I hope that this will be the first post in a series of several posts on things from my growing up years. My nostalgia about my childhood got triggered by my children. My elder one is twelve now, and for the past couple of years it has been quite fun to tell him that the song that he likes so much is actually a remake of a song that I liked when I was growing up. Quite a few of the latest hits are remakes of songs from the 90s. While I listened to the originals with him, I thought why not introduce him to the other love of my childhood. The stories and characters of Raj Comics, Manoj Comics and maybe Tulsi and Diamond Comics as well. I got these for him, and then “I” started reading them again.

I don’t know how much this post aligns with the tradition of the gentleman philosopher, but I have forgiven myself for these. This maybe a folly, but as Bernard Shaw said – “What is life but a series of inspired follies.”

We started with the first enduring super hero of Raj Comics – Nagraj. Arguably, Chacha Chaudhary, Billoo and Pinki are much older than Nagraj in the Hindi comics scene. But they are characters rather than super heroes. Also arguably, super heroes from Indrajal Comics are older to the scene. But Phantom and Mandrake, while fun to read and equally nostalgic, are not Indian super heroes.

My childhood did not have the options of 24-hour TV, multiple channels, Computer or Internet. I was growing up in small cities of Bihar, studying in Hindi medium schools. After school we had plenty of time to imagine our own games and play them as we wanted. There were children oriented magazines, such as Nandan, Champak, Chandamama and then there were comics. Thanks to my parents’ generosity I had a steady dose of these magazines (usually delivered monthly by the newspaper delivery man). But during the summer or winter vacations, when we travelled by train we used to buy comics from the bookstore vendors on the railway station. I was an eight year old kid when Raj comics started publishing Nagraj stories. My first Nagraj comics was “Khooni Jung”, And boy, was I hooked?

Then I went around looking for the comics that came prior to this one. And I discovered how he came to be. The first comics of Nagraj is an origin story. It opens with an introduction of Nagraj as a weapon to the world of crime. Professor Naagmani claims to have created Nagraj to serve the Crime lords for a fee.

Later in the story, we learn the real origin story. Professor Naagmani finds a child and an Icchadhaari Naag (shapeshifting snake).  The Icchadhaari Naag instructs Naagmani on how to raise the child over a twenty year period so that he becomes the Hero that we know. Naagmani follows the process, and then inserts a capsule in Nagraj’s brain to control him. This comics was published in 1986, same year when Nagina released in theatres and became a massive hit. We wanted to see more of the snakes (specially shapeshifting cobras).

Naagmani unveils Nagraj as a weapon in the world of Crime. The crime lords of the world name a price to rent Nagraj for their missions. On the first mission itself, before Nagraj could do much damage to the world, Baba Gorakhnath appears and with the help of the Shikangi Nevla (Black Mongoose, believed to give magical powers) captures Nagraj and then removes the capsule.

Now, Nagraj is free and has all the powers that made him into a super weapon. He vows to end all the crime lords from the world. He had seen all of them during his auction, when they were putting a price on his services.

The world gets a new hero. Raj comics gets arguably its most popular superhero. The Wikipedia page for Nagraj credits Rajkumar Gupta as the creator of Nagraj. However, the story was by Parashuram Sharma and Pratap Mullick was the artist. Together they started the golden age of Hindi comics. In my view, this golden age of Hindi comics continued till late 1990s. And then with the advent of cable TV as the primary source of entertainment, it became difficult to find new readers.

But the era, containing characters from multiple publications such as Raj Comics, Manoj Comics, Tulsi Comics and the melodies of the 90s holds a special place in my heart and I hope the hearts of people who grew up during those days.