In a unique initiative, the India Post, Maharashtra & Goa Circle, have arranged for a huddle of Penguins – the most recognisable original inhabitants of the Antarctic continent – to sail to India on a set of special postcards, officials said here on Monday.
The flightless birds with flippers – the only aquatic variety that live and breed on ice – are considered the symbol of the frozen, 14.2 million sq. km of landmass surrounding the South Pole.
The India Post colour picture cards depict at least three of the 18 breeds that roam Antarctica – the majestic ‘Emperor Penguin’, the regal ‘King Penguin’ and the cut but much smaller ‘Adelie’.
Union Ministry of Communications Secretary (Posts), Vandita Kaul, released the Penguin postcards in the presence of Chief Postmaster General Amitabh Singh, PMGs Suchita Joshi (Mumbai) and R. K. Jayabhaye (Pune), top officers, staffers and philatelists at the General Post Office Mumbai, today.
“These postcards, 250 of each picture, or totalling 1,500, shall be taken by the 44th Antarctica Expedition, organized by the National Centre for Polar and Ocean Research (NCPOR), scheduled to sail from Goa around Dec. 13,” Assistant Post Master General Sudhir Jakhere told IANS.
NCPOR Scientist Ravi Mishra, leading the 44th Antarctica Expedition, will also be the designated special Postman this year and will bring back the coveted post-cards consignment on the return journey sometime late next year.
Depending on the voyage and weather en route, it is expected to reach Antarctica the Indian stations there, Dakshin Gangotri (the first one established in 1983, defunct since1990), followed by Maitri (instituted in 1990), and Bharati (set up in 2015).
The same expedition will bring them back after getting stamped there, with a legend: ‘Bharati Branch Office’ and ‘Maitri Branch Office’, both under NIO, Dona Paula, Goa, with a common PIN Code – 403004, said Jakhere.
The postal stamp symbolises India’s sovereign dominance in those regions, the articles get a special postmark stamped there and these would be brought back to India, he explained.
Bharati Branch and Maitri Branch sharing the same PIN Code are the only two overseas post offices of India, and also have strategic importance, Jakhere added.
Besides India, more than 30 countries like China, the U.S., Russia, France, the U.K., Argentina, Brazil, Japan, Australia and others have permanent/temporary research bases there.
This is 125 years after the first base came up there during the Southern Cross Expedition (1899) – 12 years before the South Pole was conquered by a Norwegian explorer, Ronald Amundsen on December 14, 1911.
Incidentally, just three weeks later, Britisher Robert F. Scott also reached the South Pole but died during a severe blizzard that lashed the region on his return journey.
Jakhere said that the IndiaPosts started the tradition of special postcards in 2020, with the earlier annual themes being: Antarctica flora-fauna, Icebergs, Aura of Aurora, the Bharati Station, and now the Penguins.
Kaul released a permanent pictorial cancellation of ‘Strawberry at Mahabaleshwar Post Office, Pune’, commemoration the Geographical Indication (GI) tag for the state’s favourite winter fruit, a slogan cancellation with a mascot and tagline of “Collect, Connect, Celebrate’, the Festival of Stamps” for Mahapex-2025, on Jan. 22-25 next year, and reviewed the progress on the facelift going on for the GPO Heritage Building.
