Comic central

Fortunately,the young daredevil escaped unscathed,but he did provide an inspiration to Basu and her friends Koel Chatterjee and Utsa Shome. “Koel and I had considered starting a comic book library with all sorts of comics and graphic novels,and we’d roped in Utsa as well,” explains Basu. It wasn’t just the logo they got from the incident — they also found a name for their venture. “And it makes sense in another way too—comic books narrate their stories in windows. You could also say that it symbolises a leap of imagination,” she points out.

The story goes back to when Basu spent two years in Japan teaching English. “Many of my friends there were heavily into Manga and I found it fascinating. So when Koel came to visit me once,we discussed the idea,” she says. They then got in touch with Shome,and together,the three pooled in their resources. And Leaping Windows was started a little over two months ago.

The main expense,say the 30-somethings,was in setting up the website and ordering a lot more books than they already had. “The collection that the three of us had amassed over the years was simply not enough,” says Shome,“We consulted a lot of people in order to figure out what the demand is,what kind of comics and graphic novels people would like to read.”

Interested people can visit the library’s website and become a member. “Once you pay the membership fees,you can order as many times as you want,” points out Shome,“So it really works out quite cheap.” At the moment,Leaping Windows has two delivery boys who deliver anywhere within Mumbai city limits. The collection is quite eclectic — ranging from Batman to Naruto,from Amar Chitra Katha to Archie and from Sin City to Moonward – and Leaping Windows seems like every Indian comic book junkie’s dream come true. “The most popular books are the ones that have been made into movies,like Sin City,Watchmen and now Scott Pilgrim Vs the World,” says Shome,who himself prefers the works of American comics creator,Jason Lutes.

Currently,Leaping Windows has over a thousand books,covering a wide range of genres. The only problem is that Chatterjee is based out of Delhi,while the other two are in Mumbai. “But we’re managing well so far,” says Basu,who’s the only one who’s managing the venture full-time right now (Chatterjee is a graphic designer while Shome is a law professional). That is also the reason why the trio has not looked at expanding beyond the city. And with membership really picking up in the past one month,they’ve managed to cover their overheads so far,although the profits are still to roll in. But with increasing word of mouth publicity the venture is getting,Basu is sure that day isn’t far either. “We set up our Facebook page a month before we actually started operations,and it got such a fantastic response.”