I read an obituary today for someone I have never ever met , one whose face I don't recollect. But he has been one of the most influential presences in my life for as far back as I can remember. For millions of kids of my generation he was the pioneer who brought ancient figures of divinity , valour and chivalry right out of dusty old books into our personal spheres of imagination at bedtimes. For students whose school curriculum were bereft of any mention of our mythology that shaped the collective conscience of our civilization today, Uncle Pai was the knight in shining armour who endeavoured to bring back those very stories from the ashes. While our media barons of today treat mythology as a cash cow for expanding their arsenal of animation productions, Uncle pai toiled a lifetime, against heavy odds and penury to educate a whole generation of our countrymen about their heritage.
I remember those summer days as a kid when we travelled on trains for hot unending days to come back home to Bangalore from the far North for vacations. No trip was complete without a bunch of Amar Chitra Kathas(ACK) from the railway station book stall. For things my parents wanted to get done out of me, ACKs were the simplest bribes, gleefully taken and readily given. My demands were always a specific number, 2,3 or 4, etc and I dealt in number of ACKs I wanted that time around. Every visit to the bookstall for me was an exciting prospect. I remember the thrill of fingering through the various ACKs in print and choosing my booty at the book store. And therein lay the genesis of my tryst with books. I longed to visit the neighbourhood library so I could sit there for hours running through the ACKs and Tinkles. And by the time I had decided which ones I wanted to borrow, I would have read through a dozen others:) Each ACK that I had was meticulously read over and over again for umpteen number of times until I was dutifully lost in the magical worlds that uncle pai wove. Be it the era of the epics or the stories from the ballads of Kalidasa, or the lives of Tansen or Tyagaraja, or the idiosyncrasies of Suppandi and Shikari Shambu, Uncle Pai never ceased to weave his web around me where each character existed for real. The illustration by Ram Waerkar were so beautiful and lifelike that to this day, I have never come across an animation that comes a mile within ACK. In ACK, the well built warriors in shining armour,the serene sages, the children with large innocent eyes, the pretty faces of princesses, took on larger than life sizes. As the years progressed, and I was more exposed to the original texts from which ACK drew it's content, I was even more amazed at how authentic and true to original, Uncle Pai's renderings were.
The seeds of cultural awareness that ACK sowed years ago are atleast partially responsible for the renewed interest in cultural studies among the youth today. And for that reason I dare say, Uncle Pai was a colossus who started an unprecedented cultural revolution in the post-indepenence era. With tributes pouring in from all around, this post is my humble expression of gratitude to "Uncle Pai".
I remember those summer days as a kid when we travelled on trains for hot unending days to come back home to Bangalore from the far North for vacations. No trip was complete without a bunch of Amar Chitra Kathas(ACK) from the railway station book stall. For things my parents wanted to get done out of me, ACKs were the simplest bribes, gleefully taken and readily given. My demands were always a specific number, 2,3 or 4, etc and I dealt in number of ACKs I wanted that time around. Every visit to the bookstall for me was an exciting prospect. I remember the thrill of fingering through the various ACKs in print and choosing my booty at the book store. And therein lay the genesis of my tryst with books. I longed to visit the neighbourhood library so I could sit there for hours running through the ACKs and Tinkles. And by the time I had decided which ones I wanted to borrow, I would have read through a dozen others:) Each ACK that I had was meticulously read over and over again for umpteen number of times until I was dutifully lost in the magical worlds that uncle pai wove. Be it the era of the epics or the stories from the ballads of Kalidasa, or the lives of Tansen or Tyagaraja, or the idiosyncrasies of Suppandi and Shikari Shambu, Uncle Pai never ceased to weave his web around me where each character existed for real. The illustration by Ram Waerkar were so beautiful and lifelike that to this day, I have never come across an animation that comes a mile within ACK. In ACK, the well built warriors in shining armour,the serene sages, the children with large innocent eyes, the pretty faces of princesses, took on larger than life sizes. As the years progressed, and I was more exposed to the original texts from which ACK drew it's content, I was even more amazed at how authentic and true to original, Uncle Pai's renderings were.
The seeds of cultural awareness that ACK sowed years ago are atleast partially responsible for the renewed interest in cultural studies among the youth today. And for that reason I dare say, Uncle Pai was a colossus who started an unprecedented cultural revolution in the post-indepenence era. With tributes pouring in from all around, this post is my humble expression of gratitude to "Uncle Pai".
