?If the children of India dream, let them dream of India?
?How is it that Indian students can answer complex questions about Greek and Roman mythology but fail to identify Rama?s mother in the Ramayana?? In an attempt to right this state of affairs and introduce children to Indian mythology, history and folklore, Uncle Pai, as he was fondly called, created the legendary comic book series Amar Chitra Katha. So popular is the series that it has been televised and features on cartoon channels, and is also available for sale on the iTunes Appstore! After establishing a series that helped shape the national historical consciousness in an immeasurable way, Pai also created India?s first comic and cartoon syndicate?Rang Rekha Features?that produced Tinkle, an iconic children?s anthology.
Although an engineer by training, Anant Pai had a passion for the arts. Pai?s first tryst with comics came when he was working with the Bennett Coleman group, where he played an important role in conceiving the Indrajal Comics, a cult imprint. His vision for Amar Chitra Katha, which filled the void left by grandparents in increasingly nuclear families, was as an instrument of learning. With the growing popularity of the comic series, so grew its content. The addition of historical subjects made a bunch of dates and names come alive, taking the shape of vivid stories that came to be used as educational aids in schools. The Panchtantra, Ramayana, Mahabharata, biographies of important freedom fighters, were all depicted on the colourful pages of the Amar Chitra Katha. Although the father of Indian comics has passed on, his legend continues to live in his immortal stories.