KOCHI: Oh Lord! You and your butterfingers!” is a dialogue that is still often heard in my household every time I accidentally drop a dish, or when I seemingly trip over air and the item in my hand meets an unfortunate end. As a child, this inexplicable in-built clumsiness was often a reason why I was never handed any expensive items, and the only solace I got was the fact that there was a clumsy character just like me in the Tinkle magazine who was also called Butterfingers!
Lovable, but clumsy Amar Sen, or Butterfingers as he is more popularly known, returns in a 3-in-1 comic book, The World of Butterfingers: Adventure in Texas and Other Stories, to entertain children with his misadventures and help them learn a few interesting facts as well.
From travelling to Texas to solving a crime, Butterfingers does it all in this fun-filled comic book. In a conversation with the author Khyrunnisa A, who hails from Thiruvananthapuram, and illustrator Abhijeet Kini, I revisit the world of Amar Sen and his adventures as a curious adult who loved this world as a child.
Excerpts from a conversation with Khyrunnisa
Q. I’ve read stories of Butterfingers in Tinkle and I’ve always enjoyed the clumsy antics of Amar Sen. How did you come up with a character trait? Could you describe the journey of developing Amar Sen into the lovable character that he is?
The nickname wasn’t inspired by any particular person. At home, growing up, my sisters and I often called one another Butterfingers when someone dropped something. So when I wrote my first story for Tinkle which was the entry for a short story competition for adult writers, I decided on a humorous cricket-based story set in a school. I thought it would be fun to have, as the eponymous hero, a boy whose nickname was Butterfingers because Butterfingers in the cricket team could generate fun. In that one-off story, the real name of Butterfingers was Mukesh.
When, several years later, Tinkle asked me to create a regular character for the magazine, I decided to bring back Butterfingers, for he was my favourite creation and was living in my head. But I changed the name to Amar, the name of my son. My son is butterfingered, who isn’t? But I only borrowed his name, for my son was a quiet boy while the fictitious Amar is hyperactive, clumsy and a walking disaster zone.
Both are endearing characters, though. I wanted to make thirteen-year-old Butterfingers a child that everyone could relate to — a cheerful, fun-loving, ordinary child who is well-intentioned but plunges headlong into trouble, isn’t a high achiever in studies, loves sports and so on. When I began writing the Butterfingers series for Penguin, I changed the surname to Kishen, just to keep it distinctive from the Tinkle Butterfingers.
Q. Is there a story arc that you follow, especially to weave in a mystery?
I take a lot of time with the plots for all my stories. The story arc for the Butterfingers stories is simple — there is some problem and Amar, with his desire to help people, involves himself, often unasked, in it. He gets into trouble soon enough, but his Butterfingered ways get him out of it and help solve the mystery or problem too. But beyond this general pattern, I take care to see that the stories are different and original.
Q. Looking beyond the comic as an adult, do you think that Amar has a complex relationship with his family?
I don’t think he has that complex relationship with his parents. Both in the comics and in the books, there’s a lot of love between the parents and the child, though it gets hidden behind the general wham-bam action. True, his father, often at the receiving end of his son’s clumsiness, is exasperated and makes sarcastic remarks, and his mother, too, gets impatient with him sometimes, but if you do a close reading, you’ll find that when the father is super annoyed, the mother takes up cudgels on her son’s behalf, and when Amar irritates his mother, the father stands up for him. It is a happy household, though a little harried.
Q. Butterfingers’ character arc is one that treads a fine line between irritating and adorable in real life. How did you manage to toe that line?
I think it all depends on your relationship with the character in your mind. I love Butterfingers and I don’t want him to come across as a belligerent, aggressive and quarrelsome child, but as a lovable character with minor flaws that readers empathise with. He might irritate the adults in the books and his friends too, but they all have a soft corner for him because they know he is good-hearted and well-intentioned. Ultimately, everyone loves Butterfingers. As for the readers, it is the same ‘irritating’ qualities that amuse and endear Butterfingers to them.
Q. In the story, Adventure in Texas, the Stetson hat is one of the most prized possessions of Amar. Do you have any prized possession?
My most prized possession is a personal letter written to me by the late Mansur Ali Khan Pataudi, former captain of the Indian cricket team. He sent me this letter by courier after reading my first novel, Howzzat Butterfingers! about how much he enjoyed the book — ‘What great fun!’ is how he began the letter. He was my childhood cricket hero and I was thrilled beyond words to receive appreciation from him.
In conversation with Abhijeet Kini
1. How did you come across the character of Amar Sen, and was he differently pictured in your head then?
Since I illustrated for Tinkle, back in 2006 or so, I received a script which was titled Butterfingers’ Diwali. The moment I read it I realised this is going to be a fun character, absolutely bonkers in his adventures. I wanted to show him as a bit shabby and careless, hence the first draft illustration I made was with him wearing an oversized crumpled t-shirt and shabby hair. The same was approved by the editor as well as Khyrunnisa (barring the hair colour I had shown). That’s when Khyrunnisa and I got talking, and our friendship and collaborations have grown over the years.
2. The panelling in the comics is not the traditional rectangles and squares throughout...
Yes, panelling is not just about linear storytelling. It can also denote the speed of passing time, fast or slow actions, flashbacks and so on. Hence, the shapes of the panels need to change as per the content. That makes reading a comic also a very dynamic and almost cinematic experience. The panel is like a camera, you need to move it around.
3. Tell us about dressing up a character.
Unless the script demands it, I don’t overcomplicate a character’s look, when it comes to clothing. A reader can focus on the expressions and actions more than the clothing that the characters wear.
4. What are the steps you take to colour-block a scene?
Certain colours stand for certain emotions. Particular settings may demand the usage of particular colours and schemes. It enhances the visual experience for the reader in addition to the emotions drawn across the characters' faces.
5. Advice for aspirants
One should develop a style of their own. It’s alright to get inspired by particular artists and styles, but in the long run, one’s own style has to be unique. For that, a lot of practice is a must. Building a strong portfolio is important. For resources, there’s ample material on the Internet if one needs to go through something. So it’s relatively more convenient to reach out and learn something new. But yes, practice remains the key.
Name: The World of Butterfingers: Adventure in Texas and Other Stories
Publisher: Penguin Random House
Pages: 104
Price: Rs 299