R.I.P. Uncle Pai !

Early morning today I reached out for the fresh smelling wad of newspapers of  the day. My attention went to  the Times Of India.  It  was a welcome change to see the  front page  with news  rather than the usual full page advertisement that has become the norm for the newspaper which  has the motto “Let The Truth Prevail”. I have so far resisted the urge to move on from this brand due to its pink cousin which forms part of my breakfast bouquet.

Lazily browsing the news, a small box of news in the left corner of the newspaper caught my attention and stopped me in my tracks.

Anant Pai  editor of Amar Chitra Katha series dead !

A sad moment, as I stared at the news article. Uncle Pai, as he was popularly called  was no more. The small box gave me a huge, nostalgic flashback. In a few seconds memories of all  the  “Amar Chitra Katha” mythology comics I had read as a child came back to me. The “Amar Chitra Katha” (Immortal Stories in Images) had recreated Indian mythological stories in the form of English comics for nurturing the growing generation of Indians to their true culture. These comics were a rage and children  bought, begged, borrowed, stole or bartered them with friends.

Then there was another  popular comic series by the same publisher  –  ” Tinkle” ,  a lighter comic with popular characters who became virtual friends as I grew up. I am sure that this was the case with quite a few, as a  generation grew up in the happening times that India moved on from the clutches of being a “Socialist Democracy” to being an “Open Market Free Republic” (my definition).

Even today when generally chatting away with friends, peers or in general, characters from Tinkle come alive. Suppandi, Shikari Shambhu are used for name calling to people exhibiting such  behavior  at home, work or in public.

However Uncle Pai’s service to our nation / culture was the Amar Chitra Katha series.

The  Amar Chitra Katha’s were singularly responsible for imbibing  seeds of our rich Indian culture and moral values to a generation which would lead the new India.  Indian mythology stories found an expression by way of comics in simple English; which so far  were only non-graphical religious text books  heavy  Sansktrit.

Characters from our past culture who would otherwise  were destined to be lost to oblivion in  modern India, came alive and spoke  about their character and values to the  generation of kids caught up in the onslaught  of western comics like  phantom, batman and superman comics. I  know that a lot of my early only   communication skills in  English were  learnt by reading the Amar Chitra Kathas. For one, these Indian Superhero comics were not crude, unlike their western counterparts. Elements of refinement were hallmark of the series. Uncle Pai and his team  applied serious thought in to making  the characters come alive  in thecorrect context  of the original culture. They took the serious  task as a social obligation rather than a day job to make money.

In the 1980s  free time abounded,  and this had  to be filled by reading,  as  24×7 soap Television was yet to arrive on the Indian scene.  Tinkle and Amar Chitra Kathas filled this  void. I am so glad it also filled the cultural void in me.

I also remember one particular incident. I used to take part in    various contests which appeared once in a while in Tinkle by sending  post cards with answers. Those were the original 15 paise yellow postcards, unlike the expensive  competition postcards we have today  for  television contests. I was so thrilled to receive a letter from India Book House announcing that I had won a prize and that I should collect it from India Book House. Boy !! Was it a dream come true, for me to receive an invitation to visit the office where Uncle Pai sat.

Recently in Crosswords, I saw an entire polished set of Amar Chitra Katha comics. They excited me to no extent as I literally relived my childhood browsing through them and remembering them. I felt so glad and thankful to uncle Pai all over again for that wonderful mentoring he did. It also pleased me to no extent to know that in some time I would be able to buy them for Eesha when she would be able enough to read them. I hope she would find them as interesting and make her weave the fantasy web around the morally sound stories and be inspired to walk on the path of the characters in the comics.

In fact I think I will not wait for more time, perhaps I will buy that set from Crossroads over this weekend itself, as a tribute to the great legend of Uncle Pai. He stays alive in the life I live by way of the character he gave me through his wonderful series of comics and I hope to see his ideals live through the next generation of my family as well.

Uncle Pai – Thank you for everything, you will always be remembered – RIP.