About this issue
Hello Friends, We hear this question quite often: How do you get your ideas? And I wonder. Where do we get our ideas? Sometimes ideas crop up in the oddest places. For some reason, the washroom seems to be a favourite landing site for ideas floating in space! :D Ideas also don’t care for the time. They especially do not like peaceful, slumbering people. I’d be on the verge of falling into deep, restful sleep, when an idea rings the alarm. I’d hate to wake up just to jot it down but if I don’t, by morning, I know it would be gone. So, as anyone who has ever struggled with an idea will tell you, be ready to be at the service of an idea, no matter the place or time. And that brings us to the theme of this issue—Ideas that Rocked the World. Think about it. Humans have cracked amazing ideas down the ages, changing the way we live. Someone invented the wheel which made travel possible. Electricity gave us light and power to run our machines. Internet connected us to the world. Ideas have been simple and mighty but each of them has had the power to change the world, from cellphones and laughing gas to Satyagraha and world/space exploration. So how does one come up with an idea, a good idea—for a project, for a play, for a song, for an essay or to sort out a problem? I jot down every idea I can come up with, no matter how silly. (Don’t be afraid to make mistakes, for as history and science tell us, the most daring ideas are born from accidents and mistakes.) I also keep ideating and thinking throughout the day. So naturally, the idea ends up dancing around in my dreams. Yes, often, when I am working on an idea and then sleep on it, I usually wake up with a solution. I am sure each of you will have your own secret techniques for ideating. I would love to hear about them. I end with a salute to those dedicated teachers who have helped shape our thoughts and ideas, for it’s Teachers’ Day on the 5th. One such teacher was Uncle Pai, whose birthday is on the 17th. Also have great fun celebrating Janmashtami on the 5th, Ganesh Chaturthi on the 17th and Bakri Eid, later this month.
About TINKLE
Tinkle started as a fortnightly children’s comics magazine, in 1980. Under the guidance of editor-founder, Anant Pai, the brand evolved the tagline ‘Where learning meets fun’. It was one of the first few children’s comics magazines with Indian content at that time. Till then children were reading syndicated foreign comics, – Archies, Phantom, Mandrake – translated into Indian languages. In Tinkle, children could read folktales from all over the world as well as stories revolving around the Tinkletoons. Many of these characters have evolved into icons such as Suppandi, Shikari Shambu, Tantri the Mantri, Kalia the Crow, etc. Over the years, newer characters have stepped into the Tinkle pages. These include the Defective Detectives, Butterfingers, Sea Diaries, etc. Apart from comics, the magazine also engages readers with several educative non-fiction pages including puzzles, do-it-yourself crafts, solve-it-yourself mysteries, knowledge features on a wide range of subjects and contests. Though intended as a magazine for children between the ages of 8 and 14, Tinkle’s reach goes far beyond. Families eagerly look forward to the magazine, every month, across the length and breadth of the country. It is probably not just the entertainment but the unexpected insights that the magazine gives their children that families value. Owing to Uncle Pai’s efforts, Tinkle is also welcomed by educators and school principals and thus holds a position as a recommended magazine for wholesome edutainment.