Down Memory Lane - Philately, St. Stephen's College, Bhutan and Remembering Rishi Kapoor

Some of my readers expressed the desire that in my Blog, I should also talk about my interest in Philately. This prompted me to dig out and peruse my old stamp albums, which took me down memory lane. In particular, I was delighted to come across two stamps, which I would like to share with you in this post:

A Stamp of St. Stephen's College, Delhi (35 paise) showing the front view of the College where I studied BA (History Hons) from 1971 to 1974 along with a First Day Cover which were brought out to commemorate the College Centenary Year, released by the then Prime Minister, Smt. Indira Gandhi on February 1, 1981.

Going through these stamps brought back sweet memories from my college days. When I joined St. Stephen's College in 1971, I had met the Crown Prince of Bhutan Jigme Singye Wangchuk who had joined the college for his graduate studies. Unfortunately, he had to go back to Bhutan to take over as King at the age of 16, as his father King Jigme Dorji Wangchuk passed away on July 21, 1972. He became the "4th Druk Gyalpo or 4th Dragon King" of Bhutan, known as "Drukyal or The Land of the Thunder Dragon". 

The Raven Crown is worn by Kings of Bhutan and is a satin and silk crown surmounted by an embroidered raven's head. Raven, as you would know, is the sacred national bird of Bhutan, considered to be a protective deity and a Stamp of 10 NU of the Raven Bird has been issued.

The local currency of Bhutan is Ngultrom (currency code BTN and symbol NU) and One NU (which is equal to one INR) is made up of 100 cents called Chhertum (Ch). On the 25th Anniversary of Coronation of King Jigme Singye (1974-1999), a Commemorative Coin of 100 NU was issued.

I was happy to discover these beautiful Bhutan stamps (90 Ch), 1 NU and 1.3 NU of King Jigme Singye in my stamp album, commemorating his 20th Birthday on November 11, 1975:  

During his reign, King Jigme Singye (1972 to 2006) whose coronation took place on June 2, 1974 advocated the use of Gross National Happiness (GNH) index  to measure the well being of the citizens instead of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and taught the Bhutanese people that “happiness of the people should be the true measure of success”. Another milestone during his reign was the inauguration of the Chukha Hydel Project between India and Bhutan on October 21, 1988 as a result of which the revenues of Bhutan improved substantially.

It is interesting to note that Polygamy is legal in Bhutan. It had been prophesied that   King Jigme Singye would marry four sisters, the descendants of a lama who had united Bhutan in the 17^th Century. While the Royal Wedding was held on October 31, 1988 with the four sisters, he had already married them privately in 1979. At the Royal Wedding in 1988, he also declared that the eldest of his children (a son from his third wife) would be his successor.

On December 16, 2006 he announced that he would abdicate the throne in 2008 and hand over the reigns to his eldest son Jigme Khesar Namgyal Wangchuk (born February 21, 1980) before the first democratic elections were held in the country in 2008, thus paving the way for a Constitutional Monarchy. He said “Why crown an heir only when the nation is mourning for a late King?” He wanted to guide his son to become a good King and became his Advisor since he did not want him to be in the same position he had been in when his father passed away, with no experience in running the country and caring for the welfare of his people. King Jigme Singye also empowered the National Assembly to force a royal abdication, if the motion was supported by 75% of the members.

Another interesting incident which happened during my college years is in relation to the noted film actor Rishi Kapoor, who recently passed away. I had met him in 1973, when I was the Secretary of the College Union of St. Stephen's College, Delhi for the year 1973-74. We had organised the Premiere Show of the musical teenage romance film "Bobby" directed by the great showman Raj Kapoor with Rishi Kapoor, being cast in his first leading role opposite Dimple Kapadia who was making a debut. The Premiere was held on September 28, 1973 at Sapna Cinema Hall, Delhi to raise funds for students' welfare. Apart from meeting the entire star cast of the film who came on stage at Sapna Cinema (except for Dimple Kapadia who had by then got engaged to Rajesh Khanna) which in itself was an amazing experience, I am reminded of this memorable incident which occurred earlier in the day at Hotel Oberoi, Zakir Hussain Marg where the stars were staying.

The evergreen song “Hum Tum Ek Kamre Mein Band Ho” from Bobby (shot at Bobby Hut in Gulmarg) had become the craze for the youth. Fans, as you know, are crazy about film stars, their heroes/heroines and when Rishi Kapoor got out of the elevator at the hotel where he was staying, he was mobbed by a large number of college going girl students who wanted his autograph. While Rishi was obliging them, one of them who was not carrying any paper or book for his autograph, gave him a pen for his autograph. Rishi asked her "Where do I give the autograph?" She thrust her bosom forward and pointed "Here". It is to the credit of Rishi Kapoor that though he blushed, he turned her around and put his autograph on her back shoulder! Such was his charisma and star power!

Rishi Kapoor mentions this incident in his book "Rishi Kapoor (Uncensored) - Kullam Khulla" which I had purchased a year ago, but got the time to read only during the Covid lockdown, just a month before his death. It is a candid, no holds barred autobiography and I would recommend to all persons who admire him and grew up watching his films over the last five decades, right from Mera Naam Joker (as a child artist in 1970) till 2020. He was also known as Chintu, the Sweet and Forever Youthful One!

Rishi Kapoor, you will be missed!

Beautiful Memories from a bygone era.

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© Sushil Kumar Mishra 2020