No stamp for Manoj Tiwari

The Indian media had recently reported that the Dutch government has issued a stamp of 44 cents, and has printed the photograph of Bhojpuri singer and actor Manoj Tiwari on it. The news claimed that Tiwari is an icon in India.

Who is Manoj Tiwari? Nine of the ten Hindustanis will not be able to answer this question. Wouldn't it have been logical to put photos of more popular superstars such as Amitabh Bachchan, Shah Rukh Khan or Aishwarya Rai on the official stamp?

But before we could get down to answering that, the truth has emerged.

The Dutch government has no official stamp issuances, the TNT Post does. This year it will be issuing stamps based on 29 themes, but none of them includes a photo of Manoj Tiwari.

Perhaps the singer-actor went for a "personal stamp" and publicised it as if he has been honoured by the Government of the Netherlands.

According to TNT Post, it is possible for everyone to get their own stamps by placing an order at www.tntpost.nl. On the website it is possible to upload a photo and get the sheets of stamps delivered to your home.

"I think it's a funny situation. Tiwari is proud of his own stamp, which is also logical, because having your own stamp is unique. It's just unfortunate that a misunderstanding arose and that he thinks that it is an official issue while this is not the case," said Seval Tasan, spokesman for TNT Post.