THE PINOCCHIOS

My favourite pastime as a school boy was to leaf through cartoon and comic magazines after the classes were over in the afternoon. Most of the time I used to read Phantom cartoon comics. I was so fascinated by Phantoms ,their machismo, their mysterious hooded faces and their  daredevilry while  rescuing people in crisis that I was almost addicted to those comics. One day , I stumbled upon the Pinocchio cartoon magazines and was so happy . I went through them with avid interest.

Adventures of Pinocchio by Carlo Collodi  was really an all time classic story. The protagonist Pinocchio was a wooden boy carved out  by a carpenter and wanted to be a real boy in flesh and blood. He considered the carpenter as his father. Pinocchio had a long nose that became abnormally longer whenever he told lies. This story really impressed me very much.

In our country, there are hundreds of politicians, highly-placed officials, ministers, bureaucrats and officers who more often than not hoodwink the common people with their white lies. I think, they are simply wooden people or leaders without life.. and habitual liars. They are the real Pinocchios. I wish their noses were longer at the time of telling lies.

                                                                                    ( Writer - Dr.Pradeep Kumar Nayak )