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Home , Anant Pai, Classics Illustrated, Early Nationalists, Folklore of India, Indian comics, Jagdish Chandra Kapur

"THE ROUTE TO YOUR ROOTS": HISTORY, HINDU , AND IN AND SOUTH ASIAN DIASPORAS

SAILAJA VATSALA KRISHNAMURTI

A DISSERTATION SUBMITTED TO THE FACULTY OF GRADUATE STUDIES IN PARTIAL FULFILMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY

GRADUATE PROGRAMME IN SOCIAL & POLITICAL THOUGHT YORK UNIVERSITY TORONTO, ONTARIO

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Abstract

This dissertation examines the popular cultural media and related ideological processes through which Indian and South Asian diasporic young people learn about history and develop a concept of . It focuses on , a series of English-language comics developed in 1967 by editor to facilitate

Indian students' learning about religion, history, and folk stories. The comics were widely read by Indian students throughout the 1970s and 1980s, and were also very popular among diasporic South Asian children.

The research employs an interdisciplinary methodological approach, incorporating an ethnographic study of ACK readers with a historical, critical, and cultural analysis of the comics in the context of Indian and South Asian diasporic cultures. The first two chapters explore the comics within the context of Indian politics and visual culture. Chapter 3 examines the role of the comics in Indian politics and

Hindu nationalist ideology (), arguing that the comics present a mythohistorical image of India in which Hindu cultural and religious dominance is normalized and the past and present are often rendered indistinct. In this way, certain religious and political leaders are idealized as members of a lineage of nationalist heroes while others are excluded. V

The comics are presented in an avuncular and innocuous media form, making them popular among children, caregivers and educators. Indian readers describe a strong sense of attachment to the comics and the figure of "Uncle Pai". The avuncularism of the comics lends them to co-optation by nationalist movement. Chapter 4 reads Pai and the comics through the figure of the uncle in popular culture, exploring the connections between uncles and various nationalist constructions.

For Indian students, the comics acted as a supplement to formal learning about history. In South Asian diasporas, the comics were often a key source of information in the absence of formal education about India. Through an exploration of the relationship between diaspora, nation, and history, the final two chapters show how, for diasporic readers, the texts work at the nexus of popular nationalist ideology, childhood nostalgia, and the construction of concepts of home and identity. vi

Dedication

To my grandparents, Mrs. Vatsala Jagannathan and the late Mr. Krishnamurti

Jagannathan, who taught me that there is nothing more valuable than learning;

and to Anderson, who with characteristic patience and love has seen me through many successes and challenges. Thank you for being my collaborator in the most important work of all. vii

Acknowledgments

My deepest thanks to my supervisor Himani Bannerji, and the members of my supervisory committee, Daniel Yon and Aran Mukherjee, for their patience, their interest, and their thoughtful comments and critique along the way. I thank them and the members of my examining committee, Ena Dua, AH Kazimi, and external examiner

Deepali Dewan, for making the oral examination an enjoyable and thought-provoking experience. I also wish to thank all the members of the examining committee for understanding the pressures of my other timeline and due date.

Research in India for this project was supported by a doctoral research fellowship from the Shastri Indo-Canadian Institute. In , I was affiliated with the Centre for the Study of Culture and Society; I particularly thank Prof. Ashish

Rajadhyaksha, Mr. Nagaraj, and all the students at CSCS who took the time to share their thoughts with me about ACK and many other subjects. In , Anant Pai and

Padmini Mirchandani generously gave me their time to speak with me about Amar

Chitra Katha. ACK and have since been sold by IBH to an independent company, ACK-Media/Amar Chitra Katha Pvt. Ltd, and it is with the kind permission of that company and its Founder-CEO, Samir Patil, that the images from ACK and

Tinkle are included here. Rajeev Balasubramanyam's willingness to share his thoughts with me made a valuable contribution to this work. I also thank all those around the viii world who allowed me to interview them anonymously for this project; their contributions have been invaluable.

Thanks to Judith Hawley, program assistant in SPT, who has tirelessly fielded questions and resolved confusions, making it possible to navigate through graduate student life at York. I have been very grateful for the support of the York Centre for

Asian Research, where I found a sort of home as a researcher. A special thanks to Peter

Vandergeest and Shubhra Gururani for their support of graduate student work.

There are a number of friends and family who have left an imprint on this work and who have made the long process of writing tolerable. I thank my parents, J. Krish and Kumari Krishnamurti, for their encouragement, and my siblings, Sairupa and Aran, who as occasional 'research assistants' have been generous with their help and their time. Anderson Rouse, as with all things, has been the rock beneath this work.

I started my journey at York years ago with Stephanie Kelcey, and our lives have taken many turns together since; thanks for reminding me to focus and to remember to still have a good time. Shadi Eskandani supported me by providing copy-editing assistance, and has been there for me in many ways; as has Saira Chhibber, whose passion for learning and thinking is infectious. Keith Bresnahan, Dana Dawson, Ayesha Hameed,

Rob Heynen, Kate Kaul, Kathy Kiloh, Molly Mann, Rabea Murtaza and Julie

Petruzzellis have made my experience in SPT worthwhile, and I am very grateful for their friendship. There are many others I'd like to thank, and though it is not possible to name everyone here, I hope you all know that you have my deepest gratitude. ix

Table of Contents

Abstract iv Dedication vi Acknowledgments vii

List of Tables and Illustrations xi

Chapter 1: Introduction 1 , popular culture, and history 7 History, nationalism and visual culture 11 Amar Chitra Katha: an introduction 21 Scholarship on Amar Chitra Katha 25 Methodology 29 Outline of chapters 35

Chapter 2: Inside Amar Chitra Katha: history and review 38 Amar Chitra Katha: a brief history 39 Comics and South Asian visual culture 54 On the theory of comics 65 Imagining India: modes of representation in ACK 70 Telling stories: narratives and images 74 Aesthetics of gender 81 Race and caste 87 Representations of religious difference 93 Conclusion 109

Chapter 3: Drawing a Nation: , history, ideology 112 Epics and mythohistory 115 Nationalism and ideology 130 Hindutva and the politics of Hindu nationalism 141 Technologies of mythohistory: language and realism 151 Amar Chitra Katha biographies 161 Dayananda 161 Veer Savarkar 169 Nehru 175 Gandhi 181 X

Ideological construction in the narrative 184 Impacts of Amar Chitra Katha 187

Chapter 4: Chachas of the Nation: gender, ideology and avuncular education.... 194 Nations, capital, and uncles in the extended family 199 A Duck's your uncle 206 Uncle Pai: India's Walt Disney 213 The avuncularism of popular education 224 The Sangh Parivar - uncles of the nation 233 A textbook history 243 Comics, uncles, and ideas: conclusion 253

Chapter 5: Nationalism and Hindutva in South Asian Diasporas 257 Concepts of diaspora 260 Mythology, the 'imaginary' and the historical real: nation and epistemology 267 South Asian diasporas 276 285 Exclusions 288 The diaspora of the Sangh Parivar 294 Conclusion 303

Chapter 6: Amar Chitra Katha and Diasporic Youth: education, nostalgia, and identity 305 Hindutva and diasporic media: the 'preservation of heritage' 307 Diasporic youth and the construction of identities 319 Identities 324 Collecting 329 Learning about India 334 Negotiating otherness 341 Nostalgia and innocence 344 Conclusion 350

Conclusion: Teaching and Learning with Amar Chitra Katha 352 XI

Appendices Appendix A: Tables and figures 361 Appendix B: List of Amar Chitra Katha titles 383 Appendix C: List of Interviews, dates, and locations 411 Appendix D: Interview questions 415

Bibliography 418

List of Figures and Illustrations

Tables Table 1: comics by narrative category 361 Table 2: comics by religious category 362 Table 3: The March to Freedom "Also Read" advertisement 363

