This is a
website to the autographs of eminent Indian personalities
of various fields. The site contains more than 2500 autographs
in 50 different categories.
Here one can find the autographs and photographs
of Indian personalities classified thematically. This means
that the autographs of Presidents & Prime Ministers of
India, Indian National Leaders & Freedom Fighters, Recipients
of Bharat Ratna, Magsaysay & Dada Saheb Phalke awards,
Governors & Chief Ministers of different Indian States,
Saints & Spiritual Masters, Indian Film Stars & Personalities,
Indian TV artists, Indian Cricket Captains & Cricketers,
Indian Music Maestros, Indian Singers & Dancers, Indian
Scholars & Scientists, Indian Painter-Artists, Indian
Nobel Laureates, Indian Miss Universe/World, Indian Businessmen
/ Industrialists etc. are presented here subject wise.
A special feature of this website is an effort
to associate Philately with the autographs. Wherever possible
along with the autograph, the Postal Stamp (if issued) of
the respective celebrity is placed. Not only that a special
chapter is added which depicts the Autographs in the design
of Indian Postal Stamps / Folders, Cancellations and Special
/ First Day Covers.
Along with Philately an effort is also made
to associate Numismatics with this hobby. In the category
of Autographs-Stamps-Coins, an effort is made to project ’Trinity
of hobbies’. Here along with the Celebrities' Autographs,
Stamps & Commemorative Coins of those Celebrities are
presented. Thus a humble effort is made to establish a friendship
of Stamps, Coins and Autographs.
A very interesting feature of the site is
to present some autographs of Indian Princely Rulers. In India
more than 580 Princely States were there. They were ruled
by the Kings. The States had their own Coat-of-Arms as their
Royal Symbols. Here in this site an effort is made to put
some Rulers' autographs along with their Royal Coat-of-Arms.
This will reflect one facet of our Indian history.
Another interesting chapter in the category
of Autographs with ‘Little Plus’ is of Autographs
on different items. Apart from the autographs obtained on
the autograph card or on the paper of autograph book, they
are obtained on different items like Postal First Day Covers,
Book Covers, CD Covers, Greeting Cards and Photographs. Some
of such specimens are presented here. They become the value-added
items for the autograph collectors.
An interesting presentation is in the category
of Autographs of Celebrity Families. Here an effort is made
to present the autographs of eminent members of Celebrity
Families like Bachchan, Gandhi, Kapoor, Mangeshkar, Nehru
etc.
In the category of ‘Firsts in India’,
an effort is made to give a thematic dimension to the ‘Firsts’
in different fields of achievements e.g. First Indian woman
Climber of Mt. Everest, First woman Chief Minister of India
etc.
As India is the Member of South Asian Association
of Regional Co-operation i.e. SAARC Group of Countries, in
the Category of SAARC personalities, an effort is made to
present the autographs of Kings, Presidents, Prime Ministers,
Politicians and other celebrities of SAARC Countries viz.
Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri
Lanka.
In some cases an effort is made to present
theme within the theme. For example, in the theme of Film
Personalities, a page is put of Music Directors in which autographs
of Music Directors are put together. In theme of Music Maestros
this is presented in a different way. Here categories of Sitar
Maestros, Tabla Maestros, Vocalists etc. are shown together.
This Website is to project the autographs
of Indian celebrities. However due to some special considerations,
as exceptions some other nationals are included in the site.
Autograph of Edmund Hillary is presented as he was the first
to conquer Himalayan Mount Everest. Autograph of Dalai Lama
as Nobel Laureate is presented as he has settled in India.Autograph
of Lord Mountbatten is put as he continued for few months
as the Governor-General of India even after Independence.
Autograph of Nelson Mandela is put as he has received the
Bharat Ratna Award.
Some categories contain a year-based or
tenure based theme. Here an effort is made to maintain the
chronology. And in doing so, even if the autograph or photograph
of a particular celebrity is not available the blank space
is left. For example, in the theme of Recipients of Bharat
Ratna Awards, autograph of Shri M.G. Ramchandran was not available.
In this case chronologically his name and photo are shown
in the chapter but his autograph is not shown. This is so
done to help the collector and show him the completeness of
the theme.
In the site, an effort is made to avoid repetitions.
However at some very few places repetitions may occur. For
example, Autograph of Lata Mangeshkar will be seen in Bharat
Ratna category and it will be there in Mangeshkar Family in
Celebrity Family category. In the category of Governors and
Chief Ministers also some repetitions may be seen. But such
very few repetitions are there to show the completeness of
the subject. The readers and collectors may please bear with
us for the same.
Under the toolbar icon of ‘Hobby of
Autographs’ the collectors and readers will get detailed
information regarding this hobby in a Question-Answer form.
Under the toolbar icon of ‘Thematic
lists’ one can find thematic lists of different categories
and under toolbar icon of ‘Alphabetical List’
one can find all the autographs alphabetically arranged. One
can go to any autograph by clicking the name from any list.
Thus the collector can find the location of a particular autograph
by referring the Index.
Moreover, under the toolbar icon of ‘Useful
Links’, collector will be able to find URL IDs of many
useful links related to autographs or celebrities created
by individuals or institutions or organizations.
Here on this website an effort is made to
project different themes under which a collection can be made.
However it is not claimed that all the themes are completely
presented. A sincere effort is made to put as many autographs
as possible in a particular theme.
An effort is also made to put more than one
autograph and in more than one language if they are available.
This can be seen in the autographs of Jawaharlal Nehru, Indira
Gandhi, Mahatma Gandhi, Morarji Desai etc.
Most of the autographs presented in the site
are from the collection of the author. However scans of some
missing autographs are provided by friends and fellow-collectors
and their contribution is gratefully acknowledged.
In short an effort is made to make this website
more useful to the collectors in their pursuit of Autograph
collection. It is hoped that the website will provide an opportunity
to the collectors to compare their autograph with the original
autographs of the celebrities. |