Amar Chitra Katha - Tribute to Anant Pai

My earliest memories of mythological stories are from Amar Chitra Katha. I remember my grandfather visiting us with a bunch of comics - Krishna, Shiva Parvati, Ganesha, Mahabharata etc. He used to read them out to me and that's how I learnt about Indian Mythology. I have read them hundreds of times during my childhood and even now when I visit a bookstore and see ACK comics, I pick them up and leaf through them.

Tribute from my side too. I am also the one whose happy childhood memories are associated with those comics. Mythological stories of different characters of Purans and epics, Stories of saints and devotees, Indian history of Mughal and Rajputana empire, freedom struggle, Panchtantra, Arabian tales and English tales like 7 tiny men, Sindrella, Ozz magician and many such wide range of storybooks I read at very very little age.

Oh dear God, that is just too sad! I grew up reading Amar Chitra Katha when I was little! Before I could read, my mother would read them to me at bedtime! I still hoard my collection of the mytho ACK comics. They mean so much to me! And if I hadn't read them that early on, I don't think Hindu mythology would have had as much of a significance to him. May Mr. Pai rest in peace.
Edited by AishuJSKfan - 13 years ago

Thanks for making this thread, this forum is indeed the perfect place for it. The trend of mytho serials started with RS Ramayan, and its sets and costumes were designed in consultation with the gifted team of illustrators for ACK. So in effect, our forum wouldn't exist as it does without the cultural phenomenon created by Anant Pai. I learned so much from the series, particularly the saints' stories that are still really close to my heart. God bless his soul.

I am sad to know about Anant Pai's passing.  I used to inhale ACKs when I was a kid - bulk of my interest stems from there.  Not just mythology - ACK also was unafraid to have issues on real historical events, and not constained by PC as happens too frequently w/ more 'scholarly' works.

Yeah, later, I supplimented all that by reading what I could where I could.  But if one wants a person to take even a basic interest in one's Hindu underpinnings and not ask questions like 'when did Valmiki write the Mahabharat', then there ain't a better way to get hooked than this one.  And the range of topics that were covered - from the epics to stories of the devas, the asuras, and so on - I somehow never feel lost when reading about events.  Mainly thanks to these!!!

RIP, Pai-ji!!!!

Omg, that is sooo sad !!!😭😭😭 The very first mythology stories I read as a child were ACK, they were sooooo magical and kept me glued to the pages. I had every single one of the Ramayan and Krishna stories, and also a big chunk of the historical ones like Prithviraj Chauhan, Anand Math, and Chandragupta. I can never thank Uncle Pai enough for these stories !! it is thanks to him only that so many Hindu children today know even the basics of our mythology.

Rest in peace, jiii!

Amar Chitra Katha was a memorable part of my childhood days. I still remember those days when I used to go to the market with my Dad and he used to leave me in a book store so that I didn't feel bore. I used read the first Amar Chitra Katha comic very quickly but from the 2nd and third very slowly so that when Dad returned I could insist him to buy the unfinished one. Though always he used to buy me a lot of them, specially the biographies of the great men.

What I didn't know is that ACK was available in other languages too, I thougt it was a Bengali comic.

May Mr. Anant Pai's soul rest in peace.

Edited by m_kal2011 - 13 years ago

Me tooo, whenever we went out I begged my parents to buy me an Amar Chitra Katha, and they did because it kept me quiet and busy.😆 I think many parents loved Uncle Pai ji for the phenomenon he created, everyone will miss him sooo much !!!😭😭