Uncle Pai, A Biography

In February 1967 Anant Pai was watching a quiz contest, aired on Doordarshan, the school students participating in the contest could easily answer the questions pertaining to Greek mythology, but were unable to answer the simple question "In the Ramayana, who was Rama's mother?".Shocked, 38 year old, Anant Pai felt “I need to do something” to make the rich and diverse cultural heritage of India popular. Which the school system was failing to do.“Uncle Pai - A biography of Anant Pai” ,written by my friend Rajessh M Iyer, recounts the arduous journey faced by Anant Pai to launch the comic book series Amar Chitra Katha - The route to your roots, to teach Indian children about their cultural heritage.Like millions, in India and world over, Amar Chitra Katha & Tinkle was an integral part of both mine and my son’s childhood.Till date Amar Chitra Katha has published over 400 titles in 20+ languages that have sold over 100 million copies. Meaning 50% of India’s population must have read an Amar Chitra katha!Looking back I wonder what if Anant Pai had not undertaken the journey to somehow make the concept of Amar Chitra Katha come aliveReminds me of another great journeyIn 1893 young 30 year old Swami Vivekananda had two options. To seek divinity for just himself. Or popularize the wisdom of the Vedas for regeneration of his fellow Indians. Riddled by poverty, ignorance & caste conflicts. He somehow forced his way into the Parliament of the World's Religions in Chicago . Created history. And made the Indian philosophies of Vedanta and Yoga world famous.We owe a big gratitude to Anant Pai.Unfortunately Anant Pai has not been conferred by any of the Padma awards till date(Recently PM Modi had tweeted seeking public opinion for the Padma awards #peoplespadma, Let’s nomominate Anant Pai)Anant Pai was an engineering graduate from the prestigious UDCT, Mumbai. Instead of choosing a cushy corporate career he decided to pursue a bigger purpose in life.A truly inspirational story. Beautifully written by Rajessh M Iyer.“Uncle Pai” a Biography by Rajessh M Iyer- A must read.

Uncle Pai portrays the obstacles that Shri. Anant Pai overcame before he was established in the field of designing the most popular ACK series. It tells us about his inspiration to start the series and the trials and tribulations that he had to undergo to make it a success. The engineering degree or the secure job which is a dream come true for many youths were forsaken by Pai as he marched ahead towards his goal of publishing the popular ACK series. The cringeworthy moment for Indians was as the children responded to questions on Greek mythology but failed miserably to answer a question on Indian folklore. This acted as an impetus for pai to come up with the brilliant ACK. He became aware of the ignorance of Indian children regarding our heritage. The task then evolved into a mission for Anant Pai when he became fully immersed in the project. He found it to be tough but intellectually comforting.The author Mr Rajesh Iyer has depicted the story of the legend Anant Pai incredibly. Readers young and old would rejoice reading every chapter of the book that is so well written and composed. It was a delight reading the book. Highly recommended for young readers.

Nice book and book's degree of readability is the base layer of my reviewer's pyramid, and the foundation for any good story. ...

The biography of the legend brought so many nostalgic moments down the memory lane. Our generation grew up with Amar Chitra Katha comics. I did get a chance to meet this legend when I came to Mumbai after my marriage and I must confess I was in so much awe and filled with excitement to meet him even at that age. This can easily speak about the impact the comics had in me. We shall always be indebted to him for filling our childhood with tales and stories of our mythology and history that allowed us to create a beautiful dreamworld of our own. Congratulations Rajessh for such an in depth and excellent biography! A must have biography for all the ardent fans of Amar Chitra Katha comics to know and understand the inspirations and struggles he went through to create a route to our roots. I would also like to acknowledge his contribution by saying: Thank you, Uncle Pai!

A really nice biography about Uncle Pai. Which kid in India wouldn't have heard about the affable Uncle Pai. I have with me rejection letters received as a kid fr stories sent to Tinkle written by him so tenderly. I enjoyed the book. His never say die attitude and his commitment are inspirational. His work with Indrajaal comics was something I didn't know as I was an avid reader of them too. For the man who did so much to reintroduce Indian kids to their culture and glorious past, this is a small tribute. Late it may be but a very good effort. I recommend it to all who have ever loved Tinkle or ACK.

One of the best biography ever written on Uncle Pai.Finished reading it in 4 hours (just as quickly as I used to read the new ACKs or Tinkles in those days).Must congratulate Mr Iyer on doing a good reaserach and collecting inputs from so many of the, then, associates of Uncle Pai.May be if more editions come later I would like to see photographs of some more Artists, writers and assiciate editors of ACK.Thanks You Mr Iyer again to being that nostalgia of ACK back.

Good paper and print quality. Nice book to have in your collection.