Illustrations fig. 1 Krishna (11/501), cover of original issue 364 fig. 2 Tinkle image 365 fig. 3 deluxe cover of Rani ofJhansi 366 fig. 4 chitrakatha example from Gita-Govindam 367 fig. 5 inside page from Krishna andRukmini 368 fig. 6 example of Varma's style 369 fig. 7 example of calendar art 370 fig. 8 page from 371 fig. 9 page from Rani Durgavati 372 fig. 10 page from and 373 fig. 11 page from Harischandra 374 fig. 12 page from Tegh Bahadur 375 fig. 13 Swami Dayananda holding a cart wheel 376 fig. 14 lifts the bow 377 fig. 15 party at Nehru's father's house 378 fig. 16 Nehru and Indian revolutionaries 379 fig. 17 Gandhi cover 380 fig. 18 Gandhi and Angliciziation 381 fig. 19 Anant Pai as Walt Disney 382 1

Chapter 1: Introduction

Growing up in the cold winters of southern Alberta, my immigrant childhood was punctuated by the explosion of colours, faraway places, and neatly lettered words which leapt out from the pages of Amar Chitra Katha1 comics. Through compelling images and dramatic narratives, the comics told of great Indian heroes and heroines, of

Hindu gods and goddesses, of and monuments. Sent to me each month by my grandfather in India, the comics arrived sometimes by mail, and sometimes through the good graces of a family friend traveling from there to here. On two particularly magical occasions, the comics came to me directly in the suitcases of my visiting grandparents.

Always, they were an exciting, challenging, and comforting reminder of a home and a world that seemed close and distant all at once.

My grandfather sent this steady stream of comics to me because he thought it an excellent way for me to learn about my cultural heritage while being so far away in

1 Throughout the dissertation, I use the full title Amar Chitra Katha or the acronym ACK to refer to the series. 2

Canada. The comics were all in English, which I could read, though I hadn't learned any Indian language. I kept a meticulous collection, checking off each new title against a master list, writing my name as neatly as I could inside the front cover of each one.

When my younger siblings discovered them and began their ruthless campaigns of destruction, I envied my cousins in India whose much vaster collections of Amar Chitra

Katha had been bound for them, like real books, and kept in a special glass case. This seemed as it should be: these comics were venerable artefacts to me. They represented a world of knowledge far beyond what I learned in school, a world of gods and demons and fantastic stories that none of the other, predominantly white, children at my school would know.

This dissertation developed out of my growing realization as an adult that I was not the only diasporic South Asian child for whom these comics made such an enormous impact. In fact, as I grew older I discovered that South Asians from all over the world were familiar with Amar Chitra Katha and often held fond memories of the comics. Still, I wondered, how did it come to be that comics could stand for so much?

Looking back it seems strange that a comic book could hold such authoritative power.

Amar Chitra Katha was for many years one of my only textual sources of information about India, its culture, mythology, and history. From it I learned that I should be proud to be Indian, and that there was more to my nationality than the racist epithets hurled on the playground: I was part of some ancient, sacred heritage, and somewhere, a long plane ride away, this magical world was always waiting for me to return. As a child, 3

India to me seemed a land of ancients, sacred customs, gods and goddesses, benevolent rulers and supernatural creatures. As an adult returning to the comics, I saw that the peach-toned skin and yellow-gold crowns of kshatriyas and the saffron robes and tied- up hair of the sanyasis were still the metonyms of India, but these images now struck a deep contrast with other ones, in which Muslims were portrayed as sinister;

"untouchables" as dark-skinned, emaciated, and amoral; women as invariably buxom and sultry. It was through these images, somehow, that I had constructed my own sense of Indianness, so many thousands of miles away from India. As I learned more about

Indian history and politics, I began to ask myself: what kind of India was this nation that Amar Chitra Katha showed me? How did it relate to my identity as an Indian in

Canada?

This dissertation is an inquiry into the popular cultural media and related ideological processes through which diasporic youth learn about history and develop a concept of national identity. Underlying this study are some critical questions: what is the ideological function of popular culture in historical education? What bearing does this have on the production of identities in a nation and its diasporas? What do 'India' and 'Indian' represent to people in South Asian diasporas, especially in consideration of the enormous diversity of South Asians abroad?2 I pursue these questions through a study of the Amar Chitra Katha comics series.

2 As I discuss in detail later in this chapter and in Chapter 5,1 am using the term "South Asian diasporas" rather than "Indian diaspora" here to 1) appeal to broad conceptualization of linguistic, regional, 4

Amar Chitra Katha, which translates as "Immortal Illustrated Story," is produced entirely in India, and at the height of it popularity boasted more than 430 listed titles. Each title in the series is about 32 pages, and is printed using the four- colour process that typifies many early American colour comics.3 At first glance, Amar

Chitra Katha appears to be in form rather like a typical : The text of each issue is hand-lettered; each page is separated into several narrative frames; as in most contemporary comic art, words appear in captions and speech and thought balloons. The series is written originally and entirely in English, though it is sometimes translated into other languages.

Like mainstream American comics, ACK tells stories of heroic characters, superhuman powers, and deep conflicts between good and evil. But these observations of form and content are superficial ones. Unlike the superheroes of the imagination, the

ACK stories are rooted in the texts of religion, history and literature, and in fact are often cited as such in scholarly fashion by the editor. Each title retells a story which comes from an Indian, and primarily Hindu, mythological, religious, historical, or folkloric source, though the boundaries between these categories are often blurred.

religious and cultural diasporas associated with this region; 2) avoid the India-centrism that frequently comes into play when examining South Asian diasporic formations, and signal my interest in unpacking the ways in which India and South Asia are constructed for Indians as well as non-Indians; 3) acknowledge that "South Asian" may constitute a point of strategic alliance for some diasporic people; (ie Pakistanis, Sri Lankans); and 4) trouble the concept of'homeland' underwriting the construction of India and other South Asian countries. 3 Scott McCloud discusses the impact of this printing process on American comics, both books and newspaper strips (McCloud 187). 5

As several critics have noted, and as I will discuss throughout this project, A mar

Chitra Katha, far beyond being a set of simple children's stories, is actually a very complex piece of popular culture and is bound up in an equally complex politics of nationalism and national identities.4 The series claims to represent "The Glorious

Heritage of India,"5 though the title list makes apparent that most of the series is predominantly given to Hindu themes and personalities. Through their religious and historical retellings, ACK's many volumes construct an image of India as a Hindu

'homeland,' and are in part for this reason especially popular among the Hindu Indian middle class and among diasporic children and their families. It is for precisely this reason that the series requires a careful and critical analysis of its contents, and of the social role it plays in children's learning about national identity.

My examination of ACK in this dissertation has four main objectives:

1) To provide an analysis of the uses of the comic book medium for the

circulation of nationalist ideologies. Here, I am especially concerned with the

series' depiction of caste, gender, class, religious differences, and historical

events.

2) To consider how as a popular cultural form ACK resonates with Hindu

nationalist ideology, and to consider how the transnational circulation of

popular cultural media also allows for the circulation of nationalist ideologies in

4 McLain (2005), Lent (2004), Mannur (2000), Srinivas (2000). 5 "The Glorious Heritage of India" and "The route to your roots" are slogans appearing on the covers of several volumes. 6

diaspora. Nationalism both at home and in diaspora requires a story of origins,

an ontological myth of nationhood. I ask how^OTis complicit with that story.

3) To examine, through interviews with readers, how ideas of Indian history are

learned through ACK and how such ideologically situated knowledge

contributes to the formation of Indian national and diasporic identities; this is

an analysis of the comics' epistemological role.

4) To explore how^CX's imagined a projection of nostalgic desire,

and to consider how that desire is closely tied with a nostalgia for childhood.

For readers of ACK growing up in India and in the diaspora, ACK embodies this

nostalgia both in its content and in the practices of reading which surround it.

