THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Creating records is not new to Arvind Kumar Pai. The latest feat is that he has collected the maximum number of stamps, more than 1,500 of them, on Mahatma Gandhi released by 102 foreign countries.
An exhibition, Gandhi Sparsh, was held last year at Rajadhani Institute of Engineering and Technology here which paved the way to achieve the record certified by the Limca Book of Records.
Mr Pai is not satisfied with his latest achievement, but is aiming for the Guinness World Records. This is the fifth record Pai has achieved and during the last two years, he has also got into Limca Book of Records, Asia Book of Records and India Book of Records.
He told DC that he is the first Malayali to get into these three record books in the same year, 2015.
Son of late Muraleedhar Babu and Renjitha Bai, Mr Pai started working at the age of 14 due to financial constraints at home. But now he is doing well as a trainer with ICT Academy of Kerala.
Some of Mahatma Gandhi stamps from his collection.
“The good thing about this record setting is that I am not attached to any philately association or club. I feel that if I work independently, I am able to perform well. Though I started collecting stamps at the age of six, the Gandhian stamps were collected from stamp collectors outside the state and from abroad over the last few years,” he said.
In fact, he and his mother have together entered the India Book of Records as he had gifted her with over 1,000 ten rupee notes that had her birthday on the currency notes.
Another record to his credit was when he stuck the most number of stamps, 322 of them, on an envelope while sending birthday greetings to his mother on her 55th birthday.
In his collection on Gandhian stamps, the most expensive and the rare one is the one which actually would cost now Rs 30,000 – Rs 40, 000. The stamp was released in 1948 by India.
Even then, the postal department had come out with 2.5 lakh expensive stamps as high as Rs 10 finds a place in his stamp album. Unfortunately, he had to part with more than 200 stamps for this prized possession of Rs 10 stamp.
