Uncle Pai, A Biography

Three decades of storytelling, over six hundred comic books, an extremely successful children’s monthly magazine, and millions of readers In India spanning at least four generations... This is the legacy of Uncle Pai, and this is the story of the man often referred to as “India’s master storyteller”. Children growing up in the India of the 1970s, 1980s, and the 1990s, had one common factor uniting them—their lovely association with Amar Chitra Katha. They bought copies, exchanged them, bound them in sets to proudly display to everyone... And, even flicked them from friends, if they didn't own a particular issue! Growing up reading his creations was an essential rite of passage that escaped no one. And all this fun, frenzy, and madness was thanks to the epoch-making vision of one man: Anant Pai. From a small village in Karnataka to Mumbai, Anant Pai’s journey and vision, which eventually touched countless lives across many generations, is as interesting as the books he created. Filled with little known stories from the creation of these epochal brands, Uncle Pai by Rajessh M Iyer chalks his journey and serves as a testimony of the man's indomitable spirit that helped millions across India get to know their cultural roots. Little wonder then that we too, like innumerable children, acknowledge his contribution by saying: Thank you, Uncle Pai.