To meet these objectives, I must first locate ACK as a cultural project within the contemporary cultural and political context of South Asia and its diasporas. My analysis of ACK is contextually situated in relation to three sociocultural trajectories: first, the rise of Hindu in the post-partition era and the resultant debates among historians, theorists of education, and nationalist activists about the nature and role of historiography and historical education; secondly, the emergence of a modern visual culture that is closely tied to the conceptualization of nation; and third, the increased transnational support for cultural politics at "home" in India supported by the expansion of South Asian diasporas throughout the world. In the remainder of this chapter, I provide a brief introduction to these lines of thought, and to the Amar Chitra

Katha series itself. The final sections of this introductory chapter provide an 7 explanation of my approach and methodology, and outline the structure of the dissertation.

Hindu nationalism, popular culture, and history

Hindu nationalism is a modern political movement which seeks to retroactively claim its roots in a mythic and glorious national past. In contemporary India, it is represented by the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP), or World Hindu Council, the

Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) or National Volunteer Corps, and the Bharatiya

Janata Party (BJP), or the 's Party, a political party with wide public support. Together, these three organizations and their various branches and adjuncts are often referred to as the Sangh Parivar, or "family of organizations."6 The Sangh

Parivar's ideas can be traced back to the early Hindu nationalist ideologues of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries who were responding to the incursion of British colonialism but were also suspicious of the objectives of Indian Muslims.7

One of the most well known proponents of early Hindu nationalist thought was

VD Savarkar, who in his treatise on the subject first connected the word Hindutva, a kind of religious fundamentalism, with the ideology of Hindu nationalism. Hindutva, as

Savarkar used it and as it is used to describe Hindu nationalism today, is a deeply conservative, exclusionary ideology which connects its vision of modern statehood with

6 These key branches of the Sangh Parivar are discussed in detail in Tapan Basu, et al, Khaki Shorts, Saffron Flags (: Orient Longman, 1993). 7 Some of the political leaders and organizations which espoused such ideas are discussed in Sumit Sarkar's Modern India (Madras: MacMillan, 1983). 8 a history of a glorious golden age, stolen from Hindus first by waves of Muslim invaders, and then by the British. A Hindu Rashtra, or polity, is seen as the rightful restoration of a Hindu statehood.8 Hindu nationalists insisted on a revisionist version of history in which Hindus had always already been present in the Indian sub-continent, and had been cruelly subordinated for dark centuries under Muslim rule.

In contemporary India, Hindutva supporters have been quick to decry any scholar or politician who fails to endorse this ontological myth. Romila Thapar, professor emeritus of history at Jawarhalal Nehru University, has frequently been attacked by the Hindu right for her criticism of their historical revisionism.9 Thapar, along with other eminent historians like R.S. Sharma and Satish , wrote a series of history textbooks on behalf of the National Council of Education, Research and

Training (NCERT) in the 1970s. Hindu nationalists felt these texts were too Marxist, too supportive of Muslims, and generally factually incorrect. When the right-wing BJP formed the central government in 1999, one of its first major projects involved asking

NCERT to revise their centrally produced history textbooks according to a more

Hindutva-sympathetic view.10 This case, and the new textbooks which resulted from

8 The major symbol of this is the god Rama, and the myth is often seen as a narrative of ideal statehood. 9 See Praful Bidwai, "McCarthy, Where are You?" in Frontline 20:10, May 10 - 23, 2003. Hindutva supporters dislike Thapar and her colleagues for their support of the Aryan Invasion theory, which implies that is not an indigenous religion to India, and for their insistence that the did not constitute an entirely destructive force in South Asia. Thapar in particular has been criticized for her Marxist analysis of early Aryan community life. 10 Extension coverage of this issue over the last several years can be found in Economic and Political Weekly, and the issue has not died away. See "NCERT Textbooks" editorial, August 26th, 2006. 9 the campaign, provide an illustration of the Sangh Parivar's belief in the importance of children's historical education as an important part of its ideological program.

Interestingly, ACK comics have generally garnered support from the Sangh

Parivar but have also been supported by more liberal thinkers in India. Drawing on and blending together myth, history, and heroic tales of India's past, the vision of India represented in and by ACK is ideologically consistent with the kind of India put forward in these revised textbooks. Just as the BJP history textbooks aim to do, ACK portrays an India in which Hindu cultural and religious dominance is normalized. But, while the move to revise textbooks is quite public and political, the conflation of myth and history through the deceptively simple comics medium allows the series to be widely lauded by people from a variety of political perspectives as an important educational and nation- building project, while ignoring its ideological basis in exclusionary nationalism.11

Though the BJP lost power to the putatively more moderate Congress party in

2004, Hindu nationalism continues to be a political and cultural force in India and abroad. As I have just outlined, the movement for Hindu nationalism is driven by the belief that a great Hindu past has been lost and must be recuperated. For people in

South Asian diasporas, as in other ethnocultural diasporas, the experience or perception of lost identity is often linked to a sense of nostalgia or desire for nationhood and to the experience of racism. It is frequently the case that the diasporic desire for homeland

11 It has been lauded in this manner by everyone from Rajiv Gandhi, a Congress Prime Minister, to , a BJP Prime Minister. See for example R. Chatterjee (1997). 10 and the nationalist desire for a mythic past become ideologically intertwined. ACK comics are frequently used in the diaspora as a way to learn and recall a 'lost' history and identity: the comics are used for religious and historical study in temples; they are taught as authoritative texts in college classrooms; relatives mail them to children abroad; of these comics in Indian languages are often used in language education. .4 CX texts are deployed by the parents and grandparents of diasporic children as a strategy for cultural preservation. While such practices may not be in and of themselves explicitly linked to Hindu nationalism, there is a great deal of overlap between the desire to 'preserve and protect' culture in the diaspora, and the desire to do so in India. In the diaspora, these practices may come in part as a response to the hostility and racism of the host culture. In India, however, the exclusionary ideology underlying such cultural practices is more readily apparent, as can be seen in the ongoing activities of the VHP and RSS.12

Though Hinduism encompasses a variety of sects and practices and has no formal organization or structure, the VHP functions as a self-proclaimed advocate and voice representing 'all Hindus'. Along with the right-wing BJP and the militant RSS movement, the VHP is one of the most organized and vocal Hindu nationalist organizations. But while the VHP is a nationalist movement in India, it is a global religious movement abroad.13 In fact, the VHP is one of the most significant promoters

See Basu etal, 1993. Van der Veer 2004:9; Rajagopal 1995. 11 of these kinds of 'cultural preservation' activities, with chapters all over the world and associations with the international Hindu Students Council.14 Although ACK has no formal affiliation with these movements, I will show through this dissertation how in form, structure, content, and purpose the series could in fact be well suited to obscure any ideological differences between Hindu nationalist and Indian diasporic religious and cultural practices, and thus fits neatly into the kind of agenda put forth by groups like the VHP.

It is not my aim to argue that reading ACK comics alone produces diasporic religious zealots. Rather, I want to show that the affinity of nationalist ideologies for popular culture within the borders of the nation has extended, profound and unique effects in the diasporic context, where the reading of pop cultural forms is complicated by questions of identity, racism, and conflict with a host nation, its politics, and its culture. Engaging with research in cultural studies and considering the relations between print culture, nation, and ideology, I analyse how the circulation of political/cultural ideologies through such a widely accessible cultural medium could have significant effects among its readership, particularly in terms of political involvement, education, and the construction of identity.

