How Tintin came to my rescue….

Comics are not serious books and best avoided. That’s what we grew up hearing from our elders. Although some of my friends had to read Phantom and Archie hidden behind their textbooks, my parents never had any qualms about reading comic books. And definitely not Tintin.

My elder brother had a collection of three books and I started reading those maybe when I was in the third or fourth standard. My mom told me the books were really pricey because she had to shell out Rs 11 for each book for my brother. Later when I added a few more to the collection she had to shell out as much as Rs 60-70 on each.

I absolutely loved this young, adventure-crazy Belgian reporter. Even now, after 40 years of picking up my first Tintin, you will see me browsing through the series, sprawled on the bed. Tintin is home. His work is my relaxation. His escapades from the mundane makes my imagination fly. I am sure many of my generation will identify with my feelings.

Tintin books are part of our childhood

As a kid I would often think that when I would have enough money, I would buy the entire collection. When I grew up, I got busy reading and investing in serious books. The Tintin comic books were largely left in my brother’s bookcase. I would bring them out sometimes when I went to visit my parents and one of our favourite brother-sister pastimes was to lie next to each other with a book in hand. Inevitably I would be holding a Tintin.

But that dream of having my own Tintin collection was forgotten because I had turned into a supposedly serious reader. I was picking up fat tomes and ignoring the slim and sassy Tintin.

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Life turned topsy turvy

In 2008 when my brother was diagnosed with cancer, we, as a family began a new battle. Through that phase of harsh treatments and suffering my brother never gave up reading. In fact, one of my best memories from that time was to see my brother and my nephew reading Tintin and laughing together.

Before he left us forever my brother very sensibly gifted all the Tintins we had to my nephew. I realised that Tintin characters, Tintin’s adventures helped my brother remain sane.

Sometimes when my nephew dropped in my brother would bark from the next room and tell him, “You didn’t know? Snowy has made an appearance in our house.”

The bark was perfected so well that a friend, who feared dogs, once almost rushed out of the door thinking we had kept a pet.

My renewed association with the adventurer

Life got busy. Tintin stayed in my heart, and I kept exploring other books. Tintin languished alone in one corner. But knowing Tintin he couldn’t do that for long. Could he?

I was in the third trimester of my pregnancy when I was reading the super fat Shantaram. The real-life story of Gregory David Roberts had me glued to the pages. His escape from prison, followed by his adventures in Mumbai had my full attention till things turned morbid with one of the most lovable characters dying in an accident. Considering my mental state at that point – I was pregnant and dealing with my brother’s illness too – I couldn’t turn the page anymore.

Instead, I turned to Tintin for solace. He welcomed me with open arms.

Tintin has been holding my hand since then

I never went back to Shantaram. I still have the book, but I never opened it again to find out how all the adventures ended. I found a new connection with Tintin. I started visiting our local library to rent the comic books. I went through the entire series again.

I started seeing the reporter in a new light and wondered often if my passion for journalism started with Tintin.

At that phase of my life Tintin saved me from hitting rock bottom, mentally.

A fan was born

Pregnancy guidebooks told me that reading out to a baby in the womb helps in brain development and language skills. So, every day I was reading out Tintin’s adventures to my baby who would often kick to perhaps show me he was listening.

I don’t know if I have a smarter child because of my reading endeavour but this much I know I have a born Tintin fan at home. He’s reading Tintin from the time he could read a few words. I am building my dream collection with him now. The books cost around Rs 500-Rs 600 each so we are taking one step at a time. Sometimes we pick up Tintin comics for our night read. We discuss, laugh and share trivia, before we call it a day. I think this becomes the most fulfilling ending to a day.    

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The Belgian reporter’s success story

Hergé whose real name was Georges Prosper Remi was born on May 22, 1907, and today we are celebrating his birth anniversary. He created Tintin for a newspaper series in 1929. Tintin in the Land of Soviets was his first series, followed by Tintin in Congo and Tintin in America. The series was a runaway success then. Little did Hergé know that Tintin would stay popular even when he’s gone.

I guess this is the beauty of creativity. It survives when human beings don’t.

I chanced upon this amazing article on Hergé if you want to read it here is the link.

The featured photo has been taken from tintin.com.