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S U N D A Y H I N D U S TA TA N T I M E S , M U M B A I DECEMBER 20, 2009
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atmanor Nagraj atmanor Nagraj? ? THAT’S A DIFFICULT choice for the tribe of die-hard comic book collectors
tribesof tribesof mumbai Karthik Balasubramanian an ■
[email protected]
nce upon a time, Snow White’s sister Rose Red was murdered, andSnowWhitecalledtheSheriff andSnowWhit ecalledtheSheriff ofFabletown ofFable town,The ,The BigBadWolf(‘Bigb BigBadWolf(‘Bigby’) y’) to solve the case. Bigby, on amnesty, and eager to attain absolution for his dealingswiththethreelittlepigs,used deal ingswiththethreelittlepigs,used hisbloodhoundinstin hisbloodho undinstinctsto ctsto bringRose Red’skillers skillers tobook, andto protectand serve the inhabitants of Fabletown in general. The ‘town’ happened to be tucked away somewhere in New York. This storyline would make perfect sense to very few people in Mumbai. It is a brief summary of the first story arcin acomicbook seriescalled Fables , printed printe d bythe DCcomicsimprintVert DCcomicsimprintVertigo, igo, which is the source of several award winningcomicbook serieslike Sandman , Watchmen and Watchmen andPreacher Preacher .And .And the‘very fewpeoplein fewpeopl ein Mumb Mumbai’aremembe ai’aremembersof rsof the Comics Club, a Yahoo group for
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Yahoo’s Comics Club enthusiast Ashok Banker; and (right) Mihir Joshi, founder of the club. SATTISHBATEAND PRAJAKTPATIL/HT PHOTO
comic book fans. Theclub’smembershaveyetto meet each other in the real world. But they interactvigorouslyonthe group’s messageboard andexchangecomics ranging from mainstream poster-boys like Superman and Superman and Batman Batman ,, to the edgier, subversiveVertigocomicslike Sandman orhome-grownsuperheroeslike orhome-grownsuperhero eslike Super Commando Dhruv and Dhruv and Nagraj , created by Raj comics. The Comics Club Yahoo group was createdin crea tedin 2003byMihirJoshi,a hardcore DC comics fan. It is listed in the Guinnessbookof Guinn essbookof worl world d reco recordsas rdsas the first and only one of its kind in India. Joshi’s passionfor comicsbeganearly; as a boy, he spent most or all of his Diwalimoneyon mainstrea mainstreamDC mDC comics and the collection has grown steadily. His favourite superhero is Superman ( Hisoptimisticnaturereflectsmyown personality, and his is a world we can disappear into”) and the Man of Steel hasan entirebookshelfdevotedto him. One rung below sits Batman, another favourite. If you want to collect DC comics, startfromthosepublishedafter1986, startfromthosepublish edafter1986,”” hesays.Reason:itwasin hesays.Reas on:itwasin tha thatyearthat tyearthat the DC universe was officially rebootedwiththe apoc apocalyp alyptic‘Crisi tic‘Crisison son Infi Infinite nite Earths’storyarc Eart hs’storyarc.All .All theflags theflagshipcharhipcharacters, like Superman and Batman, wererevamped,and theirback-stories “
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If you want to collect DC comics, start from those published after 1986 MIHIR JOSHI,
Founder, The Comics Club
significantlyaltere significan tlyaltered d inthe stori storiesthat esthat followed. The renewed DC universe attracted a new legion of fans. Joshi’s collection not only encompassess thecomicsprintedbyDC afte passe afterr 1986,but alsothe pivot pivotal al Crisis Crisis series, series, and collected volumes of much older Superman issues, Superman issues, in which Superman is not capable of flying, but only jumping about like a grasshopper grasshopper.. THEINDIAN ANGLE
TheComicsClubisnot rest restrict rictedto edto DCfans.In fact fact,, it is notevenrestric notevenrestricttedto Americ Americancomics;thereare ancomics;thereare mem berswhohavecollectedevery Phantom orMandrake or Mandrake issuereprintedby issuereprintedby Indrajaal aal comics. Some members, like Bandra basedAshwin Kalmane Kalmane,, collectoffbeat sci-fi and horror comics. Some, like Andheri-basednovelistAshok Banker, havean extreme extremely ly eclectictastein comic books, cultivated over years of comic book buying and exchanging exchanging.. I startedcollectin startedcollecting g comic comicss fromage five, and by 11, I had enough to start a smalllibra sma lllibraryof ryof myown myown,”hesays ,”hesays.. Asa “