Basuetal, 1993. 12

History, nationalism and visual culture

The connection between the constructions of nationalism and visual and print culture has been made by theorists in a number of disciplines. Benedict Anderson's

Imagined Communities (1983) links the rise and spread of nationalism and the concept of nation with the advent of a widespread European print culture. More recently some historians have examined the relationship between print and visual culture and the emergence of nationalism in colonial contexts (Burton 2003). Popular print material including novels and magazines but also more ephemeral texts like pamphlets, broadsheets and posters were an important medium for the circulation of nationalist thought, especially where issues of language were critical to the construction of a national identity (Hobsbawm and Ranger 1983; Frietag 2001; Sangari 2002). Since the twentieth century, film has been a key medium for the exploration of colonial and postcolonial (Dissanayake 1994). More recently, television, the internet and other forms of media have also been explored as sites for the development and dissemination of nationalist ideas and identities (Ginsberg, Abu-Loghod and Larkin,

2002).

In South Asia, the visual world provided many contexts for nationalist thought, among the colonizers and among the colonized. The British, French, and Portuguese colonizers had responded differently to the visual world they encountered upon arrival.

Benedict Anderson in Imagined Communities (1983) notes that visual and print culture and the practices of recording and archiving information, played a vital role in the 13

European colonial enterprise. Indeed, as was particularly the case in India, the geographical and conceptual cataloguing of the colonized territory was vital to the success of the colonial enterprise. The British imperial project required the systematic categorization and typology of the people, flora, and fauna encountered there, the art, the architecture, and the geography; colonists, intellectuals and bureaucrats made maps and museums and formed royal societies to discuss their findings. But the colonial approach to the colonies was not always one of preservation and record keeping. Early

Portuguese explorers for example, reacting to what they felt was the 'savage idolatry' of the Hindus, sometimes took to destroying the idols and statues they found.15

In nineteenth-century India, indigenous art and architecture were the subject of much fascination among orientalist European scholars. But Indian nationalists, concerned about issues of civilization and morality, tried to disown and ignore the provocative, sexualized, and violent images of Hindu religious art that were found throughout the sub-continent.16 An interest in European influenced modes of art and representation flourished as part of a desire to define an Indian modernity (Kapur 2001;

Pinney 2004). Raja Ravi Varma's placid, realist portraits of gods and goddesses stared

15 The defacement of the statues at Elephanta Island provides one famous example. This iconoclastic activity was in itself nothing new; earlier invaders like Mahmud of Ghazni had also engaged in the destruction and ransacking of temples, though as Romila Thapar points out his motivation was likely one of financial gain (Thapar 2001: 428). The various dynasties of the , and later the Mughals, built palaces, mosques and monuments, introducing new architectural and aesthetic modes. Several waves of erasure and palimpsestic rebuilding washed over the medieval visual landscape in this way. 16 Several chapters in the collection Recasting Women feds Sangari and Vaid, 1990) attest to this; see especially those by Lata Mani, Sumanta Bannerjee, and Uma Chakravarti. 14 past the eyes of their viewers with faint Mona Lisa smiles. Ravi Varma was the first visual artist to be significantly mass reproduced, and because of this has been hailed and criticized for his widespread influence on twentieth century visual culture. The influence of his work is seen even today in art of the calendar and poster industry.

Tagore, in contrast, explored abstract art and traditional forms of folk expression in his own art, and also explored the twists of impending modernity through his novels and poetry, all widely published and circulated worldwide. Preceding Tagore, Bankim

Chandra Chatterjee had in the mid-nineteenth century inched into an encounter with

Britain's colonial modernity through his novel Anandamath, among the first published books in India to correspond to the western novel form. The story of saintly and revolutionary sanyasis fighting the sepoys of the British army left a legacy memorialized in his song Bande Mataram which echoes even in today's Hindu nationalist movements (Shivaramu 1972). In the novel, the nation of India is repeatedly described as the Hindu goddess , an idea which has been elaborated in the emergence of the icon of Bharat Mata or Mother India.17 The visual representation of

India as a mother and/or goddess is a common feature of the nationalist culture of the period (Ramaswamy 2003).

In the twentieth century, opposing nationalisms grasped at symbols and icons of nationhood as each aimed to create a coherent vision of its history. While Nehru's civic

17 Mother India. Bharat is an ancient name for India; Hindustan, a word used more often in the medieval period; India a more modern invention. 15 or secular nationalists aimed to bring the people of India together under Indian National

Congress's tricolour flag, their reluctance to let go of the Hindu trappings of the

Gandhian movement produced mistrust and divisions within the party and among the general public. The Hindu nationalist strand within Congress, represented by leaders like , organized themselves in opposition to what it deemed

Congress's capitulation to minority pressures, westernization, and socialism, and evoked Hindu religious icons as symbols of a divine right to religio-cultural nationhood.

Though it was the moderate Congress that gained power after the partition of

India and Pakistan, the Hindu nationalist movement has continued to thrive in India.

Throughout the twentieth century, mass-produced images in various media began to proliferate. Kajri Jain (2007) has written extensively about the development of an industry engaged in the production of calendar art and cheap framing prints. Calendar art is closely linked with Ravi Varma's style and the growing use of chromolithographic printing in the 19th century to depict and mythical imagery. In the mid- twentieth century, the growth of the offset printing industry meant that printed images could be produced more easily and cheaply than ever (Jain 154). The style and iconography associated with these images was often taken up in political posters, so that in the 1960s and 1970s, it became common to encounter calendar and framing prints featuring Gandhi, Nehru, and other political leaders in deified poses, or to find political slogans associated with religious imagery (Jain 2007: 281, 283; Pinney

2004). 16

Another critical element in the politicized visual culture of twentieth century

India was the development of photography and film. Sumita Chakravarty (1993) and

Madhav Prasad (1998) have explored the relationship between Indian cinema, politics and national identity and ideology. The importance of early film to national politics is underscored not only by the continued participation of film stars in politics, but by the continuing impact of film and television on politics in general. Film actors portraying gods on celluloid seemed uniquely positioned to become political leaders, a trend which continues even today (Prasad 1998). A theme of many Indian films has been the historical origins of 'India', and the various political and religious struggles that led to its establishment.

Film and video have also become an important part of the media world of Hindu nationalists, who often use popular cultural forms to share and disseminate their views on nationhood. Christine Brosius (2005) writes at length about the Sangh Parivar's uses of film and video media in exciting public attention for its causes. In Politics After

Television: and the Reshaping of the Indian Public (2001),

Arvind Rajagopal writes about a specific example of Hindutva in media, analysing the social effects of the broadcast in the late 1980s of the Hindu epic myth Ramayana as a televised serial, produced and directed by Ramanand Sagar.18 The massive popularity

18 The Ramayana is an epic poem, likely dating back to the 6* - 4th century BCE. It tells the mythical story of Rama, an incarnation of the god . Rama is a perfect king, and righteous practitioner of or sacred duty. His unwavering devotion to dharma and the legendary flourishing of his kingdom have led Rama to be considered an icon of political leadership as well as a god. 17 of this series, coupled with a dramatic rise in the same period of time in the accessibility of the television medium, created a new method for constructing national identifications, and consciousness, at a wide scale. At the same time, a growing middle class in India was developing a hunger for popular entertainment and equally for a sense of its own history, a hunger which led to its entanglement with the religious Hindu right. The popularity of the Ramayana series is linked to the growth in support for the

VHP and RSS movements; these are in turn linked to events which brought the 1992 destruction of the in Ayodhya, by Sangh Parivar supporters who believed that the mosque had been built on the site of Ram's birth place. The TV series had galvanized this movement of Hindu nationalists by promoting a wide-scale re- imagining of Indian identity as Hindu: India became Ram Rajya, or Ram's kingdom, as millions of viewers tuned in each week.

Diasporas, identities, and cultures

The Ramayana TV series, as Rajagopal writes in his book, developed a large and widespread diasporic audience which engaged in viewing with a devotion and enthusiasm even surpassing those in India. Indeed, South Asian diasporas have become a critical audience for transnationally circulating forms of Indian visual culture (Mishra

2002; Shukla 2003). Not surprisingly, the popularity of the television series in South

Asian diasporas also coincides with a rise in diasporic support for Hindutva politics

(Rajagopal 2001). One explanation for the swell of diasporic interest in such media 18 forms may be constructed around ideas of nostalgia and the desire for national identity.

