Author Vikram Seth, in his verse novel, 'The Golden Gate' pays one of the most eloquent tributes to Tintin and his friends, through a witty sonnet. It's not difficult to see why Seth, like countless other Indians including yours truly, has been so captivated by the world's most famous boy reporter with a trademark quiff who set foot in India only twice* in his comic book adventures.
Tintin's first trip to India in 1934 is quite a hackneyed depiction reflective of the colonial time warp of Europe at the time. In the otherwise riveting Cigars of the Pharaoh, the intrepid reporter crashes his small plane in the jungles of India. He meets a mad fakir, and escapes from a mental asylum. There is a journey on a train bound for "Sethru-Jamjah". Irate villagers catch Snowy chasing a cow and decide to "slay" him at the "altar of Siva". Cliches galore! There are scenes of a railway station with a neat Indian Railway poster - the only sliver of reality.
All this happens in the ridiculously named kingdom of the Maharaja of Gaipajama, which translates literally into the "king of a cow's pyjama"! The India in Cigars of the Pharoah is utterly unreal and stuffed with awful caricatures. An argument with a cow, in fact, lands Snowy, Tintin's faithful companion, on the altar —ready to be sacrificed by angry Hindus, before he is saved by the bumbling detectives Thomson and Thompson, who prove useful in this case. The adventure ends happily, with Tintin — nattily dressed in a turban and shervani and accompanied by Snowy — joining his host, the Maharaja of Gaipajama, in a victory procession.
The second time was in 1958. In Tintin in Tibet, one of Herge's most elegantly drawn albums, the intrepid Belgian scribe arrives at Delhi airport en route to Kathmandu and a new adventure. Herge fares exceedingly well, taking Tintin and his friends to the Qutub Minar and the Red Fort - two Delhi landmarks - that are etched out in fine detail and rich colours as you can see below. They would’ve gone to Jama Masjid too, but they were late for their Air India flight to Kathmandu! Michael Farr, a leading British 'Tintinologist', says Herge actually did a "lot of research" for Tintin's Indian journey: he secured catalogues of all the aircraft Air India used and uniforms the cabin crew wore at that time.
Scenes from Tintin in Tibet
To many, Herge's depiction of India may seem too riddled with clichés and stereotypes, reflective of a European colonial mindset fuelled prejudices. But no one can deny the realism and painstaking detail which he brought into his narrative. For instance, when, in Tintin in Tibet, Captain Haddock bumps into a porter who yells at him in Hindi, Herge made sure that each word was correctly spelled out in the Devanagri script and that it was not just a meaningless hieroglyphics. It was this eye for detail that captivated noted film director Satyajit Ray — a self-confessed Tintin addict — who often referred to the stories in his films and books, especially in his famous Feluda detective series.
Ray has referred to Tintin in his many Feluda stories and two Feluda films. If you enlarge the photo, you can read his description of Tintin from Kailashe Kelenkari. Read more about Tintin and Feluda here
By the 1970s Hergé became interested in eastern philosophy and Tintin took to yoga in Tintin and the Picaros (1976).
Indians still love Tintin like no other comic book. It had been first translated into Bangla in 1976, and ever since Tintin and his dog "Kuttush" have enjoyed cult status in Bengal ever since. The comic was translated into Bengali by Nirendranath Chakraborty. Nirendranath Chakraborty is an important literary figure. He is one of those who created a unique poetic language. It is surprising that the Tintin series — which may have been ignored as ‘children’s literature’ — was appealing enough for him to put in so much introspection into the translation. So, it is not entirely unexpected that Chakraborty should use subtle nuances of language to give the characters of Tintin’s world a Bengali flavour while avoiding any blatant provincial element in their behaviour. The language of the translation retains the inherent mood of the original, even when the expressions are changed to fit an audience not acquainted with certain cultural references. What is equally remarkable is the congruity that Chakraborty’s language managed to maintain with Hergé’s drawings. It seems as though the faces drawn by Hergé were meant to speak in Bengali.
Perhaps there is something uniquely Bengali in Tintin. And that ‘something’ lies in Captain Haddock’s 'Jotto sob gneri-gugli-r jhnak' (billions of blue blistering barnacles), Professor Calculus’s endearing, deafness-induced confusion that is strangely familiar, and of course, Kuttush, the Bengali Snowy. Chakraborty had not only translated Tintin into Bengali, but had also incorporated in the comic a ‘Bengali-ness’ that draws us closer to it.
In fact, the adventures of Tintin have been so popular in the Bengal for years, it had led Herge, the creator of Tintin, to remark, "I receive a lot of mail from India. Here, in my office, are two letters from Calcutta. Now, what can there be in common between a boy in Calcutta and myself ?"
