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Searching for comic inspiration, it didn't take me very long to realize that my biggest resource was right under my nose - someone I spoke to every day.
When I started drawing comics a few years ago, I kept my eyes and ears open for stories that would fuel my work. It didn’t take me very long to realize that my biggest resource was right under my nose – someone I spoke to every day.
My mother, with her unique brand of humour, her sparkling wit and her unerring observations, became the star of my comic series, ‘Amma Says’. I started the series as a way of capturing the funny things she said and my horror at finding out that she was mostly right. I’ve done over 50 comics so far, and thankfully I have not yet had to follow her around with a pencil and notebook in hand (as I imagined I would), instructing to her say something funny. Oh no, that needs no prompting!
Over the last couple of years or so, I’ve been devotedly recording Amma’s reactions to various events both global and local — from her experiences abroad (“Where are all the people?”) to Trump winning the elections (“Ghor kalyug!”). An immensely talented artist and writer herself, my mother’s been my best critic, has encouraged me to take my own decisions (of course with the warning that I’ll be facing the consequences) and has motivated me to reach heights I had no idea I could.
The Amma Says series aims to showcase not just her (and our) goofiness, like her sitting in a movie theater asking me where the seat-belt is, but also aims to depict her strength, kindness and the wonderful friendship we share.
On Mother’s Day, here are some of my favourite comics in the series, which are exemplary of her spirit. Read the whole series here.
While Amma is enjoying her stardom, she threatens to start a comic strip about me, which she claims will be funnier than mine. While I wait in anticipation for that, here’s celebrating mothers worldwide!
Creator of The Tap comics (thetap.in), cartoonist, copywriter, travel writer. Loves unending train journeys and filter coffee. read more...
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UP Boards Topper Prachi Nigam was trolled on social media for her facial hair; our obsession with appearance is harsh on young minds.
Prachi Nigam’s photo has been doing the rounds on social media for the right reasons. Well, scratch that- I wish the above statement were true. This 15-year-old girl should ideally be revelling in her spectacular achievement of scoring a whopping 98.05% and topping her tenth-grade boards. But oddly enough, along with her marks, it’s something else that garners more attention – her facial hair.
While the trolls are driving themselves giddy by mocking this girl who hasn’t even completed her school yet, the ones who are taking her side are going one step ahead – they are sharing her photoshopped pictures, sans the facial hair, looking nothing less than a celebrity with captions saying – “Prachi Nigam, ten years later”.
Doctors have already diagnosed her with PCOD in their comments, based on photographic evidence. While we have names for people shamed for their weight – body shaming, for their skin colour- racism, for their age- age shaming, for being a female- sexism, this category of shaming where one faces criticism for their appearance has no name. With that, it also has zero shame attached to it.
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