The conventional anxiety among diasporic people regards the loss of culture and as a result of the loss of proximity to a territorial 'home'. But, as Peter van der

Veer writes,

there is a global production of the imagination of 'home' in media like television

and cinema, which affects both migrants and those who stay behind. The

cultural distance from the of 'home' can therefore not be

conceptualized in the same ways as before. (2002: 96).

Far removed from the geography and cultural spaces of a 'home', if one ever existed, diasporic people rely intensely on images, icons and souvenirs of a distant nationhood or origin. The recovery or revival of tradition, nationhood or national sentiment is seen as key to the protection, recuperation, and growth of 'cultural identities'. There are a wide variety of cultural practices which are aimed at avoiding this loss of identity: flag- raisings, multicultural festivals, dance lessons, music, films, 'Sunday school' classes, language lessons, visits from overseas relatives, and so on. Literature, film, television, and other print and visual cultural forms like the comic book, figure largely in this transnational cultural landscape because of their mass reproducibility and the ease and speed of circulation. ^4CX texts are used by the parents and grandparents of diasporic children in North America, , Africa, the Caribbean and South-East Asia as a strategy for cultural preservation, and as a way to instil pride and insulate children against the corrupting tendencies of a 'host culture'. 19

Cultural practices like these may not exactly replicate the traditions of home, but nonetheless establish some kind of specific cultural identity which differentiates a diasporic community from its host country, and connects it with a homeland (Shukla

2002). But these cultural practices also have a tendency to reproduce the uneven social and political relations of home. At stake in the development of diasporic cultural landscapes are a variety of identity formations which are based in ethnicity, race, language, religion, and nationality. In the specific case of South Asian diasporas, there are many levels of complexity to these formations of identity. Himani Bannerji writes about those "identity politicians" at work in the preservation of culture:

Evading contradictions in their own lives and world, which have old and

ramified roots and implications, especially obscuring questions of class and

gender, they have encouraged political projects which are as riddled with

inscriptions of power, from which they wish to escape. Creating mythological

histories, and imagining communities on the ground of religion, for example, or

"traditional values," have only secured avenues of class formation and mobility

among themselves. (1995:35)

The 'inscriptions of power' overwriting the category 'South Asian' lie in the complex social and political structure of caste, in religious conflict, in language, and in the intense nationalist and anti-colonial projects with which each national identity is imbued. This also creates and intensifies the nationalist rivalries and the inter-religious conflicts found at 'home'. 20

Thus far, I have referred to "South Asian diasporas" rather than to "the Indian diaspora". My intention in using this broad and plural term, as I discuss in detail in

Chapter 5, is to draw attention to the myriad complexities of identity contained in it.

Even among diasporic people from India, there are many different social formations.

"Indian diaspora" refers to a specific national identity, but people of Indian origin may find a greater affinity for the social relations of a Tamil diaspora, an Islamic diaspora, or a Hindu diaspora. There are Hindu Indian nationalists who believe that Muslims are not

"Indian" and should assimilate or 'go back' to Pakistan; there are Tamil nationalists for whom a greater allegiance is to be found with their Tamil brethren in Sri Lanka than at home; there are Sikh nationalists who aim to separate; there are Indian nationalists who see Hinduism as a great glue of 'tolerance', having held together these disparate groups for centuries. All of these complexities are carried outside of the boundaries of nation by diasporic people, and render it extremely difficult to understand what is meant by

"Indian": an outcome of colonization, a term marking out exclusions, or a secular ideal.

In using the term "South Asian diasporas", I want to draw attention to the arbitrariness of nationalism and colonialism that is embedded in the term 'Indian', a term which all too often lapses into interpretation as 'Hindu.'19

One face of this problem is that in South Asian popular culture, things Indian tend to stand in for the whole region and are valued for their relative cultural familiarity ACK comics, therefore, enjoy a readership among diasporic Sikh Punjabi readers and Hindu Sri Lankans, though they seem to be about a Hindu India. 21

Understanding readers of ACK as a part of South Asian diasporas allows me to avoid assumptions about their identification with 'India' as a primary part of their identity. It also allows me to recognize that these readers are by no means homogenously Indian by nationality, since the series is read by people who identify as nationals of Sri Lanka, Nepal, Uganda, Guyana, Canada, or any number of other diasporic locations. Nor are the comics readers exclusively Hindu; many Sikhs are regular readers of the comics, as are Jains, Buddhists, Christians, and Muslims to varying degrees. It would therefore be inappropriate for me to construct this study around the reading practices of an "Indian" or "Hindu" diaspora; the concept of South

Asian diasporas facilitates the recognition of all these complexities.

Amar Chitra Katha: an introduction

I do not argue in this dissertation that there is any imputable direct link between readers of Amar Chitra Katha and destructive violent nationalism. But there is certainly a link between ACK's intended purpose and subject matter, and the manner in which it is reproduced and circulated through the world. Like calendar art, film and television, comics circulate not only within India but throughout the South Asian diaspora and contribute to an Indian identity, and a Hindu nationalism, abroad. The Hindu Students

Council, in the late 1990s, had scanned and put up on the internet hundreds of Amar 22

Chitra Kathas with the blessing of the editor and publisher.20 On its web site, the HSC proclaimed its great respect for the series (Srinivas 133). The Hindu Students Council, the youth wing of the VHP, has its strongest presence in the US and, not coincidentally,

Amar Chitra Katha has enjoyed good distribution and high popularity among diasporic youth there since the 1980s. For these students, as for those who may be less politically organized, Amar Chitra Katha is a direct link to an authentic Hindu culture, and thus becomes, along with other trappings and visual representations of culture, an object of intense value and the cathexis of the desire for home and identity.

It is in this context of these intersections between nationalist thinking, popular media, and nostalgic desire that I situate my analysis of Amar Chitra Katha. A brief introduction to the series itself is in order. ACK was begun in 1967 by a

Brahmin entrepreneur, Anant Pai, who says that "So far as I'm concerned my main objective in bringing out Amar Chitra Katha was to acquaint Indian children with their cultural heritage".21 Pai, who is often called "Uncle Pai" by his young fans, says he was inspired to develop the series after watching a television quiz show in which school children were able to answer a number of questions about , English literature and European history, and yet knew very little about the Indian equivalents of

The agreement with India Book House has ended and the comics are no longer on line, though they can still be ordered through the VHPA web site. 21 Interview with Anant Pai, Mumbai, Oct. 14th, 2004. 23 these subjects (Pritchett 76).22 The children in question were from an English-medium private school, and it was this class of children, Pai felt, who were lacking knowledge about their 'native' culture. He conceived of ^4CXas an educational tool which could teach these children about Indian culture and history in English, through an accessible, modern, pop cultural medium.

Pai has been the chief editor of the series since it began. Along with a small group of staff writers and illustrators, Pai has supervised the production of each volume, and has written some scripts himself. Every issue of the series is written originally in

English, which continues to be its best-selling language. Many of the editions are translated also into Indian languages, , Kannada and Bengali being the most well represented (Srinivas 18). Some titles in the series have also been translated into up to a dozen "languages of the world," including French and German, Spanish, and Croatian.23

Since their inception, the comics have been published by India Book House, a

Bombay publisher whose early success was actually with Indian reprints of Enid Blyton books and Classics Illustrated comics, but which built its reputation in the 1980s on

ACK24 Pai went essentially door to door in the early days, selling these comics through book stalls, restaurants and word of mouth, though now there is an extensive

22 This origin story of Amar Chitra Katha has been mentioned in most of the interviews I have read with Mr. Pai, and in fact he repeated the same story to me almost verbatim when I interviewed him myself in 2004. 23 Recently, a French publisher has undertaken a joint venture with India Book House to produce new French titles on typical ACK subjects. Mirchandani shared some copies of these French comics with me. Interview with ACK Publisher Padmini Mirchandani, October 15th, 2004. 24 Amar Chitra Katha and Tinkle were sold by IBH at the end of 2007 to a new company called ACK- Media Pvt. Ltd. 24 international marketing strategy and distribution system. India Book House claims that the series has sold more than 86 million copies worldwide since its launch in 1969.