child,Banker wasattrac child,Banker wasattractedto tedto theusual range of comics that Indian children gettoread— gettorea d— Phantom , Tintin , Asterix , Amar Chitra Katha . But by his late teens,he haddiscoveredUnderground Comix, a movement of comic writers thatfeatured thatfeature d sexand viole violencerendere ncerendered d in gorgeo gorgeouslyg uslyg raphicdetail with mature story arcs dealing with social issues. Banker has written a comic book himselfforVertigo(releasingearlynext himselfforVertig o(releasingearlynext year), and is also coming out with his own comic book adaptation of the Ramayana .. Ramayana Thanks to his status as an artist employed by Vertigo, Banker receives everymonth’s issueof DCcomics. Which helps, since comics are costly. Trade paperbackss cost anywhere between paperback Rs 500 to Rs 800. There are cheaper alternatives, alternatives, though.Vashi-based though.Vashi-base d graphicartist Vivek Goel, who has worked at India Book House and Raj Comics, has been collecting lectin g Rajcomicsforthe pastsix year years. s. Hiscollectioncomprise Hiscollecti oncomprisesboth sboth Rajcomic issuesand issue sand tra tradepaperb depaperback acksof sof DCand Marvelcomics.He Marv elcomics.He getsthemoff eBay, where,hesays,youcanhavetheissues whe re,hesays,youcanhavetheissues homedeliveredforhalf homedelive redforhalf theirlistedprice at times. Indrajaal comics Indrajaal comics have been out of printfora whil whilenow,andthishas enow,andthishas turn turned ed Phantom and Phantom andMandrake Mandrake issuesintocolissuesintocollectors’ items,” explains Vashi-based Jeemutt Roy(33), ahoarder of Jeemu of Phantom Phantom issues. I’ve come across several rad- diwalas (scrap dealers) who salvage Phantom issue Phantom issuesfromthe sfromthe tras trashand hand sell them at double the price,” he adds. Butthe colle collectorsaregettingthe ctorsaregettingthe better of the raddiwallas raddiwallas by by collecting all the Indrajaal Indrajaal com comicstheycangettheir icstheycangettheir hands on, scanning them and uploading them for the rest of the group. Icouldsell someofthe famo famousissues usissues in my collection at eBay a few years from now and break even, if not make aprofit—thoughI hopeitneve hopeitnevercomes rcomes tothat,”observesJoshi.Likemostcomic ”observesJoshi.Likemostcomic book collectors, he is reluctant to sell a single page of his collection. Some things are for keeps. “
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The Comics Club can be visited at: http://in.groups.yahoo.com/group/ TheComicsClub/ This weekly column examines the diversity of urban communities
A lotta hot air over global warming Funny Business
SYLVESTER DA CUNHA
he world’s environment is in crisis. The Himalayan glaciers areshrinking.ThePacificOcean isexpanding.Theatmosphereis thickening. My cough is sickening sickening.. Mydoctorsaid I amsufferin amsuffering g from a smoker’s cough, and that I’d better give it up. I did give it up — consulting that quack. I co couldhav uldhavetoldhimthatmyprob etoldhimthatmyprob-lem stems from excess carbon emissionss spew sion spewedby edby indus industrialchimne trialchimneys, ys, car exhausts and hot air from knowalls who assemble in places like Copenhagen, Bali and Kyoto where they can party in discos under thousandsof colour colouredbulbs edbulbs burningallthe energy they brag about saving. These climate-chang climate-change e chatterati drive 4-wheel gas-guzzlers, yet have
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ILLUSTRATION:ABHIMANYU
thegallto criti criticiseIndiaforbeing ciseIndiaforbeing the fourth largest ‘pumper-outer’ of carbon dioxide. President Bush (remember him?) addedinsultto injurybydeclaringthat Indiancowswhoexpel CO2everytime theyburp are themajorcontrib themajorcontributor utorss tothe world’s gasps.He calcula calculatedthe tedthe burps per day of 3 billion cows, multiplied that by 365 days and concluded that there’s an awful lot of Indian burp flying around. Sowhat?Doeshe Sowhat ?Doeshe exp expectourbovin ectourbovine e population to improve its manners overnight? Has nobody told him that his White House staff used to giggle athis oft-re oft-repeate