India may not have participated in the ongoing 2014 FIFA World Cup, but one person from the country is making waves in the world of football, albeit through stamps.
He is competing with the best in what he calls 'football philately', the collection and study of postage stamps.
Philatelist Pradip Jain has an exclusive collection of around 1200 postal stamps on football issued by several sporting countries - right from the first stamp on the game to the latest ones.
Among his prized collection are the world's first postal stamps issued by Uruguay in 1924 to mark its 3-0 victory over Switzerland in 1924 Olympics. These stamps did not have the picture of players, but just football and football field.
In 1925, Hungary became the first country to issue the first stamp to depict a footballer in action. It was one of eight stamps issued to raise funds for Hungarian sports clubs. Jain has this one too in his collection, and holds it close to his heart.
"Just 1,17,651 of these stamps were printed in Hungary and they were valid till December 31, 1925. Only 200 tickets of this series are left in the world. I bought it at an exhibition in Germany a few years ago. Its first day cover was also available, but the price was very high and I could not afford it. Now it is impossible to buy it," said Jain.
Jain, who entered the world of philately in 1970 after visiting a stamp exhibition organised by the Department of Post and Telegraph, keeps trotting around the globe in search of postal tickets to keep replenishing his treasure trove.
