Swami Vivekananda Jayanthi

India Post has released a Calendar for 2017 with a price of ₹100. The above picture shows the January Month as in the calendar. I noticed that "Swami Vivekananda Jayanthi" was marked in Green font as 19th January. 

To my knowledge, 12th January was the birth date of Swamiji. Just to be sure, I checked in Wikipedia in multiple topic and confirmed "I am correct"

Links I visited :

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Youth_Day_(India)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/150th_birth_anniversary_of_Swami_Vivekananda

Later, I also noticed National leaders and political party leader tweeting on 12th January, their pictures offering floral tribute to Swami. "Confirmed"

I wanted to raise this to the concerned official, so mailed this with pictures of calendar to Senior Postmaster - Coimbatore HPO. Today, I received the response and here it is as below :

http://www.drikpanchang.com/calendars/indian/jayanti/swami-vivekananda/swami-vivekananda-jayanti.html

Yes, I received a document containing the contents from the above link, so what does it say 

According to English calendar he was born on 12^th January 1863 into an aristocratic Bengali family of Calcutta. However his birthday is celebrated according to Hindu calendar and this day is known as Swami Vivekananda Jayanti. Vivekananda was born on Krishna Paksha Saptami after seven days of Paush Purnima. As Jayanti day is decided based on Hindu calendar, it is not fixed on Gregorian calendar like Rabindranath Tagore Jayanti and Mahatma Gandhi Jayanti which are celebrated on fixed day on Gregorian calendar.

However Indian government has decided to observe Swami Vivekananda's Gregorian date of birth as National Youth Day. Hence National Youth Day of India is celebrated each year on 12^th January since 1985.

India Post - My Stamp

Many a time personally I have wondered, how good it would be to have a stamp of a person or place which is lesser known to outer world (but we know their importance to society or to our culture/country). Sometimes, even imagined, how about a stamp for ourselves? 

Have you ever dreamt of your portrait in a stamp? From our childhood or as a philatelist or as a adult, we know that stamps are issued only for national leaders, achievers in various fields, national monuments, animals, landscapes, etc.

India post has come up with an initiative called "My Stamp", where any individual or corporate can printed their own personalized stamp. My Stamp was first introduced during "2011- INDIPEX - World Philatelic Exhibition." Owing to the popularity and interested expressed it was expanded across the country.

How does "My Stamp" look like?

Image 1 - "My Stamp" featuring person with 

Greetings Commemorative Stamp 

of ₹5

Do you see a difference of this special "My Stamp" from the Normal Postage stamps issued. Yes, the thumbnail image is printed alongside the selected commemorative stamps. Remember, this stamp is not just a collectible or show piece alone, it is a postage stamp as well. You can mail a letter to someone with this stamp pasted on the envelope. 

Below are the "My Stamp" sheets with different commemorative stamps

Image 2 - "My Stamp" Sheet featuring person with 

TajMahal Commemorative Stamp of  

₹5

Image 3 - "My Stamp" Sheet featuring person 

with Greetings Commemorative Stamp of 

₹5 

How do I get my "My Stamp" printed ?

• Very simple, visit your nearest Philately Bureau/ Head Post Office
• Get "My Stamp" Application form and fill the same (Note you are entitled to submit an identity proof)
• Cost of printing a single sheet is ₹ 300 (For 2-100 sheets, you would get a 10% discount and for more than 100 sheets- 20% discount)
• A sheet contains 12 stamps, each of the stamp with a value of ₹5 [Mathematically, for ₹ 300, you will get 12 stamps valuing ₹ 60]. Might looks costly ???

You can order My Stamp for your children, friends, parents, spouse and surprise them as a gift. Even schools/colleges can issue My Stamps to their "Best Outgoing Student", "Best Teacher", "University Rank holders". This would mean more to them at a later stage of life in terms of both memory and value.

Of course, I would like to show you my "My Stamp" as well

Happy me :)