peated d Excus Excuseme” eme” befor before, e, after and during Cabinet meetings? Prior to the greenhouse gassing in Copenhagen,our JairamRameshvolunteered that India would reduce its footprint by 25 per cent. (How would he do that — by snipping off our toes?) The truth is, we can begin making significantt cutsby reducingthelength significan of VVIP motorcades comprising 40 sedans, three police jeeps and one ambulanceever ambul anceeverytime ytime theirwiveswant to do a bit of shopping. Also, do these people need to airconditiontheirlawns cond itiontheirlawns,, eve evenin nin wint winter? er? Ramesh guiltily confides that our cattleemission catt leemissionss arenotonly ora oral,but l,but also originate from the other end of their digestive tracts. Before George Bush, or his successor,, finds out, Ramesh has drawn up sor an elaborate plan to bottle all these trillioncubicgigaton trilli oncubicgigatonsof sof catt cattlegas, legas, and sell it to the Pentagon so that theycanescalatetheirDroneoffensiveagainstt AlQaedain Afgha siveagains Afghanistan nistan,, aswell asdeclarewaragainstthe Maoists in Orissa and Jharkand or whoever else it perceives as a threat to the US way of life. Ramesh himself can demonstratethe stra tethe sinc sincerityfor erityfor his carbon reduction promisesby ceasing to blow-dry his hair three times a day day.. “
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Sylvester da Cunha is one of India’s pioneering admen whose agency creates the widely-loved Amul ads
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quotemartial quote martial
There is no need to press the panic button. My men can control the situation on New Year’s eve so people can enjoy boat cruises and parties in the sea without fear. D . S I V A N A N D H A N , Mumbai Commissioner of Police
Dad’’s the word Dad Soumya Bhattacharya, Resident Editor
Wai aiti ting ng for 16 16.. And An d dr drea eadi ding ng it O
n entering someone’s home, you can more often than not tell if there is a child in the family fami ly.. Inour case case,, youcan’t youcan’t.. Orat least,youcan lea st,youcan’ttellif ’ttellif yo youarein uarein the livingroom,whic livi ngroom,whichis his wher whereyouare eyouare on entering our flat. From the time that our daughter, now eight, was very small, we had a rule: you can’t leave things lyingaroundin theliving room.Her responseto respo nseto thisdiktatwasconsidered and clever: dump everything in The Room In Which Anarchy Reigns. Which is to say, hers. InThatroomtheotherday,Iwas InThatroomtheothe rday,Iwas suddenly struck by how its accoutrements have changed over the years. I’m not sure why I hadn’t noticedthisbefore—or noti cedthisbefore—or whyI hadn’t in quite this way way.. Whendidthe ratt rattleand leand theteddy bear and the tricycle and the plastic cricket bat morph into books andmorebooksandDVD andmor ebooksandDVDsandhair sandhair bands and adult-looking shoes? On the floor-to-ce floor-to-ceiling-acros iling-acrosssthe-wallbooks thewallbookshelfthatI helfthatI onc onceused eused to think of as mine, I noticed that TheMysteryof theSpiteful Letters had been wedged in between The Picador Book of Modern Indian Literature and Literature and TheWorldis What it is:The Autho AuthorizedBiograp rizedBiographyof hyof VSNaipaul ;Isawhow ;Isawhow 1000Wonders ofthe World —intimidatinglythick; —intimidatinglythick; somanywonders,such somanywonder s,such awide worl world d — lay flush on top of the Larousse Encyclopaedia Encyclopae dia of Renaissanc Renaissance e and Baroque Art . When did she grow up? Where had the years gone ? Before I could stifle it, a cliché articulated itself in my mind: her life flashed before my eyes. Perhaps it was because of the nature of the week — a week in which, at the publication event in Mumbaiformy newnovel,I’dspent alot oftimemakingthedistincti oftimemakingthedistinction on betweenthis betwee nthis weeklycolumn(memoir) and the novel (which revolves around a father and his daughter but is, patently patently,, fiction). Perhaps it was something to do with the time of the day — late at night,shesleepin nigh t,shesleeping,metherelikean g,metherelikean interloperin interlope rin thespace thatseemed likea sanc sanctuaryafteranannoyin tuaryafteranannoying, g, exhausting day at work.
