Amar Chitra Katha founder Anant Pai, fondly remembered as Uncle Pai has made it to Aparna Jain’s latest book for children Boys Will Be Boys. Priya Kuriyan has aptly managed to showcase the many aspects of
Pai in her illustration. The book brings together 45 stories of Indian men who defied the stereotype and marched to their own tune, followed their heart and changed people’s lives.
Uncle Pai, was an Indian educationalist and a pioneer in Indian comics. The very popular Amar Chitra Katha which retold traditional Indian folk tales, mythological stories, and biographies of historical characters and Tinkle, a children’s anthology are his brain children.
Under Rang Rekha Features, Pai created a large number of comic strips such as Ramu and Shamu, Kapish, Little Raji and Rekha along with one-off short stories in comic format. Most of these continue to appear in newspapers and magazines. He also created educational strips such as Fact Fantasy, Funland and Funtime.
The book also features soldiers like Field Marshal Sam Manekshaw, 2nd Lt. Arun Khetrapal, a sailor who circumnavigated the globe, Commander Abhilash Tomy; a designer who took Indian fashion to Paris Rahul Mishra; a doctor who revived rivers Rajendra Singh; a barefoot artist M.F. Husain; rocket scientists A.P.J. Abdul Kalam, Homi Bhabha, Vikram Sarabhai; entrepreneurs J.R.D. Tata, Azim Premji; engineers E. Sreedharan; sportspersons Bhaichung Bhutia, Vishwanathan Anand; journalists P. Sainath, Josy Joseph; activists Sunderlal Bahugana; writers Perumal Murugan, Vikram Seth apart from Pai among others.