Nothing out-Raj-ous about it

JYOTI SHARMA / TNN / Aug 9, 2007, 00:30 IST

Text Size

Small
Medium
Large

India arrived in toon land much before Raj Patel met Archie’s gang in Riverdale High. But how many Indian toon characters can break free from clichés?

India arrived in toon land much before Raj Patel met Archie’s gang in Riverdale High. But how many Indian toon characters can break free from clichés?India arrived in toon land much before Raj Patel met Archie’s gang in Riverdale High. But how many Indian toon characters can break free from clichés?India arrived in toon land much before Raj Patel met Archie’s gang in Riverdale High.But how many Indian toon characters can break free from clichés?India arrived in toon land much before Raj Patel met Archie’s gang in Riverdale High. But how many Indian toon characters can break free from clichés?India arrived in toon land much before Raj Patel met Archie’s gang in Riverdale High. But how many Indian toon characters can break free from clichés?
Riverdale High was just Riverdale High – the epitome of teenage cool with its Veronicas and Bettys fighting over Archie – till Raj Patel walked in and turned it into a cultural cauldron. This Hindi-film-loving-Gujarati reflected how India’s soft power has truly arrived.
And the country hasn’t stopped celebrating since then. So, what if Raj Patel is the ultimate cliché – a Bollywood lover-meets-rich Gujrati in the US – he still remains our guy in cartoon land!
However, the truth is that India arrived in toon land much before Archie’s creator, Fernando Ruiz, thought of introducing Raj. While Popeye strips have featured many Asian characters, the wryly funny Dilbert had Asok, the IIT engineer who is “mentally superior to most people on Earth”.

Scott Adams, the creator of Dilbert, explained his choice of the character on an earlier occasion, “I have known several IIT graduates over the years. Asok is named after an ex co-worker from my days in the tech world. I thought it would be a funny contrast to have Asok come from the most competitive school systems in the world only to find out that intelligence doesn’t always help in the workplace.”
We have also had Pavitr Prabhakar – an Indianised Spiderman who had to do his superhero acts with a

dhoti over his latex Spidey suit. But how many kids in urban India identify with a dhoti?
On the other hand, Shekhar Kapoor and Gotham Chopra have come up with their own brand of comics, called Sadhu, Devi and Ramayana, which have their roots in Indian myths but the approach is international. Shekhar justifies his choice thus, “I don't think comics can be restricted to one land. Devi’s Sitapur or Batman’s Gotham City both are never-never lands that can be anywhere. So, even ‘Indian’ characters should have a very international appeal.”
Is it time to gloat over Indian characters making it big in the toon world? “Yes and no,” answers author Samit Basu. “In comics, more than other mediums, readers and market forces make their presence felt. For instance, more coloured and female characters were introduced in cartoons when the readership amongst these categories was increasing. Then the ’80s saw a gay superhero for that particular readership. Similarly, Indian Americans are a big part of the US reading public today.”
But aren’t Indian characters clichéd and stereotyped? “That they definitely are,” answers comic enthusiast and former IITian Kshitij Khattar. “Most of us are not like Asok. But at the same time, an IITian in Dilbert did bring focus on IIT as an institute.”
The same holds true for Raj. “I hope that the Indian family is shown in the right light. It will be interesting to see how they are made to adapt to the American way of life. But this definitely is a recognition for India,” says author Shobhaa De.

End of Article