ILLUSTRATION:ABHIMANYU
WHENDIDSHEGROWUP? WHERE WHE RE HADTHE YE YEARS ARS GONE? BEF BEFORE ORE I COULD STIFLEIT,A ST IFLEIT,A CLI CLICHÉ CHÉ ARTICULA ARTIC ULATED TED ITSEL ITSELFF IN MY MIND: MIN D: HERLIFE FLA FLASHE SHEDD BEFORE BEFO RE MY EYES Perhaps it was nothing but that mymind, unfetter unfetteredfrom edfrom thedrudgeryoftheday,wasworkingina eryoftheday,waswor kingina way it hadn’t for hours. Soher lifeflashedbeforemy eyes (now roll that cliché around your tongueand promiseyourselfto never use it). I rem remembe embered red ver very y rec recent ent incidents. She’ss got great poise,” a dear She’ childhood friend visiting us for a dayhadsaid. Hehadn’tseenher in years. I had smiled, self-satisfied, asthough asthoug h Iwasthe onebei onebeingpaid ngpaid a compliment. Just wait till she is 16,” a colleague had said when I’d told her that I played the good cop to our daughter in the good-cop-bad-cop routine at home. It will change change.. When girls grow up, they get closer to their mothers. Their fathers are too possessive. They worry too much.” Well, I am waiting. I am dreading it. And I am waiting… “
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[email protected]
The church where it all began AS BORIVLI’S IC COLONY prepares for Christmas, a look at its history and its church mumbailocal mumbai local Mauli Buch ■
I C C o l o n y R d
mauli.buch@hindustantimescom
orhundredsof yea orhundredsof years,theChurch rs,theChurch of The Lady of Immaculate Conceptionstoodlonelyat Conce ptionstoodlonelyat what is today known as IC Colony. It is said that Father Antonio Do Porto and his companio companion n Father AntonioDoCasolfirstbuiltthe Anto nioDoCasolfirstbuiltthe chur church ch in 1544, and worship started in 1547. Thechurchwasbuiltin Thechurc hwasbuiltin thePort thePortugue uguese se style of architecture and lined with rich carved wood panelling. Withthe defea defeatt of thePortugue thePortuguese se in 1739,during the Marathainvasion, thechurchwas,however,raze thechurchwas,howeve r,razed.The d.The ravaged structure that stands right besidesthe presen presentt churchis witness to that collapse. Originally consisting of 400 villagers,the parishione parishionersconvertedby rsconvertedby PadreAntoniodo Portogrewin num ber and soon a settlement for them wasbuiltaroundthe wasbuiltarou ndthe chur church.Aroun ch.Around d 1630, the parish counted some 1,500 parishioners. In 1818, worship was permitted in thechurch,and after70yearsof lying in ruins, restoration work began on it in1888. Rebui Rebuiltin ltin India Indianarchitecnarchitectural style, it got its vicar in 1912. It was in 1949 that a few employeesof Mack Mackinno innonMacken nMackenzie,ashipzie,ashippingcompanywith pingcompan ywith itsofficeat Ball Ballard ard Pier, got together and acquired 40 plots here. And IC Colony was born. Spread across across 2.5 lakh sq ft, the earlyICColonyhada numbe numberof rof small andbig bung bungalow alowsthat sthat wereusedas holiday homes by their owners, who stayed in South Mumbai. Mervyn Cardozo (67), who came toliveherein toliveher ein 195 1956whenhewasa 6whenhewasa 14 14- year-old, remembers, It was a jungleout therein1956.”Oldtime therein1956.”Oldtimerstalk rstalk ofthe coo coolbreeze lbreeze,the ,the wailingof ingof wolves in the forest nearby and the view of theDahisarriverfromtheir window windows. s. Continues Cardozo, There was somehabitationbeforeIC somehabitati onbeforeIC Colon Colonywas ywas formed. Some people stayed in the Tuscanoand Tusca noand Cand Candicecompou icecompoundsand ndsand therewas alsothe StFrancisD’Assisi School (established in 1908). But it was IC that injected life into this silent suburb.”
