To Uncle Pai

To,

Uncle Pai,

Back then I was too small to even think you made those picture books for me...

But the block books of Amar Chitra Katha- I got to flip through during sultry summers- were your creation.

Thanks to the two brothers who thought it to be wise enough to hand me down their comic series, it kept me occupied.Their Mother had done an excellent job by binding the thin comic books together so that about forty to fifty books turned into on TOME. They were brilliant educative bricks indeed- for me at least and sad heavy bundles for my parents- who would have to carry them for me!

Thus a young mother could get busy at kitchen well her tiny tot could take all the advantage of the pillows and the cushions and sprawl out on the floor, create a kiddish castle for herself and flip through the fantastic picture. and I made great friends with Gandhi, Birbal, Tanali Raman, Buddha--whooosh---long list- folks I guess I have read up all of them :P

Sorry to say--um I was too small to read the dialogue bubbles back then.

Sorry again- I did tear off the edges of few of the pages absent minded.
Sorry once more- I slept over them-- with drools running down at free will.
Sorry yet again- I was selfish and never shared the block binds with visiting play mates at evening.
Okay- once more sorry--I drew crawling spiders all over the pages!!
and yet again- how I would thump my chest like he man and king kong in  primary class, fight with the boys telling them -"I read fat books do you! huh! you are n't even strong enough silly boys!"

Since you would never complain (How come?!)

I would even learn to practice figure drawing by tracing out my favorite character--with each pencil out line and squeezing fingers--thick black borders would soon appear--- ouch what a torture on the paper!!

Sad enough-- none of them survived the years...

Google doodle and the wanderer salutes you :) rest in peace...

regards,

wanderer