From: harikuma@enterprise.ifp.uiuc.edu (G. Harikumar)
Subject: Malayali humour/comic strips.
Organization: University of Illinois at Urbana
Date: Tue, 5 Jan 1993 15:09:53 GMT
Keywords: kerala,malayali,humour,comic strips


If I had to name the one thing
that I miss most about Kerala, I would 
unhesitatingly choose the comic strip
"Bobanum Moliyum". This particular
strip that appeared regularly in the 
"Malayala Manorama" since I was born till
a few years ago has made me laugh more than
anything else. 

Is it only I who feel this way? 

Malayali humour has always had a special 
flavour of its  own, a unique something that
neither Wodehouse nor Goscinny could  provide. 
I could never relate to Malayalam movies or
drama. The heavy over-acting has always turned
me off. The only cultural fountain that I used
to drink voraciously from was humorous literature. 

When I was a child, there used to be a series of
comics published by a gentleman called "Kannadi
Vishwanathan". They were ostensibly detective
stories, but were full of outrageous gags and
puns. My  friends and I used to  read these 
in the science and social studies classes in school,
keeping the comic hidden behind a text book. 
We were always caught, because, try as we may,
we could not suppress the laughter that  burst
through our immature defenses. 
I specifically remember one gag. The  hero, a 
gentleman who was referred to as "CID Moosa" 
is thinking aloud: "vediYunda ente neere aanallo
varunnathu. Maariyekkam". (The bullet is coming 
towards me. I'd better move). 

A few years later, I split my sides over Basheer's 
"pathummayde aadu" and "ntuppappakkoranayondarnnu" and
Kainikkara Kumara Pillai's "Veshangal". I chuckled over
"Vasuvettan" that used to appear in the weekly "Janayugam".
I had to go to the local "Kesari Smaraka Sahrudaya
Grandhasala" to read this. This comic strip sadly  
disappeared long ago and reprints do not seem available. 

Another immensely enjoyable strip was "Uppai Mappila". 
This was another strip that disappeared ages ago, but 
that has made a recent resurgence. The old strips are
being published by "Toms Comics". Toms, the 
creator of "Bobanum Moliyum", the undisputed best of
comic strips, which can more than hold its own 
among any collection of its genre. 

Over the years, "Bobanum Moliyum" has delighted and
often amazed me with its wit. Toms has a very observant
eye and an ability to find humour in any situation. 
The old strips focussed on the antics of Boban and Molly;
later they turned political, not surprisingly. As Ittunni Ammavan
says "Rashtreeyam. Athallathe enthundu ivide chirikkan?" 

During one of the several droughts that Kerala went through, 
the some political parties held much publicized pond-digging
activities. Toms responded with a famous cartoon that showed a 
bunch of ponds side by side,  each with its own label. There were
"Manikkulam", "League Kulam", "Badal League Kulam" and
"Congress(ta) Kulam". Another strip that I loved was the one
featuring the minister making a speech to honour "Mahakavi 
Kuttamathu". He thinks that Kuttamathu is some kind of fish
and speaks accordingly. There is one on the preponderance of
parallel colleges, featuring such hallowed institutions as
"Oolapparallel", "Railway Parallel"(where the classes are
held under a railway bridge and the class takes a break
whenever a train goes by), and finally the one that Appee Hippee
chooses because it has 95% (Vijayamalla, Penkuttikal!). 
There is the strip on violence in colleges, featuring a 
Blacksmith yelling at an old man for asking him to sharpen 
an axe in the morning. Says the blacksmith: "Mani Pathai. 
Collegil pokanulla pillerude pichathi koorppikumpol 
aanu thanteyoru kodali!". 

Oh well. The old days past. 

Good luck, everyone. 

G. Harikumar.