Life of Pai

Illustration

Indian comics' superstars Suppandi and Shikari Shambu have one man to be grateful for. Had Anant Pai, fondly known as Uncle Pai, not conceived the idea of creating a series on Indian mythology, culture and comics, these legendary characters would not have become household names today. It all came to Pai in the 1960s when he watched a quiz show on Doordarshan that left him disgruntled. Why did all the participants know so much about Greek heroes, and yet nothing about Indian ancient and modern history, he wondered.

Pai's response came in the form of a seminal series of comic books published by the India Book House, titled, Amar Chitra Katha (ACK). Launched in 1967, the books have played an integral role in shaping every child's idea of Indian culture. Rajessh Iyer, a regular columnist and media professional, agrees. "I am like millions of children across India from the 1970s, '80s and the '90s, who not only grew up on his creations, but remain eternally thankful to them for what they inculcated: a sense of identity and pride in our rich heritage," Iyer tells us, adding, "While I never met Pai personally, in my last corporate avatar, I worked with ACK group as founding editor of ACK Stories Alive. Despite being a storyteller, strangely, the idea of writing a book on Pai never crossed my mind. It was only when my literary agent, Suhail Mathur, suggested this in 2019 that I took it up."

Rajessh Iyer

From a small village in Karnataka to Mumbai, Pai's journey and vision, which eventually touched countless lives across many generations, is as interesting as the books he created. Pai passed away in February 2011, but Iyer was adamant about writing the book. "I was shocked about the lack of material on him and collating them from different sources took longer than envisaged. This was compounded by the fact that barring a few, none of his close colleagues from the heyday of ACK are alive to give better insight into the events that helped create these iconic brands, also understand the psyche of the man" Iyer shares.

And so, around two-and-a-half years later, Iyer finished writing Uncle Pai - a biography that delves into every aspect of the iconic creator of ACK and later Tinkle (fortnightly children's magazine started in the 1980s). "One propelling factor for writing was a sense of disappointment and shame at how Uncle Pai and his legacy have been treated with such indifference. It's rather sad that in a country where at least three generations have known their cultural roots through his creations, there's neither official recognition nor any other major acknowledgement for his precious legacy. This book is but a small token of gratitude from millions of those children whose lives became more enjoyable and knowledgeable, thanks to Pai's creations. Hopefully, this book kickstarts a spate of bigger recognitions for the man who deserves a lot more," Iyer adds.

Anant Pai with former Prime Minister of India, Atal Bihari Vajpayee, and GL Mirchandani, publisher of ACK

There are nuggets galore of how some of our most cherished titles of Amar Chitra Katha were created and, of course, about the man himself. "For example, the first ACK title we know of [Krishna] is actually the eleventh title. There's [also] a major blooper in one of the most iconic covers of ACK that no one knows about… Mr Pai had some troublesome memories of his parents, which perhaps helped shape him. [Moreover] the character Little Raji is based on a small kid in Mr Pai's neighbourhood, who is now a renowned doctor in the US," Iyer says.

WHAT: Uncle Pai, A Biography
WHERE: Amazon, Flipkart
FOR: Rs 299