Tintin’s desi avatar

The iconic comic book series, The Adventures of Tintin, after being translated into 50 languages globally and selling almost 200 million copies worldwide, is now being translated into Hindi.

Tintin now speaks Hindi. The iconic comic book series, The Adventures of Tintin, after being translated into 50 languages globally and selling almost 200 million copies worldwide, is now being translated into Hindi, from its original French.



On Monday, the Belgian ambassador’s residence in the Capital will see the launch of eight Hindi language books from the Tintin series. Franco-Belgian publishers, Casterman, the licence holders for the series, have tied up with publishing house Om Books International to launch this series. "It took us close to four years to work this out. We’ve done our best to keep the authenticity intact," says Ajay Mago of Om Books International.

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The books have been translated by Puneet Gupta, an ad film-maker. "We have made the language more approachable for the Hindi reader, and also tried to change the European cultural references to Indian ones," says Puneet, who will translate one book every two months. Fans, meanwhile, are ecstatic. "For Tintin to be translated into our national language is a testament to how important Indian book lovers are to publishers," says Daniel Luther, 23.

Going Indian
The Indian names of the original Tintin characters:
Snowy (originally Milou) is Natkhat
Thomson and Thompson (originally Dupont et Dupond) are Santa Singh and Banta Singh
Prof Cuthbert Calculus (originally Professeur Tryphon Tournesol akak Prof. Sunflower ) is Professor Surajmukhi
Bianca Castafiore is Malika Castafiore (a name inspired from famous singer Malika Pukhraj)