The series reached the zenith of its popularity in the mid 1980s. By 1993, there had been a release of 436 volumes, but sales were slow; Pai attributed the problem to the fascination of his audience to the now widely available television medium. It is also around this time that Sagar's Ramayana series had taken hold of the Hindu Indian imagination. So with Amar Chitra Katha 's status as pop cultural purveyor of uncertain, production of new titles was ended. Since the late 1990s, the series has seen a resurgence with IBH re-releasing original titles as 'deluxe' editions.

As I will discuss in detail in Chapter 2, ACICs subject matter ranges from religious myths and stories to historical events. Predominantly these are taken from

Hindu sources and traditions, or deal with Hindu personalities, while only a few, as I will discuss in the next chapter, deal with other religions of India. Each provides an introduction which heralds the importance of the story to "Indian Heritage." ACK's exhortation, printed on its covers, that it illustrates "The Glorious Heritage of India" makes transparent its intention of forming a broad reference point for the construction of a child-accessible nationalist history. 25 The history that is covered by the comics is not one which could have been discovered in the Indian textbooks of the 1970s and

25 An interesting reference point for this may be the somewhat bizarre inclusion of titles on the French Revolution (418) and Napoleon Bonaparte (428), the presence of which in a title list otherwise entirely given over to Indian subjects seems like an evocative gesture towards the origins of the nation-state. These were apparently produced at the request of a French government official, but nonetheless it seems unusual given that there extremely few non-Indian subjects presented in the series. 25

1980s. Instead of focusing on popular mainstream public figures like Gandhi or Nehru, the comics provided biographies of Hindu nationalists and militant heroes that supplemented the lessons of formal education. But as Hindutva ideology gathered support throughout the 1980s, there was also a growing correlation between the heroes of ACK and those chosen as emblems of the Hindutva movement. That history melds with the mythological stories depicted by ACK so that a mythology of nation, or as I will explain in Chapter 3 of this dissertation, a mythohistory, emerges.

Scholarship on Amar Chitra Katha

ACK sparked a great deal of interest in India almost from its inception. Various commentators in newspapers and magazines celebrated Pai's originality and commitment to Indian children, or more occasionally critiqued the ways in which the comics represented Indian cultures and religions. A 1977 report carried out by the

Indian Federation of University Women's Associations concluded that the comics underrepresented women or portrayed them in predominantly "traditional" roles (Rao

1996:37). Pai's commitment to education was lauded very early on as well; an article authored by him in Indian Horizons outlines the 1978 exploration of ACK by the then

Minister of Education (Pai 1995). Although reader interest in ACK seems to have diminished since the early 1990s, the series continues to be mentioned from time to time in Indian popular media, news magazines, and internet blog sites. 26

But though ACK retains a fairly prominent public profile, scholarship on ACK has been sparse. This is somewhat surprising considering the wide circulation and popularity the series has enjoyed, and considering the widening interest in South Asian visual culture and international comics. But as cultural studies approaches have become more widely accepted in the humanities and social sciences there has been a greater inclusion of popular cultural forms. One area in which there was an early interest in the series was religious studies. Media and the Transformation of Religion in South Asia

(1995), edited by Lawrence Babb and Susan Wadley, contains two chapters on the

Amor Chitra Katha series. Frances Pritchett's article "The World of Amar Chitra

Katha" presents a broad overview of some of the themes and styles of representation in the comics. John Stratton Hawley's article "The Saints Subdued: Domestic Virtue and

National Integration in Amar Chitra Katha" in the same volume considers the depictions of the poets in the comics, and their relationship to post-independence nationalist thought. At around the same time, an article and book chapter on ACK by

Aruna Rao were published (1995, 1996), each of which situated an analysis of the comics in relation to a history of popular culture and communication in South Asia. Her articles provide a brief historical survey of and of early Indian comic art.

Interest in the comics series seemed to surge again only around 2000, with the publication of three short articles on the topic by Anita Mannur, Sandhya Rao, And

Sanjay Sircar in Bookbird, an international journal of children's literature (2000). Each author points to the confusing depictions of history and mythology in the comics, and 27 poses questions for further research. John A. Lent, a prolific researcher of comics and anthologist of comics research, had previously published some of Rao's research on

ACK (1995) and did so again in a new volume called Ilustrating Asia: Comics, Humour

Magazines, and Picture Books. In this chapter, Rao seeks to explore the depiction of deities as superheroic characters. Lent, who is a prolific researcher of comics around the world, has himself written on the series in the journal he edits, The International Journal of Comic Art (2004).

While much of this research has been undertaken by scholars outside of India, scholarly work on Amar Chitra Katha within India appears to have also resurged since the late 1990s with an article by Nandini Chandra in Seminar (1997) on the series' marketing techniques, and a dissertation by Deepa Srinivas of the Central Institute of

English and Foreign Languages (CIEFL), (2000). Srinivas's thesis traces the relationship between the nationalist movement, the development and growth of the

Indian middle class in India and the depiction of masculinity in the comics series. Her work provides an excellent framework for thinking about nationalist ideology and the series through a well grounded historical approach. Srinivas also touches on the construction of Anant Pai, the series's editor, as popular icon himself- an issue which I will take up in detail in chapter 4. Chandra has since developed her research on ACK into a book, The Classic Popular: Amar Chitra Kathas 1967 to Now (forthcoming

2007). 28

Most recently, Karline McLain's doctoral dissertation at the University of

Texas, Austin, Whose Immortal Picture Stories?: Amar Chitra Katha and the

Construction of Indian Identities (2005) provides a wealth of first-hand research.

McLain spent one year in India interviewing Pai and the staff of ACK/Tiukle, and was also able to interview many of the key writers and illustrators of the series. She provides a richly detailed account of the editorial process of the series from beginning to end, based on interviews with the staff, artists and writers. McLain argues that the depiction of historical events in the series cannot be simply and consistently linked to a particular historical perspective.

McLain's argument may hold true if one approaches the comics as discrete and individual titles, for it is indeed difficult to argue that there is a coherent perspective running through each individual title. But despite the dissonances between some of the titles, I argue that there is a multifaceted but nevertheless coherent narrative of nationalism that emerges in the texts when they are read as a body of work. I base this argument on my observations of the typical practices of ACK readers, and also on my study of the ACK as a collective body of texts. In India and in diasporic contexts, readers tend also to be collectors, and are generally likely to have read several issues.

They are also likely to think of them, collectively, as a group of comics rather than as individual titles. I argue then that as a text and as a sociocultural object, ACK must be understood as a series rather than as a collection of individual titles. 29

It is also important to remember that any process of reading, meaning is made through the interactions of the readers with the texts. Approaching children's reading practices as an epistemological process also requires a consideration of the construction of the reader as subject and the location of a reader in space and culture. It then becomes possible to ask how, at the level of the text, is meaning made and retained by the reader? If we understand comics as semiotically complex texts with multiple and encoded layers of meaning, we must also consider what decoding apparatuses, what contexts, are available to young readers. Location, in terms of geographical space, gender, class, and education can also impact on the way in which children respond to these comics.