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IC C R o d ol N n o y C 5 r o s s
late Immaculate Mary Immacu School Girls Sc
Royal Raj Towers Towers
Springg Dales Sprin School rnationaal School Internation Inte
Lad y of Our Lad Immaculatee Immaculat Concep Conce ption
St Francis D As Assisi High Scho School MAP:SEBASTIAN
SPREAD ACR SPREAD ACROSS OSS 2.5 LAKH SQUAREE FEET,THE EARLY IC SQUAR COLONYHAD COL ONYHAD A NUM NUMBEROF BEROF SMALLAND BIG BUNG BUNGALO ALOWS WS THATT WE THA WERE RE USE USEDD AS HOLIDAYY HOMES HOLIDA charmisits Goanfeel.Whenyouenter it,youfeelyouhavejuststepp it,youfeelyouhav ejuststeppedout edout ofa noisymetro noisymetropoliscalledMumbai poliscalledMumbai and stepped right into a locality in Goa,” says Savvin D’Costa (67) who hasbeenstayingat hasbeenstayi ngat HolyCro HolyCrossfor50 ssfor50 years now. Thelackof resta restauran urantsin tsin thevicinity in the early days prevented the placefrom gettingtoo commer commercialised, cialised, believemanyIC believ emanyIC reside residents.SaysWillie nts.SaysWillie Shirsat (65), who’s been living in the LIC Colony since 1973, Those were the good old days. Now it is a concrete jungle. The last 15 years have seenan influxof hawk hawkersand ersand proli prolifferation of slums.” Tall buildings started coming up onlyafter 1975,saysCardozo. That’s when developers started acquiring plotsandconstructingbuildingshere. plotsandconstructi ngbuildingshere. Andthat’swhen theera ofbungalows in IC Colony ended,” he says. Though50and moretallstructur moretallstructures es dotthecolonynow dotthecolo nynow, itis sti stilla lla pea peace ce-ful residential locality locality.. In spite of it being bein g a conc concretejungle retejungle,, youcanstill hear the chirping of birds,” remarks JairzinhoCarv Jair zinhoCarvalho(30),whobought alho(30),whobought a house here in April this year. Andofcourse,thereisthe churc church. h. Proximity Proxim ity to it remains one of the major attractions for the 4,500 families and approximately20,000parishioners of IC Colony. “
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The Church of The Lady of Immaculate Conception, first built in 1544, was rebuilt in 1912. IC Colony came up around the church. PRASADGORI/ HTPHOTO ■
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Thefirstbuildingtocomeupin Thefirstbuil dingtocomeupin the colonywas thethree-sto colonywas thethree-storeyMathew’ reyMathew’s Mansion in 1959. It stood out from the rest as it was tall and one could see the bungalows from its terrace,” saysCardozo. Ican prou proudlysaythat dlysaythat I own a shop in this building. “
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The two-storey Ludovic Mansion followed in 1960. Gradually, the LIC Colony Colo ny and Holy Cross and IC Extensions came up to surround IC Colony from all sides, making it a township of sorts. What gives IC Colonya Colon ya separa separateentityand teentityand aunique “
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