new delhi if history was to be studied through world events music art and movies then sahiba rehman has quite literally put her stamp on it rehman started collecting stamps at the age of 8 an interest initiated by her fatherforty years on merging with historic clippings from the times of india her childhood collection has been reinvented as riveting art in the form of 70 dramatic collages war kashmir iraq palestine the raj gandhiji the nehrugandhis and just as media itself has gone well beyond politics other panels capture films music sport and arthistory interests me i was casually segregating my stamp collection one day and the idea just came to me it must have been gods will says rehmanmy fathers brother was fighting for the british in world warii my father started collecting the times of india newspapers then so that my uncle could catch up on all that he had missed when he was away he gave his collection to me and encouraged me always to preserve newspapers that reported major world events it is a practice i maintain to this day and i still have every one of the newspapers my father gave merehmans background is as diverse as the collages she creates she holds a masters degree in anthropology a degree in public administration and a bed she is a national champion in the 22 rifle category and has 11 gold medals in the eventi love art equally i am particularly fond of renaissance art and have created collages on rembrandt gaugin renoir titian and borticelli its amazing how even the smaller countries have used the work of these artists on their stamps its sad that in india we reproduced only one husain stamp and a rembrandt we seem to be stuck in a rut of saints and flowerslife is about exploring one of the unique pleasures of stampcollecting that sets it above all other hobbies is the immense variety of knowledge that lies embedded in them each stamp has its own story to relate reflecting the sociopolitical and cultural milieu of its country of origin she says an example of this is a stamp depicting aphrodite emerging from the sea the stamp from panama depicts a barebreasted image whereas the stamp from japan has the same image with the nude torso hidden by a red circlethe countries featured in rehmans 70 panels are as diverse as the themes they represent from postcards stamps and court papers of the erstwhile royal states of india to stamps from the principalities that are now a part of the united arab emirates the collection is rare as it is extensiverehmans collages certainly need to be exhibited for a larger public not only because they are a rare reflection of our world past and present but also because all the many elements in them are drawn from the collection of one persevering womani believe there is a time to hold on and a time to let go of everything