I have never been to United States Of America, but I would definitely want to visit the place someday. But I sure do know a lot about a fictional character called Archie and all of his gang. I am a 1980's child and believe me, people then didn't know anything much about the custom and culture prevailing in the western countries and we had no satellite tv's with numerous channels that now allow us to watch any tv sitcom that your heart desires, and please don't forget the internet which is now allowing me to communicate with you all! :)
I knew all about Archie, his best friend betty (who also doubles up as his date at times & who is so hopelessely in love with him),Veronica the teen temptress, Jughead the BFF, Reggie the rotten "egg"(do we even use the term anymore.......)and ofcourse who can forget moose, mr.bee,miss.grundy and all those others who made the American teens look so "cool" and "in".
I started reading the comic first when I was 11 or 12 and just simply got hooked to it. I studied in a convent school, so I could speak english, well, the "grammatically" correct one and not the colloquial language. This little book told me and showed me all about it. I came to know about dating(mind you, in the early 1990's in India the concept of dating was so foreign.....but now, its not like that at all), pocket money, summer vacation part time jobs(i was always sent to study some art form or other like singing,dancing and even to some summer schools) and oh yeah, the world of pizza and burgers........ I tasted a burger when I was 15 or 16, but now Mc Donald's, KFC,Subway and everything is so common in here.
Most of all, I used to hide these comics from my dad and mom.....want to know why.....see the pic below!
Two gals posing in a bikini!!!!!! whoa!!!! If my dad saw that, then that's it, it would have been the end. In India we don't usually prance around in swimsuits or bikinis in the beaches, though the trend is coming up now....
Ahhhhhhh........how can I forget the kiss.........In Indian cinema's before 2000 we never had liplocks in our movies( but now its dime a dozen scenes filled with smooching) and I had never seen one in "real" life. I think Archie's kiss was my first ever kiss LOL.
And ofcourse, it was so alien to me the concept of having "boys over", going for "dating" as I mentioned above and most of all it was an important part of me, growing up and learning about an all together different culture and in the process I was also learning the "spoken-english" in the most fun way possible. That was the biggest achievement as I came to know the words "waddya-kno", "gonna", "wanna", "kidding" "cool" and all that. It really was a platform that helped a lot of kids during my generation to see what is there on the other side and also learn to speak good "american-ised" english!
I am an Indian and I most definitely have an accent but I sure can understand and comprehend the language pretty well. A big part of the thanks goes to "Archie-Comics" :)
Guys, don't forget the Karan Johar movie inspired from Archies.......
Any of you guys like the futuristic look of betty and veronica.........I for one don't! take a look.....
And by the way any one of u enjoy reading the Archies even now.........I know am silly, but when I go to the library I still take Archies....... I don't know why.........Nostalgia, maybe.........
I knew all about Archie, his best friend betty (who also doubles up as his date at times & who is so hopelessely in love with him),Veronica the teen temptress, Jughead the BFF, Reggie the rotten "egg"(do we even use the term anymore.......)and ofcourse who can forget moose, mr.bee,miss.grundy and all those others who made the American teens look so "cool" and "in".
I started reading the comic first when I was 11 or 12 and just simply got hooked to it. I studied in a convent school, so I could speak english, well, the "grammatically" correct one and not the colloquial language. This little book told me and showed me all about it. I came to know about dating(mind you, in the early 1990's in India the concept of dating was so foreign.....but now, its not like that at all), pocket money, summer vacation part time jobs(i was always sent to study some art form or other like singing,dancing and even to some summer schools) and oh yeah, the world of pizza and burgers........ I tasted a burger when I was 15 or 16, but now Mc Donald's, KFC,Subway and everything is so common in here.
Most of all, I used to hide these comics from my dad and mom.....want to know why.....see the pic below!
Two gals posing in a bikini!!!!!! whoa!!!! If my dad saw that, then that's it, it would have been the end. In India we don't usually prance around in swimsuits or bikinis in the beaches, though the trend is coming up now....
Ahhhhhhh........how can I forget the kiss.........In Indian cinema's before 2000 we never had liplocks in our movies( but now its dime a dozen scenes filled with smooching) and I had never seen one in "real" life. I think Archie's kiss was my first ever kiss LOL.
And ofcourse, it was so alien to me the concept of having "boys over", going for "dating" as I mentioned above and most of all it was an important part of me, growing up and learning about an all together different culture and in the process I was also learning the "spoken-english" in the most fun way possible. That was the biggest achievement as I came to know the words "waddya-kno", "gonna", "wanna", "kidding" "cool" and all that. It really was a platform that helped a lot of kids during my generation to see what is there on the other side and also learn to speak good "american-ised" english!
I am an Indian and I most definitely have an accent but I sure can understand and comprehend the language pretty well. A big part of the thanks goes to "Archie-Comics" :)
Guys, don't forget the Karan Johar movie inspired from Archies.......
Any of you guys like the futuristic look of betty and veronica.........I for one don't! take a look.....
And by the way any one of u enjoy reading the Archies even now.........I know am silly, but when I go to the library I still take Archies....... I don't know why.........Nostalgia, maybe.........
3 comments:
even i still read archies! Its fun! Though the stories seem sillier now than they did years before, they never fail to give me a good laugh!
And the futuristic look.. nah.. i prefer the old one. This doesnt look like them at all!
Cute post!! :) I think it is awesome that the comic books helped you learn about the western culture and the American slang talk. It's interesting to know that platforms such as Archie comics were helping people in Asia and Europe and everywhere else get an inside look into the American lifestyle.
I wish I had a comic book about India growing up. Hehe. I was the same as you, except opposite. I was desperate to know what it was like in India, but all I had to go by were documentaries (mostly focusing on the villages and extremely poor people) or historical films which were about India during British rule.
This might sound strange, but I think it is more romantic that Indian movies didn't have kissing in films. I feel like western movies really desensitize kissing for young people here. It takes away the mystery and when it happens for the first time, it is not that big a deal since it is shown in movies/tv all the time...
PS. Love your new blog, by the way. I'm following you now!
omg..I used to do tht too..kinda hide the comic when mom or dad used to walk in..Even though they knew I read Archie, but I used to be embarassed about some of the pics :p
Interesting post..keep it up:)
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