Anant Pai

Anant Pai (1929–2011), affectionately known as 'Uncle Pai', was a pioneering Indian educationalist and comics creator. He was the founder of Amar Chitra Katha, the comic book series that familiarized generations of Indian children with the country's mythology, history, and folklore. After leaving his job at The Times of India, he founded the series in 1967, and went on to write and edit hundreds of titles, including biographies of figures like Verghese Kurien and Tansen and retellings of tales from the Jatakas and Panchatantra. In 1980, he launched Tinkle, a monthly children's magazine. His work, produced in English, Gujarati (ચતુર બીરબલ, Chatur Birbal), Tamil (அனுமன், Hanuman), and other Indian languages, played a formative role in India's cultural landscape.