KOCHI: Which of the two will you prefer to check how true blue a Malayali someone is? (a) Quiz him on Kerala’s culture, cuisine, heritage and more (either to get a blank look or bits and pieces of info) (b) Say ‘Tintumon’ and see a gradually broadening mischievous smile before he elucidates on the umpteen Tintumon jokes he has been ‘enlightened’ with.
Choose (b) and you qualify to be in league with thousands of Malayalis who have become die-hard fans of Tintumon, the imaginary UKG character who is a rage among Malayali boys and girls, and men and women around the globe.
Tintumon invaded Malayali hearts not long ago through SMSes that had even stern lips breaking into laughter. The SMS hero soon graduated to e-mails, travelled far and wide and conquered NRI Mallus. His journey from classrooms to office cabins and social circles was so fast that fans lost no time in setting up a website exclusively dedicated to him. At www.tintumon.com, you can read and laugh out loud at the 800 plus jokes where the young hero is the protagonist. There’s space for you to contribute new jokes, shake hands with ardent Tintumon fans and chat with them. For those of you wondering what Tintumon looks like, there are ubercool wallpapers to check out. In the discussion forums on the site, heated debates about Tintumon’s origin to his future take place. The hottest topic on discussion now is who exactly Tintumon’s girlfriend is - Tintumol, Dundumol or Pinkymol? Before you go ‘What the....’, hold on! If seeing is believing, then the people who rant and rave about these topics range from school kids and housewives to techies...yeah, the lot notorious for complaining about being hardpressed for time! IT professional Sanoj Menon will clear your doubts if you are wondering why adults indulge in such ahem, silly stuff.
“I’m a huge fan of Tintumon. He’s got many admirers in my office circles. We love the big mouth and his cool statements which surely trigger a smile on our lips even when we are wracking our brains in office.” And for his non-Malayali friends who stare blankly when the Mallu gang bursts into laughter over Tintumon’s statements, there are translators who convey the joke to them in English. “But tell you what! It’s nothing like the original ‘coz not always can we covey the exact meaning. Translation often kills the humour.” Which is why Tintumon jokes in Malayalam are one step ahead among Malayalis in comparison to the popular Little Johny jokes in English. Nevertheless, Tintumon is fast gaining popularity among non-Malayalis too.
Though no one is sure about his roots, many see Tintumon as more or less a Malayali version of Dennis the Menace christened in local waters to add an indigenous flavour. True that we have alltime favourites like Boban and Molly, Unnikuttan and the whole lot of ‘em but they have not conquered SMS and e-mail zone like Tintumon has.
With the arrival of Tintumon, Sardarji jokes have taken a much needed break. Well, at least in Mallu circles.
“Sardarji jokes are proof of foolishness but Tintumon jokes are proof of his intelligence,” says college goer Mamta Matthew who recently joined the Tintumon fan club on Orkut. “Guess who’s giving me company in the club? Most of my uncles, aunts and cousins are active members!” For those of you who have come to terms with the ‘Who came first - the hen or the egg?’ dispute, here’s something new to chew on. Who came first - Tintumon or Little Johny? The argument continues!
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