Tinkle, and Reading Memories

I remember the last period of the day in school when I’d be itching to go back home, not for being bored of the long hours of school or even the delicious lunch mom would have prepared, but to lay my hands on a magazine which I know I’d enjoy reading for hours on end. So, the last time I’d been to Crossword, which was just a few days back, I happened to chance upon this month’s issue of Tinkle. For those of you who don’t know what Tinkle is, it is a children’s illustrated magazine which instilled a healthy reading habit in me.

  

So, instinctively, I reached out for the magazine and started browsing through it. Now, I’m reading Tinkle again after eight or ten years and I must say, they look more attractive now. The pages are glossier and the illustrations are brighter. However, I did notice some changes. For instance, the number of ads in the magazine is a lot more than they were a decade ago. Understandably, the printing prices must have gone up which must have forced them to place these ads. Then again, there are some of the ads which are made quite well, for instance, a child would read them and get influenced by it. These are ads that take up an entire page and which has illustrations and dialogues promoting the product of concern. The good thing about them is they are made in manner that a child would read them instead of turning the page by; sadly though, they take an entire page which reduces the number pages that may have been used for printing, say, a nice Suppandi tale.

Some of the older editions of Tinkle I still possess

Tinkle has retained a lot of its older, original characters. I must say, I was really pleased to read Suppandi, Tantri, Shambu; and also columns like “It Happened to Me.” Language still is, as it always has been, proper. One does not often find errors in an edition of Tinkle which motivates parents to let their children read them. Their inclusion of a few more informative sections adds to the education of children. Anyway, while I have seen most good publications die out or some which I’m about to subscribe to, dying out, it’s really heart-warming to see Tinkle still out there in the newsstands and bookstores encouraging and inspiring a lot of children to read, and write.