I must have mentioned this umpteen times by now that when it comes to books, I am seriously born with amazing luck. A lot of Authors (some are now actually good friends now) are so kind that before even I order their books online, they approach me to read there books (as if they were already not in my wish list) and top of that I get the signed copies fresh out of oven :). It takes me a few hours before my allergy kicks in after I smell those fantastic brand new copies to actually start reading them. And this one was no different but there was a reason why I actually had to take a break from my office work and get up early before my household got up so I could read the Biography on an Uncle who we all loved back in the days. Somehow I totally forgot about him till this book happened and Rajesh was simply amazing to choose me as one of the early readers. Wow! First thing I did after finishing this amazing life story was to call my Mom and ask her if she could check our own library for as many "Amar Chitra Kathas" and "Tinkles" from back in the days that I was able to collect. They were definitely not cheap but my darling mother never said no to books and not at all to comics which should have been part of school's curiculum. I am going to seriously bill him now if I am not able to find my old collection in reading order as his book has totally intrigued me to get the whole lot, read it back to back and hand it over to my teenage kiddo who I am not sure but pray that she loves Uncle Pai's creations as much as my generation loved it. If I ever wanted to read Biography on any Comic writers life, this was definitely in contention with Mr. Pran's life as and when it comes out, eagerly waiting. Food for thought Mr. Rajesh :) you've gotta get that in your kitty now as I believe there is no such book available in the market.
Right from the moment I jumped into "Uncle Pai" like literally, I've been thinking :) can there be a person especially in India who haven't heard of "Amar Chitra Katha" or its creator Mr. Anant Pai's name? Please raise your hand if you haven't (and let me get my gun to shoot you in the first place if you exist) :). I very well remember that I started reading my Mom's books when I was in 5th Standard as such was my appetite for books and reading. She will snatch them out of my hands and hand me over a few bucks to get my own books and direct me to the right book fair's which kept happening in our town during those days. There was a few small libraries too which will have us pick up books on rent as low as 10 paise in mid to late 80's. I very well remember having picked up the fastest fat bounded books so I could cover at least five comics in one shot :) if a Digest form was not available. If you were born in 70's you will precisely know what I am talking. And Uncle Pai's books were always on top of our priority list back then, although my memory doesn't serve me so well but it won't be an exaggeration to say I must have read if not more at least half of his comics and Tinkles as I am surprised to know through his life story that he indeed was not only a genius but a man with a mission to teach not only Indian values through his books but also so much about our own mythology and golden past. In between reading this book I asked my daughter if she knew who Lord Ram's mother was :) and that confused smile and rolling eyes told me that I've gotta get her own set of these books so next time she is able to answer my questions based on our own past. They do not teach that enough in school curriculum these days. I am assuming just like me a majority of my generation people will be huge fans of Uncle Pai and you will for sure lay your hands on this must have must read book. I am not going to disclose anything here but a few things Uncle Pai's fan following not only included a few of our own Prime Ministers or Presidents but also a Friendly nations President who would actually call him to understand the meaning of a Sanskrit shloka :) can anyone beat that.
One question or shall I say one thing that I missed in this biography is that there is one part of his life which isn't explored much (again that is one thing that I would not like to disclose here to spoil it for those who would surely read this book), I will direct that query to Mr. Writer right after this post. And one thing that I totally disliked is the way he refers to Amar Chitra Katha as ACK in who narrative :) totally not done. It may have added another few pages but those three magic words are just incomparable. I have read almost all of his books and I must say, this is his best work so far and none of his earlier stories (that I loved much) comes any closer to this one and I am surprised by my own words that I have actually loved a Non fiction more than Fiction. If you have read "Amar Chitra Katha" and "Tinkle" back then, do let me know how you loved them and if you still have your collection with you? Unlike me who will have to use power of blackmail to get it out of my own mom :).
