an amateur sportsperson and it was my dream to go for Olympics one day," explains the 62-year-old.
Interestingly, Shenoy was not aware of the philately competition that is hosted at the Olympics till he wrote to them, requesting them to allow him to show his stamp collection. "I had exhibited my collection a few times and I wanted to do the same at the 1996 Atlanta Olympics - the centenary year. I expressed my desire to the committee, and they were suitably impressed and encouraged me to participate," he avers proudly.
The theme of the exhibition that won him a Bronze in 1996 was 'Olympics — Origin to Centenary' and consisted of over 30,000 stamps. "The stamps on display depicted all the sports along with their rules and regulations, followed by all participating countries and the Olympic stamps issued by them," he explains. He won a Silver each at the 2000 Sydney Olympics and the 2004 Athens Olympics. Shenoy has also written three books on Olympic philately, which have won him Silver and Bronze medals in the Olympic Literature category.
Shenoy's collection of rare stamps date back to 1896, while there are others that exhibit the sports and players of 250 BC. "Philately is not just about collecting stamps — one has to know the theme well. If I hadn't read so many books on Olympics, I would have never been able to achieve what I did. Not many know that Pythagoras, apart from being a mathematician, was also a boxer and used to compete at the Olympics. My collection had the stamp that depicted him at the Olympics," he adds.
Having spent many years in building his collection, Shenoy sold off his Olympics collection of 45,000 stamps in 2004, as "I was saturated and none of my children were interested in my legacy".
He has moved on to other themes since then: gymnastics and para-Olympics. However, there is one thing that upsets him: "When I was a child, philately was a rage. But today only a few clubs remain with some old members. My motive of putting up exhibitions or participating in competitions is to spread an awareness on philately. I wish people would realise that stamps are a way of preserving history."
Umesh Shenoy has done the country proud at the Olympics thrice. But he is not a sportsperson. A philatelist, Shenoy has been collecting stamps on the theme of Olympics for over 20 years now, and it is this collection that took him to the Olympics' philately competition for the first time in 1996, where he won the Bronze medal. "Though I had been collecting stamps since childhood, it was only in 1986 that I chose a theme for my collection. I chose Olympics because I have been an amateur sportsperson and it was my dream to go for Olympics one day," explains the 62-year-old.
Interestingly, Shenoy was not aware of the philately competition that is hosted at the Olympics till he wrote to them, requesting them to allow him to show his stamp collection. "I had exhibited my collection a few times and I wanted to do the same at the 1996 Atlanta Olympics - the centenary year. I expressed my desire to the committee, and they were suitably impressed and encouraged me to participate," he avers proudly.
The theme of the exhibition that won him a Bronze in 1996 was 'Olympics — Origin to Centenary' and consisted of over 30,000 stamps. "The stamps on display depicted all the sports along with their rules and regulations, followed by all participating countries and the Olympic stamps issued by them," he explains. He won a Silver each at the 2000 Sydney Olympics and the 2004 Athens Olympics. Shenoy has also written three books on Olympic philately, which have won him Silver and Bronze medals in the Olympic Literature category.
Shenoy's collection of rare stamps date back to 1896, while there are others that exhibit the sports and players of 250 BC. "Philately is not just about collecting stamps — one has to know the theme well. If I hadn't read so many books on Olympics, I would have never been able to achieve what I did. Not many know that Pythagoras, apart from being a mathematician, was also a boxer and used to compete at the Olympics. My collection had the stamp that depicted him at the Olympics," he adds.
Having spent many years in building his collection, Shenoy sold off his Olympics collection of 45,000 stamps in 2004, as "I was saturated and none of my children were interested in my legacy".
He has moved on to other themes since then: gymnastics and para-Olympics. However, there is one thing that upsets him: "When I was a child, philately was a rage. But today only a few clubs remain with some old members. My motive of putting up exhibitions or participating in competitions is to spread an awareness on philately. I wish people would realise that stamps are a way of preserving history."
1 comment:
Congratulations to Umesh Shenoy.
is there any way i can meet him
my cell phone no is
9923160505
am from goa
rohan lobo
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