Hi folks! My all-time favourite sailor excluding spinach loving, animated ones is almost back. As I write this, Lt Cdr Abhilash Tomy is negotiating his way through the Indian Ocean, on the verge of reaching Mumbai’s shores. And by the time you read this issue, the Mhadei will be safely docked and Abhilash will probably be enjoying his favourite pizza, famished after his 22,574 nautical mile epic sail. Inspired by his fearless journey, we took the brave step of producing Tinkle’s very first photographic cover. I happened to hand Abhilash a bunch of Tinkles as he set sail from the Gateway of India. So our characters travelled with him around the world, and we thought it fit that they should enjoy the welcome celebrations too. Speaking of bravery, we are doing another first in this issue. This is the first time we have published an illustrated poem. Penned by Shriya, and illustrated by the fantastic Sunando, ‘River Girl’ is my particular favourite from this issue. I’d also like to welcome Diego Jourdan Pereira, all the way from Chile, to the Digest. Hola, Diego! Diego has brought to life another of Shriya’s stories, ‘The Wind Up Club’. You’ll notice how the editorial page has changed, as has ‘Gametime with Sean’ and ‘Dame Doherty’s Dazzling Dolls’. All of these come from the design stable of Alicia Souza. As always, she’s pepped up these pages with her special brand of zing.