The Adventures of Tintin (and me) ...

When I was a kid perhaps the best birthday present I ever got was a shiny mint-fresh copy of the THE LAND OF BLACK GOLD.

A tintin adventure for my birthday was pre-approved and I then set about making up my mind which one to pick. I would have bought them all but at 50 bucks a piece (huge sum of money in the late eighties) I was entitled to just one. My sister tried to convince me for THE CASTAFOIRE EMERALD. I wanted FLIGHT 714. I was rather impressionable and one of my friends managed to convince me and I ended up ordering THE LAND OF BLACK GOLD (note well: i could never listen to my sister). Bookstores were not as well stocked back then and so I had to order a copy via my library in Sector-7, Vashi. It took a week to arrive but when it did my joy had no bounds !

What fun ! Capt. Haddock at his vituperative best. Abduallah the naughty prince. The Thom(p)sons eating up strange stuff marked as ASPIRIN. The sea, the ship, the desert, the mirage ....... Wow !


TINTIN IN AMERICA is the very first adventure but it takes until THE CRAB WITH THE GOLDEN CLAWS for my favo Capt. Haddock to make his entry. Tintin visits India in the Cigars of the Pharaoh where he meets the King of Gaipyjama. Then there is THE SHOOTING STAR perhaps his best sea adventure. TINTIN IN TIBET where he reunites with chang (first seen in THE BLUE LOTUS). The sinister Rastapopoulos with an oversized nose. The eccentric Calculus with his wierd experiments. You can go on and on. I even wanted to name my pet dog Snowy. Now thats original isn't it ?!

And so my obsession with Tintin's adventures continued ...

I have grown up now, married and all. It was my third aniversary recently and guess what my wifey dear presented me. The entire TINTIN collection !!!! All of them. From TINTIN IN AMERICA to TINTIN AND THE PICAROS !! Doesn't matter I have read each of them hundreds of times ! I feel like a kid all over again gobbling up one adventure after another. Simply Amazing !