The Tintin comic series is finally being translated into Hindi
?A Big Bag of Blue Blistering Barnacles,? thundered an infuriated Captain Haddock in the Tintin comic series. But that was before he learnt a lesson in Hindi. From now, he will vent his fury by shouting, ?Karor Karoro kale kasmasate kachuye.? For Tintin has now come to India, talking in Hindi and exclaiming, not ?Great Snakes?, but ?Baal ki Khaal? and ?Shaitan Ke Kaan?.
After decades of talking in English and 50 other languages globally, Belgian artist Georges Remi or Herg??s popular comic book series is being translated into Hindi.
Delhi-based publishing house Om Books is introducing the young reporter in Hindi after getting permission from Casterman ? the original publishers of the comic series.
?I was in touch with Casterman for two-and-a-half-years before they approved our request to publish the comic in Hindi. Tintin has been translated in 50 languages including the less-spoken Zulu,? says Ajay Maago, owner of Om Books who will officially release the comics in September. Almost eight titles like Misra Samrat ke Cigar, Neel Kamal and Tuta Hua Kaan are already available in the leading bookstores across Delhi and Mumbai. These are translations of Cigars of Pharaoh, The Blue Lotus and The Broken Ear.
The task of translating Tintin into Hindi fell on Delhi-based writer Puneet Gupta.
?I grabbed the opportunity. As a Tintin fan myself, things could not have been better. It needed a lot of effort but I enjoyed myself throughout,? says Gupta, who is also an ad filmmaker and a fashion photographer. After researching the characters and the stories, he began to make changes? Snowy, Tintin?s dog, is now called Natkhat, the Brothers Thompson and Thompson are Santu Singh and Bantu Singh. He has also included several folk elements and idioms to fit the Indian context. ?I tried to strike a balance between what is proper and what people will understand,? says Gupta.
Opera singer Bianca Castafiore who is a part of The Castafiore Emerald is referred to as Mallika Pukhraj, who was actually a Pakistani singer of yesteryears who sang ?abhi to main jawan hoon? years ago.
?Bianca is annoying and Haddock dislikes her. She croons the song as Mallika in the comic. The song suits her because she is not very young,? says Gupta.
And Captain Haddock?s reaction? ?Tadtadate toofan,? instead of ?Ten thousand thundering typhoons?.
