23rd and Dexter: Jash Sandhu

By Jack Farrar

Jash (pronounced Josh) Sandhu and his wife, Stephanie, live in Calgary, Alberta, and recently visited his cousin, Kenny Sandhu, and his wife, Annie, who reside in Park Hill. I met Jash at the Park Hill Community Bookstore, while Stephanie shopped for soup and other goodies at Spinelli’s. I asked Sandhu what fictional character he would most like to meet. “Tintin,” he said. “I grew up reading Tintin books and comics and fell in love with his worldly adventures. You could compare the stories to the Hardy Boys.” Tintin is an investigative reporter, who, with his faithful dog Snowy, solves non-violent crimes with the help of eccentric friends, including Captain Haddock, who is basically a functional alcoholic. Written and drawn by Georges Remi, using the pen name Herge’, Tintin was introduced in 1929. “If Tintin were sitting next to me right now I’d ask him for his impression of the state of humanity,” says Sandhu. “Are you a pessimist or optimist? Is the world a smaller, more intimate place?”