Book of the week: Buddha by Osamu Tezuka
Buddha is an eight volume long English graphic novel. It is sold in a 12 volumes set in Japanese language. Buddha by Tezuka is read by more than twenty million people around the globe in various languages. Young and old read graphic novels worldwide more and more these days. This style of writing a novel is also called manga by Japanese. Manga, though developed in 19th century, became increasingly popular in 90s.
Graphic novels are different from comics. One can say graphic novels are novels presented in the style of comics. Here, Buddha is a full-length novel in a comic style, but it is called graphic novel. It is also called as Japanese manga. Some graphic novels are drawn in colour, but manga is done in black and white. Eight volumes of Buddha runs to around 3200 pages in black and white. So Buddha falls in the genre of both graphic novel and manga. Buddha is not exclusively either for the children or the elderly. It touches everybody’s heart.
The first volume ‘Kapilavastu’, starts with a chapter brahmin. It says “At the foot of the great Himalayas, the roof of the world whence the Indus River originates, there lived a people known as the aryans some 3500 years ago.” This volume also speaks of Buddha’s birth and the prophecy of Master Asita about the greatness of that little kid when grows up. One by one each volume takes the reader through the Buddha as if they are deep in a dream until one reaches the eighth one, where he walks away from this world. Some exceptional drawings of Osamu Tezuka speaks volumes than his writings.
Osamu (1928 - 1989) is known as the father, and at times god father, of Japanese manga. By training he was physician, but he quit the practicing medicine and turned to manga. He popularised this style of graphic novels all over the world. Some people call him Walt Disney of Japan. One of the most popular creation is Astroboy. He admits and says there is nothing wrong in adopting concepts from different cultures. Receptive culture develops faster, he adds. He has written 700 manga titles and a whopping 150000 pages.
This graphic novel is beautiful both in content and production. The whole set is designed by one of the best book designer of the world, Chip Kidd. Anybody sees this set in a case would struggle not to buy it. Once you have it on your home library you would read it over and again, because it is a visual treat. Harpercollins published this work of Osamu Tezuka. It costs around INR 4000.
Auswaf Ahsan
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London, Nov 22: A bomb disposal squad deployed as a “precaution” to the South Terminal of Gatwick Airport concluded an investigation into a "security incident" on Friday after making a “suspect package” safe.
The South Terminal of Gatwick Airport, the UK's second busiest airport after Heathrow, which was briefly shut owing to the incident reopened following the incident.
The Gatwick is around 45 km south of London.
Two people detained during the enquiries have since been allowed to continue their journey as the airport was opened.
“Police have concluded their investigation into a report of a suspect package at Gatwick Airport. Officers from the EOD (Explosive Ordnance Disposal) team made the package safe, and the airport has been handed back to its operator,” Sussex Police said in an updated statement.
“Two people detained while enquiries were ongoing have subsequently been allowed to continue their journeys. There will remain an increased police presence in the area to assist with passengers accessing the South Terminal for onward travel,” the statement added.
Earlier on Friday, the incident caused severe disruption at the busy airport’s South Terminal, while the North Terminal of Gatwick Airport remained unaffected.
“Police were called to the South Terminal at Gatwick Airport at 8.20 am on Friday (November 22) following the discovery of a suspected prohibited item in luggage,” a Sussex Police statement said.
“To ensure the safety of the public, staff and other airport users, a security cordon has been put in place whilst the matter is dealt with. As a precaution, an EOD (Explosive Ordnance Disposal) team is being deployed to the airport. This is causing significant disruption and some roads around the South Terminal have been closed. We’d advise the public to avoid the area where possible,” it said.
Footage on social media taken outside the airport showed crowds of frustrated travellers being moved away from the terminal building.
Gatwick said it was working hard to resolve the issue.
“A large part of the South Terminal has been evacuated as a precaution while we continue to investigate a security incident," the airport said in a social media post.
“Passengers will not be able to enter the South Terminal while this is ongoing. The safety and security of our passengers and staff remain our top priority. We are working hard to resolve the issue as quickly as possible.”
Train and bus services that serve the airport were also impacted while the police carried out their inquiries.
In an unrelated incident in south London on Friday morning, the US Embassy area in Nine Elms by the River Thames was the scene of a controlled explosion by Scotland Yard dealing with what they believe may have been a “hoax device”.
“We can confirm the 'loud bang' reported in the area a short time ago was a controlled explosion carried out by officers,” the Metropolitan Police said in a post on X.
“Initial indications are that the item was a hoax device. An investigation will now follow. Some cordons will remain in place for the time being but the majority of the police response will now be stood down,” it added.
