COVER N. 284 - SRI LANKA

Postmark: Head Quarters P. O. Colombo - Mail - 30.06.23

Posted on the 30th June; Received on the 14th July 2023

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Second Cover from Sri Lanka and a full set of Lighthouse stamps, one of the thematic philatelists most beloved themes, I believe. Thanks a lot, Ravindra!

What is not to like about lighthouses? the sight of their unmistakable presence at capes and harbours is one of the images that always fascinates me whenever I am in their territory.  

Maybe it's the unconscious awareness of their function...we all look for guidance some way of the other, even if we are not sailors trying to reach a shore or  to avoid its perils in the obscure hours when the sun chooses to illuminate others opposite us.... maybe it's just the aesthetic appeal of their  shape and figure, sometimes even accentuated by high visibility marks that make them stand out even more against the horizon line, for the benefit of  creatures that fly, like pilots and gulls..., maybe it's the romantic aura of the life of the Lighthouse keeper, left alone, tasked with ensuring the lights are lit, while the storm braves outside, maybe it's their being vigorous and immensely erect phalluses, ejaculating light into the night, the uterus of the universe..., maybe it's just their "outofplaceness", after all they stand much taller than anything around them... maybe it's all of the above plus any other reason one might find...

I love them! That's all.

Stamps. left to right:

- World Children's day is celebrated each year on the 20th November, the day when  the General Assembly of the United Nations adopted the Declaration of the Rights of the Child, in 1959, and the Convention on the Rights of the Child, in 1989.

Suffice to say that between what's written and universally accepted in the text of the Declaration an the Convention and the tangible conditions wherein millions of children actually live, there's much more than an ocean, still, progress has been made  and will, hopefully, continue to be made, in spite of civilisational  regression brought about by wars or incomprehensible, obnoxious and unjustifiable decisions such as the ones imposed by the Taliban regime in Afghanistan, regarding access to education by girls of all ages.

Celebrating World Children's Day 2022, Sri Lanka Post issued a 50 Rupee stamp on 01OCT2022, illustrated with a drawing with several children doing what they do best, which is having fun playing together.

- On 26OCT2018, Sri Lanka Post issued the four  45 Rupee stamp set themed on lighthouses that Ravindra used on this cover. Of note is the fact that the four stamps were also issued as individual souvenir sheets.

The Sri Lankan lighthouses depicte in the very nice paintings are (l to r): Point Pedro, Batberyn, Galbokka Point and  Oluvil.

Again, the Postmark informs us that the letter was mailed from the country's economic capital, Colombo.