•PeoplE looking at some of Kamal’s stamp collection during his exhibition at Simba International School. Picture By GETHSEMANE MWIZABI

By GETHSEMANE MWIZABI  –
KAMAL Mohanbhai Patel who died recently in Chililabombwe’s  Konkola Mine Hospital was perhaps Zambia’s sole passionate stamp collector.
A man with a sweet and phlegmatic personality, Kamal had a knack for detail.
Nobody gathered postage stamps quite the way he did. Kamal was driven by the idea that plenty historical facts, sometimes obscure, can be found on stamps. To him, stamps had artistic value for they were created by artists. You could say, he was one as well.
Stamp collection became an obsession pretty early enough. He was a man who would spend just to add up to his collection. At the end of the day, Kamal would have a thousand pieces of postage stamps.
Although stamp collecting has been called ‘the hobby of kings’ because several famous individuals have been avid collectors, Kamal was not born to royalty. He was just  passionate enough to collect a thousand pieces of stamps.
His collection was miscellaneous.
Every subject one can imagine was depicted on his colourful stamps: Animals, sports, maps, cars, ships and movie stars.
Stamps have been issued from postal services from all over the world since time immemorial.
Kamal knew deep down his heart that stamp collection in Zambia was pretty rare or nothing at all, partly due to the fact that the new generation, born in the information age, was addicted to cyber communication (social media).
Internet, which is the information highway of the 21st century, is a major preoccupation for young minds.
At click of button, one is connected to everyone all across the world.
The natural human anxiety for anticipation has gone as a result.
For Kamal, his way of telling stories was through a variety of stamps he collected.
True, plenty of stories and history can be picked from stamps.
Family friend Paresh Patel described Kamal’s death as shocking and disturbing.
“He was a loving and lovable person. I miss him greatly,” he said.
Before his death, Kamal had a major exhibition at Ndola’s Simba International School.
Through his stamps he depicted the Zambian story across 50 years.
Seeing the country from a stamp point of view brought lots of fond memories, especially for people born pre and immediate post-colonial era.
A year ago, Zambia celebrated its Golden Jubilee and Kamal took advantage to showcase his rare collection to adults and children alike. It contained some of the most precious and rare Zambian stamps, in addition to some of the most popular and widely recognised.
It was indeed Zambia’s history seen from stamps’ point of view and he has now become part of that history.
“These stamps are incredibly important to me for many reasons. One by one, they are symbols of different parts of our national identity.
“All together, they communicate a special Zambian story,” he said.
His collection also represented how minorities considered Zambia to be their home, and how it is helping to preserve the great national heritage. After all, Zambia’s first stamp designer, Gabriel Ellison, was also a minority.
Going the through the exhibition, it was like taking an emotional trip down memory lane. It was like a journey.
The year was 1964 when Zambia was born after a spirited independence struggle from Britain.
True, Zambia’s rich culture and heritage have been indeed under spotlight. Since October 1964, the country has grown in wealth, economy, political and social progress, and as a united nation.
Any type of growth has its associated pains—and it is public knowledge that Zambia has had a share of them.
The introverted stamp collector took the idea to the next level. He believed stamp hobby could be enjoyed on any budget – or no budget at all.
Collecting stamps keeps one’s mind active and inquisitive, increases one’s knowledge of places and events, relieves the stress of the day, and offers social opportunities.
“There is plenty of history that can be learnt from stamps. Children need to be told as they grow, understand their heritage, “he said to this author.
Today’s stamps are functional — they are a critical part of the mail service.
But once upon a time, not too long ago, stamp collecting was a hobby of passion and dignity.
It was a pastime wrapped in romance for stamps are windows into the past.
They are artistic symbols of the country’s culture and legacy. In their tiny form, they capture the essence of Zambia.
Until about 20 years ago, the great artist Gabriel Ellison — who designed the Zambia national flag and coat of arms — designed most of the country’s stamps.
Since then, the postal service engaged a company to design the stamps, many of which were created with the help of computer-generated designs.
For decades, these stamps have expressed the history, culture, landscape, and natural resources of Zambia.
Kamal had been collecting stamps for decades.
Born in 1967 in Kabwe, formerly Broken Hill, his family moved to Kitwe in 1969 where he lived until his death.
He attended Kitwe Primary School, then moved to Lechwe School and did his secondary education at Kitwe Boys Secondary School and thereafter joined the family business.
Stamp collecting for him started as a small boy’s hobby.
Back in the 1970s, there was no such thing as DStv channels or free-to-air channels. Life was simple.
What you saw is what you got.
There were  no electronic gadgets for children to play with.
At school most of the kids collected something; It could be stamps, coins, rocks or marbles, which in turn made a great discussion issue or a competitive issue.
When he started it was mainly stamps that came on envelops, as letter writing was very common and there was no e-mail.
Young Kamal started going to the philatelic counter at the post office and started buying Firstday covers, new issues and souvenir sheets.
It was in the early 80s that he decided to concentrate on Zambia, but he had many gaps in his collection. To fill up those gaps he started looking around, asking friends and basically just putting the word out.
In that process there was a collection that was up for sale which had stamps from 1969 to 1985 which was a start for him to fill in the gap of the earlier years.
Thereafter, he passionately started to find more stamps and collections that where coming up for sale.
Then came the Internet and that really helped him to almost complete his collection.
He was driven by the belief that stamps as small as they are were great story tellers.
“Stamps portray a lot of historic events, locally and internationally, they also portray our rich heritage of flora and fauna, our wild life wealth and mineral wealth. Our Zambian stamps also portray our rich culture on stamps that have the Zambian masks, cultural dances and art effects,” he said.
Ultimately, Kamal Patel will be greatly missed. At the time of his death, he was director of Mukwa Lodge in Kitwe.
He leaves behind a wife and two children.