Methodology

Thus far, studies of ACK have largely been confined to their context within

India. My critical interest in the diasporic context of reading and learning about nation provides a new direction for the analysis of ACK which forces a rethinking of the representation of nation within its pages. My interest in identity in the contexts of nationalist ideology and diasporic subjectivity leads me to frequently return to the concept of ontology throughout the dissertation. I use this concept to think through how history, myth, and popular culture come together in these comics to construct a story of national origin and being. This is especially important to the analysis of Hindutva ideology and its popular cultural manifestations, which rely on these ontological 30 narratives to support the concept of Hindu nation. I approach ontology as fundamentally a problem of epistemology: the elaboration of a national ontological narrative through popular cultural media is an ideological process in which knowledge and meaning are constructed and learned. This leads me back to my comments about the reader as located subject, for his/her relationship to the epistemological process of nation is my real focus in this study.

These arguments form the core of my contribution to scholarship on ACK. My analysis of the comics situates them not only as a pop cultural text but also as a highly significant text for education; this allows me to extend an analysis of their content into an exploration of the comics' social, political, and pedagogical roles. Further, I consider how differences in the geographical and social location of the reader affect the way in which the text may be read, particularly in regard to diaspora and questions of identity.

In making an argument about the readers as located subjects, I found it necessary to include the voices of readers themselves and so I undertook a social scientific qualitative research methodology to develop a study that incorporates an audience reception study and an ethnography along with a historical, critical, and cultural analysis. I read ACK as a text which works at the nexus of national imaginary, childhood nostalgia, and diasporic desire.

My dissertation arises out of an interdisciplinary approach to research. In it I draw on theory and research in cultural studies, political theory, history, literature, sociology and anthropology. As a scholar with a primary background in literature and 31 the humanities, it was a challenge for me to develop an approach to research that draws more directly on the social sciences, particularly in regards to the ethnographic aspects of my study. I found the resulting integrative method of research to be enormously productive.

In the course of my research, I had the opportunity to interview Anant Pai and

IBH publishing head Padmini Mirchandani, and excerpts from both interviews are incorporated throughout the text. From 2004 to 2007,1 also interviewed twenty-one people who had been readers of the comics as children in India and in a variety of diasporic locations, including London, New York, Vancouver, Toronto, and Jakarta.

All the interview subjects were between the ages of 16 and 38 and I have provided a pseudonym for each to protect their confidentiality.26 As I refer quite frequently to these interviews throughout the dissertation, I am providing a list of interview subjects, locations, and dates as an appendix (see Appendix C and D) to the dissertation rather than including a citation in each instance.

I encountered the subjects primarily through word of mouth and mutual reference, and in some cases the subjects approached me out of their own interest. All of the people I interviewed expressed a great deal of fondness for the series, though some of them recalled the comics themselves only faintly. Some readers were also quite forthcoming in their critiques of the series, especially in regards to depictions of gender

Most of those I interviewed in India I met in Bangalore, but many of them were students who came from all over the country. 32 and violence. Many of the interview subjects recollected the figure of 'Uncle Pai' with affection, though some diasporic readers had little or no knowledge of him. Nearly all of the subjects had actively collected the comics as children, or had a family member or friend who did so, with the result that most readers had read not simply a few comics in the series, but in several cases fifty titles or more.

In the interviews, I invited the subjects to tell me about their memories and experiences reading Amar Chitra Katha comics. I asked them about their education and their reading practices, particularly as it pertained to South Asian culture and history.

Almost all the subjects had been educated primarily in English, and those of the appropriate age all had some kind of post-secondary education. Of the twenty-one participants, all identified themselves or their families as Hindu, with the exception of a

Jain man and a Christian woman in India, and a Vancouver man who was raised in both

Sikh and Hindu traditions. Although I have encountered Muslims in India and in diaspora who were familiar with the comics, those I met tended not to have been active readers of the comics; this made it difficult to find interested respondents who identified as Muslim. None of those who identified as Hindu called themselves 'Hindu nationalists,' though some expressed enthusiasm and pride in a Hindu identity and

Madhavi, a Tamil woman in her twenties, expressed "empathy" with the

Hindutva position. Many of the diasporic subjects conveyed the sense of pride they felt in 'being' Indian, though they were less inclined to identify themselves as a practicing

Hindu. This was quite different for those subjects who had grown up in India, for whom 33 regional identity was a much bigger signifier of belonging. The diasporic readers, in particular, felt strongly about developing a sense of Indian identity, and most identified

ACK as a primary medium through which they learned about India.

It is this point which is of particular interest to me. All the interview subjects, both those in India and the diaspora, identified ACK comics as an important educational medium. Several readers in India told me that though they studied Indian history in school, they primarily recalled their knowledge of history from ACK. Some readers told me that as students they routinely used ACK as a supplement to their formal school education. This situation is more complex in the diaspora, where I found that none of the subjects I spoke to remembered learning about India in any capacity before the post- secondary level. Some of these subjects told me that their learning about India was supplemented by parents, grandparents, and other community figures. Perhaps in part because of this, the comics are also a great source of nostalgia for many diasporic readers. Several readers indicated that their knowledge of Hindu religion and mythology was entirely based on their readings of the comics. Two readers, Samir and Renu, remembered using the comics in VHP-run language and religion classes at temples in

Vancouver and Edmonton. Abhineet, who identifies as Sikh, indicated that his primary access to ACK was through his gurdwara, where he was provided with those comics dealing with Sikh and heroes.

I argue that in the diaspora, popular cultural educational texts like ACK take on a new life. Whereas in India, Pai conceived of ACK as a supplement to formal learning 34 about history and religion, in the diaspora, it frequently takes the place of formal learning. Thus, as Nirad, a 24 year old Gujarati student, told me:

A lot of obscure freedom fighters who just appear as names in history books like

Bhagat Singh for example, or the whole Lokamanya Tilak kind of thing, those

were the figures that I carried from [A CK] and my teachers used to say how do

you know all this and I used to say comic books! Because that's actually where I

learned it from.

But while those who were educated in India had other resources for information - including schools, texts, communities and the media, for diasporic children growing up in the 1970s and 1980s, such resources were more often limited to knowledge within the nuclear family and other members of the ethnic community. Thus, Chandrasekhar, a Manhattan investment banker in his twenties, said that due to reading ACK,

I understood the of India well. It did not teach me anything related to

the political or economic landscape of India, or why it was a colony for so long.

Nor did it teach me about faith. That came from my parents. Nevertheless, it was

a great tool in learning the stories-folklore-dogma of Hinduism.

Chandrasekhar's observation rings true to comments made by other diasporic readers.

Lacking other opportunities to learn about contemporary or historical India or South

Asia in any formal context, ACK was nonetheless a primary source of knowledge about

'home' and religion. 35

Outline of chapters

In the rest of this dissertation, I will develop some of the issues I have identified above. In Chapter 2, "Inside Amar Chitra Katha: History and Review" I provide a more detailed analysis of ACK, and I explore the place of these comics in South Asian visual culture. While ACK draws in many ways on the American comics form, it can also be considered part of a longer tradition of chitrakatha (illustrated story) in South

Asian culture (Srinivas 2000). I also consider the visual style of ACK in relation to the style of modern nationalist and religious art (Kapur 2001; Pinney 2004; Jain 2007). The final sections of this chapter offer a quantitative and qualitative analysis of the kinds of stories told in the comics, especially with regard to representations of religion, caste, and gender; here I draw on interviews with readers to include their observations about these issues in representation.

In chapter 3, "Drawing a Nation: Myth, History, Ideology," I develop the concept of mythohistory as a way to explore the complexities of the relationships between myth, religion, history, and historiography. I read ACK against the history of the Indian nationalist movement in order to consider how the series represents political ideology of nationalism. This requires an exploration of the concepts of nationalism (Anderson,

1983; Gellner, 1983; Hobsbawm, 1990; Yuval Davis, 1997) and ideology (Marx

1845/1978; Bannerji 2001). I compare ACfCs historical representations with those favoured by the Sangh Parivar, arguing that in each case, certain nationalist figures are represented as having mythically heroic characteristics, and that this constitutes a 36 representational collapse of the historical with the mythical. I call the conflation of these two kinds of knowledge "mythohistorical", in attempt to identify how Hindutva ideology aims to both historicize Hindu myth, and mythologize certain aspects and figures of nationalist history. The chapter focuses on the A CK biographies of VD

Savarkar, Swami Dayananda , Jawarhalal Nehru and .

