Tinkle

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Tinkle is an Indian monthly comic magazine published by India Book House targeted at school children. It is published in both English and Hindi versions. It was also published in other Indian vernacular languages such as Telugu.

Tinkle was founded and is edited by Anant Pai, who became popular among its readership as Uncle Pai. He is also involved with the production of the more popular Amar Chitra Katha series.

The first issue was printed in 1980, and more than 500 issues have been printed so far. The magazine carries comic stories and regular columns of interest to school children. Many stories in Tinkle seem to have morals. Tinkle enjoys great popularity, and has been praised by various Indian celebrities including the former Prime Minister of India, Atal Bihari Vajpayee.

[edit] Features

Apart from stories, it has several regular features such as puzzles (TTT - Tinkle Tricks & Treats), information on specific species of animals (Meet the "animal"), articles on science such as inventions & discoveries and cartoons.

[edit] Popular comics

Apart from one-off stories, it also has regular characters that appear in stand-alone fashion. Some of these characters are:

Kalia the crow series - Kalia the crow, Doob-doob (crocodile), Chamataka (jackal), Keechu and Meechu (rabbits) and Bholu (bear).
Tantri the Mantri series - Tantri, a cunning minister always plotting to get rid of the king but failing every time; Hooja the Raja, his unsuspecting king.
Shikari Shambu series - Shambu, a dimwitted shikari (hunter) who always gets lucky in his hunting endeavours.
Suppandi - Suppandi, a dim-witted servant who works for many masters.

Tinkle also has smaller strips involving characters such as Anwar, Raghu, Ram & Shyam and Mooshik (the last one being similar to Tom & Jerry in concept).