Anant Pai, 81, Is Dead; Comics Told Indian Children Their Country's Stories

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/01/world/asia/01pai.html?ref=obituaries

February 28, 2011
Anant Pai, 81, Is Dead; Comics Told Indian Children Their Country's
Stories
By VIKAS BAJAJ

MUMBAI, India - Anant Pai, the creator of a popular comic book series
that taught several generations of Indian children the country's history
and mythology, died here on Thursday. He was 81.

The cause was a heart attack, his family said. He was in the hospital at
the time recovering from a fall.

Mr. Pai founded Amar Chitra Katha, or Immortal Illustrated Stories, in
1967 after watching a TV quiz show in which many Indian children could
not identify an important character in the Ramayana, one of the two
great epics of Hinduism, his wife, Lalita, said.

"He came back thinking, 'I have to do something for the country,' " Mrs.
Pai said. "He pleaded with me to let him do this."

Anant Pai was born on Sept. 17, 1929. Orphaned at an early age, he grew
up with relatives near the southern coastal town of Mangalore and in
Mumbai, said Mrs. Pai, who as a child was tutored by Mr. Pai. He
developed a love for literature and learned several Indian languages.

Trained as a chemical engineer, he gave up engineering early in his
career and went to work for The Times of India. There he was involved in
managing Indrajal Comics, an imprint that brought American comics like
The Phantom and Mandrake to India. But Mrs. Pai said he was dissatisfied
with the job because it involved publishing imported stories.

At first, Amar Chitra Katha struggled to find a market, said Subba Rao,
a former teacher who joined the enterprise in 1976. Schools would not
buy its publications because they considered comic books frivolous, and
stores would not stock them because they were not associated with an
established brand.

Mr. Pai and Mr. Rao persuaded a school in Delhi to run an experiment in
which one group of students was taught history using his comic books and
another using traditional methods. Later, both groups were given the
same test. The results showed that those who had studied using the
comics learned more than those who did not, Mr. Rao said.

Indian children knew Mr. Pai as "Uncle Pai" because he solicited
questions from them and answered their letters under that name in
Tinkle, a magazine that Amar Chitra Katha published.

A vegetarian teetotaler, Mr. Pai in many ways lived the life of the
ascetics depicted in some of his comics. Mrs. Pai said he went to sleep
every night at 9 and rose at 3:30 a.m. to start working after having a
cup of tea. Even after his comic books started selling millions of
copies, he and his wife stayed in a modest two-bedroom apartment in
central Mumbai.

In 2007, the publishing company that owned Amar Chitra Katha sold it to
two entrepreneurs, who have been building on the comics business by
investing in TV shows and movies. Mr. Pai stayed on as chief
storyteller.

Besides his wife, Mr. Pai is survived by a sister, Sumati Prabhu.

In a 2009 interview, he said his comics had helped foster the
"integration" of India, which is made up of hundreds of ethnic groups,
by teaching children about its history and legends.

"Unless you have continuity with the past, you can't easily be adjusted
with the present," he said. "The acquaintance with the past is a must.
You may not agree with it. You can disagree with it, but be aware of
it."