“Main book shop par khada hoon, kuch chahiye aapko?
(I am standing at the book shop, do you need anything?)” asked my dad on phone,
calling from New Delhi Railway Station, about to board his train in few
minutes.
“Ho sake to ek Chacha Chaudhary ki comic le aana, bachpan
mein aap mere liye bahut saari lekar aate the, kai saal ho gaye, koi si bhi le
aaiyega (If possible please bring one Chacha Chaudhary comic, when I was a
kid you used to bring lots for me, several years have passed, kindly bring any
one of them)” was my reply, getting emotional remembering the times.
My first memory of self-reading a book happens to be Chacha
Chaudhary comics. I was quite fascinated by the colourful images on them and
the accompanying text laced with wit and victory. Whatever be one’s age, every
human likes to laugh, and apart from my family members and the angel-like Asha
Talwar madam in school; Chacha Chaudhary comics kept me happy. They were easier
to read than books prescribed in school, and offered generous doses of
laughter.
My parents tell me I was able to read complex Hindi words
such as अंत्रिक्ष at an early age because of those comics and I would
spend more time reading them than prescribed school books. I believe that the
comics, conceptualized by Pran ji and published by Diamond Comics, were
done in such a way that it was hard to put them down. They emphasized
morals, values, and solving problems around us while laughing. It was in Chacha
Chaudhary comics that I first read about Computers, even though I hadn't seen
them in real life.
Today I am a Computer Engineer. I am a staunch believer of
ethics and solving problems around us without taking life seriously. In
hindsight maybe the seeds of that were grown during my childhood.
It’s not that I read Chacha Chaudhary comics throughout my life.
I assumed there's an age after which one should stop reading comic books. So after giving them up, I progressed through an education
system where I had to cram up stuff just because I’d get good grades and make
it to college (no school book touched me emotionally, and what helped me sail
were some really great teachers). In college I studied so that I would get a
job that would help me earn money, and again no prescribed text book had an
emotional impact on me. When in job I went through a lot of external reference
material to increase my knowledge, but again there was no emotional connect.
And thus I started to wonder if there really was an age
to stop reading comics.
Few months ago, I discovered a web-comic on Facebook called
Garbage Bin. Created by Mohd. Faisal, they made me revisit my
childhood days and appreciate the wonderful time given to me by my family,
teachers, and class mates. After many years I experienced emotional connect. I appreciate Faisal for doing a tremendous job,
and I know I am not the only one complimenting him.
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| Comic by Garbage Bin |
It was due to Garbage Bin that I thought of having
another go at Chacha Chaudhary comics, and thus when I got the opportunity to
avail one, I jumped at it (also there was an emotional reason
involving father-son childhood memories). Going through it, while
I did go into a time wrap, even recollecting nearly all the strips having read
before, my mind was having thoughts that many things now would not be possible in real life, and the
content while nostalgic did appear somewhat unrelatable for my age. But there was something
very peculiar that struck me.
I wondered if our education system could learn something
from comics. The enjoyment in reading good comics is much more than reading
about stuff such as electrons that we cannot see but have to visualize. Almost
all of our prescribed text books in professional courses do not emphasize
importance of human values but comic books like Chacha Chaudhary do. I learned
more about Indian History by reading Amar Chitra Katha instead of the books
prescribed in school, and there must be many more who learn quickly by reading
comics over text books. They are easy to read but the process of creating
comics wouldn't be smooth, and I feel all great cartoonists deserve respect.
 |
| Via Burning Bright |
Irony of our society is that if I have a kind hearted cartoonist
friend who makes comics, works incredibly hard at it, does a tremendous job and
I appreciate his work; he might not get the kind of respect that
another friend of mine would get who is earning tones of money thanks to his
educational qualifications, his hard work be praised but I wonder how happy he
really is with his life (you might be able to relate to this).
This makes me appreciate Jaspal Bhatti ji's family
for letting him leave his financially secure Government job so that he could
realize his true calling as a humorist starting with drawing cartoons for
newspapers. I wonder if he would have become India ’s
top most satirist had he not drawn cartoons.
 |
| Via The Tribune |
1. Chacha Chaudhary’s brain worked faster than a Computer.
His real name was Chotu Chaudhary and before getting married was a topmost boxer.
2. He had an identical twin brother named Chajju Chaudhary.
3. The mere thought of Sabu makes me think of volcanoes
getting erupted on Jupiter whenever he got angry.
4. Chacha Chaudhary’s ace nemeses were Dhamaka Singh and
Gobar Singh. Their physical prowess never won against Chacha Chaudhary's analytic powers.
6. Chacha Chaudhary's sidekick in first few series was a vertically challenged sidekick
named Tingu Master and in later ones a faithful dog called Rocket who was adopted from the streets.
7. Chacha Chaudhary was perhaps the only comic character
that Indian families would ask their kids to model themselves on when they grew
up.
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| Photo of Sidak Singh by Arjun Suri Photography |
(All images by Diamond Comics except wherever specified. To know more about Pran ji, creator of Chacha Chaudhary, kindly refer the following links - here, here and here.)
