The World We Live In!

Yes, it’s shocking news for all Comic Fans in India! Uncle Pai is no more with us! He was 81, and was awarded the Lifetime Achievement Award this month at India's first ever Comic Convention held in New Delhi on February 19-20. He was supposed to be at the event on 20th Feb, but a week before, he was admitted to hospital for treatment of a fracture after he fell from a staircase. Today morning, he suffered a massive heart attack and breathed his last around 5 pm. He is loved by children across nation, but never had any of his own. 

What is Comic Con? It’s a convention about Comics! But its not just limited about Comics! Yes, primarily its about Comics, but as we all know, that Batman, Superman, X-men, Spiderman and all these have already taken over our entertainment in a big way. They are not limited to just Comics, but are in Movies, TV series, Books, Merchandise, games and what not! Comic Con, or Comics Convention, started in San Diego way back in 1970, and still goes one as one of the biggest event every year! But hey, Comics fans are everywhere and no one can stop them to organise their own Comic Con in their cities! So, we have Comic Con happening in New York, Baltimore, London, Emerald City and more.

“चाचा  चौधरी का दिमाग़ कम्यूटर से भी तेज़ चलता है।” (Chaha Chowdhury’s brain works faster than computer) --> Remember the above phrase? I am sure a lot of you will, and not only that, this was the only knowledge of a Computer we knew back in 70s. Who knows that we Indians will reach out to the world using this computer, and become the king of IT Industry! Back then, I mean, before Chacha Chowdhury, Bahadur, Amar Chitra Katha, Indrajal Comics, Billo, Pinky and many more, before Comics really arrive in India, before the golden 60s, comics were not much in vogue in India. The selection that was available was in the form of imported digests and books like Tintin (originally French private detective), Asterix and Obelix (superheroes of Gaul, erstwhile France), Archie (American School Boy) and Commando (war stories of World War II) etc. A costly product for an average Indian, these comics were rather available to the children of the wealthy.