The adventures and antics of fictional French heroes Asterix and Obelix will now be available in Hindi to comics lovers in the country.
The Ambassador of France to India, Alexandre Ziegler, on Wednesday released the first four albums of the Asterix comics series in Hindi at the Residence of France here.
Talking about the comics book series published by Om Books International, the ambassador said that the characters embodying the French spirit are timeless and a part of the French heritage.
"It's an immense pleasure to release the first four Asterix albums in Hindi. Their stories are an opportunity for readers to get a glimpse of the history of the figures' country of origin.
"Making the humour and stories accessible in another language and culture is no mean feat, so I warmly congratulate the translators for taking up this challenge," Ziegler said.
The comics series tell the story of a French village in 50 BC with two of the main characters -- Asterix and Obelix -- using their brain and brawn to keep the Roman Republic from taking the village.
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The first four albums - 'Asterix: Gaulwasi Asterix'; 'Asterix: Sone ki Darati'; 'Asterix: Asterix aur Gawthwasi'; 'Asterix: Asterix Talwarbaz' have been co-translated by Dipa Chaudhuri and Puneet Gupta.
"I have grown up devouring Asterix comics. In fact, I would wait with bated breath for the subsequent album to be released. And I was amazed at the amount of cultural history that these apparent comics are replete with. Every character has been so carefully crafted. Every dialogue has layers of meanings.
"I was in touch with Hachette Livre for over 7 years before they were convinced that we were the right team of professionals to tie up with for the Hindi edition. So I am really delighted that the albums in Hindi are a reality today," Ajay Mago, Publisher, Om Books International, said.
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