Nearly 5 decades later, Tintin finally spoke a second Indian language - the comic books were translated in Hindi in 2010. Tintin animation series had come out in Hindi much earlier and had been released on VCD/DVD in 2005. In the Hindi version, while Tintin remains the same, Snowy has been desi-fied to “Natkhat” and detectives Thomson and Thompson have been renamed “Santu and Bantu”. Captain Haddock’s ‘billions and billions of blue blistering barnacles’ has become ‘karodo karod kasmasate kaale kacchuve’ (millions and millions of squirming black turtles) while ‘ten thousand thundering typhoons’ reads as ‘dus hazaar tadtadate toofan’. Tintin’s catchphrase ‘Great snakes’ has been changed to ‘baal ki khaal’.
Hindi and Bengali covers of the 2 Tintin albums where he’s been to India
In an age of instant gratification and waning attention spans, Tintin albums - in English, and in Bengali and Hindi translations - continue to sell by the thousands. Is it any surprise then that Steven Spielberg's paean to the intrepid reporter, The Adventures of Tintin: The Secret of the Unicorn, released in India six weeks ahead of its the US release? Sony Pictures (India), which is released the film in India said that their research shows that more than 90% of the audience that watches Hollywood films in India are Tintin fans.
It is no wonder that artists across India are spending hours creating fan art of Tintin in various places across India.
Kolkata
Darjeeling
Pondicherry
French artist Jacques Beaumelle imagined his favourite childhood hero strolling through Pondicherry.
This was was drawn to highlight the smog and poor quality of air in the city.
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* Herge had written a play based in India though. It was called 'Tintin aux Indes: Le Mystère du diamant bleu' ('Tintin in India - the Mystery of the Blue Diamond') and released in April 1941.
Tintin aux Indes: Le Mystère du diamant bleu
'The Mystery of the Blue Diamond' was a Belgian theatre piece in three acts written in French by Hergé and Jacques Van Melkebeke. It features Hergé's famous character, Tintin, and covers much of the second half of Cigars of the Pharaoh as Tintin attempts to rescue a stolen blue diamond. The events of the story occur within the chronology of Tintin stories, between The Crab with the Golden Claws and The Shooting Star. Plot synopsis:
Act 1 is set in the palace of Padakhore, India.
Detectives Thompson and Thomson arrive and meet Badapour, the prime minister of Padakhore. He explains their mission, namely to act as bodyguards of the Maharaja.
"Tonight", he says, "there's a big celebration at the palace, and tomorrow the Maharaja will leave for Syldavia.". And if anything happens to the Maharaja , the two detectives will lose their heads!
The Maharaja and the guests arrive. These include Doctor and Mrs. Nicholson, Syldavian ambassador Count Koulansky and the almost deaf archeologist Chippendale and his wife.
A telegram announces the arrival of Tintin. Count Koulansky gets over-excited. He explains that after the affair with King Ottokar's scepter, Tintin is considered a hero in Syldavia. Any Syldavian who achieves something good is called "sprados urkel spodzaviev karamadsov zlazek rosbifkiroska'fa spetchnouk Tintin", which Koulansky reveals means "a real Tintin".
Tintin finally arrives with a leashed Snowy. In the evening the celebrities begin, including hypnotizing performances by the fakir Caudebathimouva Thoubva and dancing by The Great Hindou Ballet of Padakhore.
As the grand finale, the Maharaja will display his famous Blue Diamond. But disaster strikes - the diamond has disappeared! Tintin concludes that the thief must be one the invited guests.
A search organised by the Thompsons givès nothing. Tintin suggests that the hearings should continue the next day on the trip to Syldavia aboard the"Rampura".
Act 2 takes place aboard the "Rampura".
Tintin interviews all persons present when the diamond disappeared. After ministers Badapour and Dourka, Tintin questions Dr. and Mrs. Nicholson. Mrs. Nicholson finds the whole situation exciting; a mystery in the fabled Orient among tigers, palaces and a Maharaja who is "as beautiful as a God".
Next in line are Koulanski and Mr. Chippendale. Suddenly the distressed Mrs. Chippendale interferes. There is more bad news; the waiter of the Maharaja has disappeared in the sea! Tintin quickly concludes that the waiter has been killed.
Obviously, Tintin says, the thief had an accomplice and the waiter knew too much. Night falls aboard the ship.
A mysterious shadow throws a bomb into the cabin of Tintin! The bomb spreads 'ramaganmahal' a powerful poison, but luckily Tintin wasn't in the cabin when it exploded.
Tintin decides to send a telegram before the ship arrives at Syldavia.
Act 3 takes place in a medieval hall of a Syldavian castle.
The Thompsons are initially involved in a comic scene with knightly armours, trying to disguise themselves as phantoms.
The invited guests of the Maharaja, still assembled, then arrive. Just in time, Tintin receives the telegram he's been waiting for. He hands it around and everybody - except for Chippendale - takes the telegram in the right hand.
And that proves that Chippendale is guilty! Why? Well, Tintin had sent a telegram to James Edwards in Boston, the butler of the real Mr. Chippendale. And in the telegram, Edwards confirms that the real Chippendale is right-handed while the imposter who showed up in India and stole the blue diamond is left-handed. The Chippendales are arrested and the diamond is found in their luggage. Tintin has solved the mystery of the blue diamond.
Read the excellent comic version by a talented Indonesian artist named Kaka Nami Rai by clicking on the cover below.
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