Biblio

Of memories and comics: Pran’s Chacha Chaudhury

Pinterest LinkedIn Tumblr

Today I realized something; although psychology firmly states that we could never be the same person that we were once at the age of seven, I and perhaps millions of others people in India, realized this isn’t the case.

A slightly tilted face, the red turban, fluffy mustache and know-it-all eyes.

A current ran down through my spine as I saw, recognized and then exclaimed a big ‘Achaaa…’ while I stared blankly at my Facebook newsfeed. A pang of memories from the pre-internet time clouded my mind. I was mourning. Somebody had made me a seven year old again. And that somebody was essentially the life of my childhood days.

Pran? Who was he? How could he just transport us in the world full of adventures of Sabu  and Chacha Chaudhary? And why did we call the smartest of our friends ‘Chacha Chaudhary’, as the comic described “Jinka dimag computer se bhi tez chalta hai!”? The combination of epic strength and sharpness of a mind used to chase away those adorably fat but thick mustached thieves. Then there was the angry and nagging wife Bini who would even scare the giant from the Jupiter away! And who can forget Raaka, Chacha Chaudhary and Sabu’s enemy, whom they would throw away in space like the usual departure of The Team Rocket in the classic Pokemon series.  I remember how Sabu was everybody’s favorite. How I would imagine tossing large objects around as if I were the Sabu from the Jupiter!

The answer is, no matter what comics or books that you read now, Pran’s comics had left such a magical and traceable impact on our minds, that it is difficult to find that very same magic that we witnessed back then. No plot factors sums up its greatness. Neither do I need to explain why it was and still is the best!

The Sherlock Holmes of his times as he deduced the thieves by the trails they left, Chacha Chaudhary was but a common man starring in the regular editions of Diamond and Raj and then later onwards, brought to life by Raghubir Yadav on television too.

Pran being the hard working man he was continued to work on his last edition even as he was fighting his battle with cancer for the past year. And when somebody would ask him, what he wanted from his life, he would grin and say, “If I could put a smile on the face of people, I would consider my life successful.”

Then rest assured Sir, for I smile as I browse through the comments section, almost each one of them thanking you for the smile you put on their faces.

 

Priyanka Kapoor
[email protected]

 

Journalism has been called the “first rough draft of history”. D.U.B may be termed as the first rough draft of DU history. Freedom to Express.

Comments are closed.