Delhiwale: When Tintin was hanging out here | Latest Delhi News

Delhi has been visited by many celebrities. The Beatles bought a sitar at Connaught Place. Gabriel García Márquez looked for books at the Khan Market. Queen Elizabeth II spoke about Ramlila Maidan. Che Guevara stayed at the Ashoka. Ricky Martin performed at Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium. Margaret Atwood met fans at the Stein Auditorium at the India Habitat Centre.

And Tintin… yes! He too has hung around our city – his presence lingers in the NCR. There is Tintin Patisserie in Sector 23A of Gurugram, Tintin Tableware in Jawahar Colony of Faridabad, Tintin Cosmetic Shop in Indirapuram in Ghaziabad and Tintin Food Delivery Service in Gagan Vihar in Delhi.

Belgian cartoonist Georges Remi, alias Hergé’s red-haired globe-trotting reporter, accompanied by Milou (his dog), first set foot in India during the Raj era, encountering and saving the Maharaja of Gaipajama in “Cigars of the Pharaoh”, and in its sequel “The Blue Lotus”, meets Chang Chong-Chen.

His first documented stay in New Delhi would come while on his way to rescue Chang, in ‘Tintin in Tibet’, when he would spend three whole hours in the company of the pipe-smoking and alcoholic Captain Haddock. As Tintin celebrates the 92nd year of his debut this week, here’s his itinerary in Delhi.

Landing in Palam

Arriving in Palam, Tintin disembarks from a plane registered as VT DAO. A few years ago, BBC journalist and Tintin fan Soutik Biswas snooped around to discover that “the number belonged to a Seagull II hang glider belonging to a sugar factory”. Anyway, Tintin obviously flew on Air India because his plane had our tricolor painted on it.

Going to Willingdon

Shortly after landing, Tintin is informed that the flight to Kathmandu (spelled “Kathmandu” in the comic) will depart from Delhi’s other airport – Willingdon. The Viceroy, who reigned from 1931 to 1936, liked to commemorate himself and his family with a hospital (now ‘Ram Manohar Lohia Hospital’), ‘Lady Willingdon Garden’ (‘Lodi Garden’) and even ‘Rattendon Road’ (now ‘Amrita Shergill Marg’), named after her son. Willingdon Aerodrome was India’s second airport and Delhi’s first, and housed the Delhi Flying Club. Sanjay Gandhi took off from there before plunging into an accident in 1980. Closed to all air activity since 9/11, Willingdon is now known as Safdarjung Airport.

Tintin in Mehrauli

Tintin visits the Qutub Minar at Mehrauli and says aloud: “It’s 70 meters high.” That’s all!

Tintin to Shah Jahanabad

Tintin’s next stop is Fort Rouge, where he, Haddock, and Snowy hang out with smiling Dilliwalas. Tintin wants to visit Jama Masjid and Rajghat, but with their flight leaving in 25 minutes, the group thinks it is safe to head to Willingdon. (21st-century commuters can only sigh wistfully at the thought of streets so uncrowded that one could drive from Lal Qila to Safdarjung in 25 minutes.) They then seek a taxi in a crowded bazaar. No name is mentioned, but since they were at the Red Fort moments earlier, it’s almost certainly Chandni Chowk. A gateway at the end supports this premise as it appears to be the entrance to Fatehpuri Masjid.

As any Dilliwala would tell them, looking for a taxi to the airport from Chandni Chowk is foolish. Haddock tries to step over a cow blocking the way, and the annoyed bovine then runs off with him on its back. The fleeing couple pass through crowded alleys, one of which is certainly Chawri Bazar – the western wall of the grand Jama Masjid is easily visible.

Eventually, a Sikh taxi driver drops them off at Willingdon, where they fly to Kathmandu, and via Patna, on to Tibet.