Chandamama

Can you remember your childhood? I can remember a lot about it but I seldom think about it. Then, there was this little thing which made me recollect most of my childhood days and feel light at heart. This thing or this book, to be precise, can seen at almost every bookshop in India but we rarely notice it. This is the “Chandamama” book. It’s a monthly magazine that was every child’s (at least in my generation and before) dream book. In my childhood, I used to look forward for the day it reaches the local library so that I can read it before my friends. As days passed by, TV and comics took its place and also with the increase of study burden (hahahahaha), I lost track of it.
It was only after I came to Bahrain that I restarted my relation with it. Each book shop selling Indian magazines and books get some of these but the Telugu edition comes in a very less number. I made a pact with one the shop owner to keep one aside for me as they get sold out like hot cakes. Now, the book is more like a childhood friend for me rather than just a book. It helps me to be in pursuit of being a true Indian. The best part of my relation with this book is I don’t keep it with me once I finish reading it but I circulate this as much as I can among the children I knew so that it helps them build their morale and remind them of their roots.
People who don’t know about this book might be wondering at this juncture about this book. It’s nothing but a compilation of short stories for children paired with a couple of serials and some interesting facts along with a little dose of general knowledge. The best part of this book, according to me, is the “Vikram-Bethaal” stories. This series is running from the day one I started reading Chandamama. I don’t know when this series started but this the first story I read in every Chandamama. This series is a compilation of short stories with a moral question at the end and a wonderful answer to this question.
And finally, do you know that this book completed 60 years in July, this year????? This is definitely a genuine landmark for the great book. I hope this book celebrates many more occasions like this. Long live, Chandamama.