While Chapter 3 provides a close analysis of comics, the fourth chapter widens the perspective once again to consider some of the effects of A CK in contemporary Indian culture, especially with regard to education. In this chapter, entitled "Chachas of the

Nation: gender, ideology and avuncular education," I use the figure of the Uncle as a metaphor for the project of popular cultural education. Uncles, like Uncle Sam or

Chacha Nehru are prominent figures of nationalism in many nations, but they are also important figures in literature and popular culture (Cleere 2004; Manto 2001). Anant

Pai is known as "Uncle Pai" to millions of Indian children, and he has been called the

"Walt Disney of India" in reference to that other famous cartooning Uncle. I argue that the ACK series carries a kind of "uncle-authority" which allows the comics to be read as serious educational texts while remaining in the realm of the friendly and avuncular.

This avuncular quality of popular educational texts is useful to the ideological aims of cultural nationalism, and so in this chapter I also look at the avuncularism of the Sangh

Parivar.

Chapter 4 focuses on the social role of the comics in the Indian context. The final two chapters of the dissertation examine how the comics are consumed in the diasporic 37 context. Chapter 5, "Nationalism and Hindutva in South Asian Diasporas," works towards a theory of diaspora which critiques the construction of nation in contemporary theory as an ontological category; I then elaborate this theory in regard to the diasporas of South Asia. Here, I also analyse the rising diasporic support for Hindu nationalism and the role of the Sangh Parivar abroad. In Chapter 6,1 examine how diasporic readers have read and responded to Amar Chitra Katha. Many children and diasporic youth have grown up with the series and see it as an important source of knowledge about their 'roots'; in this way they are important to the construction of ethnic, national, and diasporic identities. Drawing on interviews with readers in various diasporic locations,

I show how ACK is remembered as a text, and also as a material emblem of nostalgia for many children.

This exploration of Amar Chitra Katha spans from analyses of individual comic titles to the series as a body of work. In a similar way, my focus widens through the dissertation from an analysis of the nation as it is constructed by Hindu nationalism, to the construction of Hindu nationalism in South Asian diasporas. In the conclusion to this dissertation, I show how this movement from the micro scale of the page to the macro context of the transnational world allows me to make some valuable observations about popular cultural texts, nationalism, education and identity. 38

Chapter 2: Inside Amar Chitra Katha: history and review

This chapter provides a general overview of Amar Chitra Katha (ACK) as a series and begins to consider the kinds of representations of 'India' and 'Indians' that it offers to its readers. It would not be possible to analyze the social role of Amar Chitra

Katha comics in the South Asian diaspora without first considering the comics' context within India. In this chapter, I will attempt to sketch out the visual cultural landscape within which I am reading ACK, considering both the popular visual and some of the basic principles of comic art. Throughout the chapter I draw on a variety of materials including previous scholarly research on ACK, interviews with readers of the comics, and my own observations of the texts. I begin with a detailed history of the series itself which will allow me to begin to situate it and its producers within a larger social and cultural context, asking who makes these stories? What kinds of stories does the series tell, and how does it tell them? 39

Amar Chitra Katha: a brief history

The story of Amar Chitra Katha begins with its originator, Anant Pai. Pai, who remains today as the editor-in-chief of ACK, is the erudite and knowledgeable mind behind the series and enjoys a reputation as a shrewd businessman and as a popular figure among children. He is a well-educated Brahmin originally from the southern

Indian state of Karnataka though he has long been settled in Mumbai. Before starting

Amar Chitra Katha, Pai worked for publishing division. It was there that he became involved with Indrajal Comics, a Times of India brand that became the first locally published comics in India. But it was not only this early contact with children's comics that inspired Pai to create Amar Chitra Katha. Over the years, Pai has often told the story of how he was inspired to create ACK to journalists and scholars, and the story has been repeated with such consistency that it has itself has become a kind of myth.1 In an interview with me at the ACK offices in 2004, Pai told this familiar story once again:

I was never a comics buff, I never used to read comics, but I saw my nephews

and nieces pouring over comic books, reading them totally absorbed, pouring

over them even while eating their food, so I thought to myself, here's a medium

which I can use to acquaint children with their cultural heritage...

1 This point is made by Chetan Desai in "The Krishna Conspiracy" IJOCA (Spring 2003) 5:1, 326. I will discuss the mythology of Uncle Pai himself in greater detail in Chapter 4. 2 Interview with Anant Pai, Mumbai, October 14th, 2004. 40

In the 1950s and 1960s, as continues to be the case today, an English-medium education was considered preferable by many middle- and upper-class families. While vernacular languages were spoken at home, English was understood as the language of intellectual pursuit and international success. Pai's concern was not with English-medium education per se, but rather with the emphasis in English-medium schools on European history, politics, and literature. He had also observed, even within his own family, that comic book reading was becoming an extremely popular activity among English- reading children. Since these children's primary literacy was in English, they also gravitated towards the consumption of English-language popular culture. The comics that were available to young people in the 1960s in India were typically American in style, featuring superheroes and villains and containing elements of the fantastic or supernatural. Indrajal Comics' Phantom and Tarzan were among the most popular comics characters of the time in India; it appears that Superman and other American superheroes did not enjoy the same profile as these. in particular was available in vernacular and also developed a wide audience of comics readers in various Indian languages. Given their popularity among Indian children, it is interesting to note that both characters are narratively inscribed with an ambiguous, exoticized 'Eastern' origin, but that their activities tend to centre around their encounters with the west. The Phantom, for example, hails from the ambiguously

3 Other comics that were quite popular among Indian readers were the famous Tintin and Asterix comics. Tintin in particular has been widely critiqued in recent years for its grossly racist depictions of non-white characters. 41 named Bengalla, an imaginary country which has been variously located in India,

Indonesia, and Africa throughout the Phantom's 80 year history.4 But his crime- fighting adventures would tend to be set in the US.

In these cartoon landscapes then, as in the fantastic worlds of British children's literature, the images did not reflect the world these children saw around them. Rather, they reflected an 'elsewhere':

I saw my nephews and nieces [at play] writing a manuscript, a magazine called

'Family News'. In that, there was a boy called Robert. He dreamt of going to

London. And the story of the struggle of the boy is very much like an Enid

Blyton story; these youngsters were very much influenced by Enid Blyton, and

they had access only to novels and childrens' books from Britain. ... [Then, in]

1967 February, when I had gone to Delhi, I saw a quiz contest on the TV. We

didn't have TV at the time in Bombay, so I was quite impressed. I wanted to

also have the experience of watching so I also stood on the footpath [in front of

a shop] and watched the program. There were five boys in each team. None of

the five boys could answer a simple question like 'what is the name of the

mother of Ram?' I was very hurt.. .but a little later when there was a question

about Greek gods on mount Olympus everyone seemed to know the answer.5

4 Bengalla has even been 'Bengal'. Detailed notes about the Phantom's origins available at www.deepwoods.com, a fan web site operated by Dr. Bryan Sheddan, an Australian engineer. 5 Interview with Anant Pai, Mumbai, October 14th, 2004. 42

Two anxieties are revealed in these anecdotes. The first is the sense of loss and sadness,

"hurt" as Pai puts it, in feeling that Indian children have lost "their" culture. The second anxiety is that India had been replaced by Europe, or the West more broadly, in these children's imaginations. This is both in the sense that the children in question were so well versed in Greek mythology, but also that in Pai's nieces' and nephews' story about

Robert, there is an expressed desire to leave India for England. The stories of Enid

Blyton, upon which children of the 1950s and 1960s grew up throughout the

Commonwealth, fostered the image of England as a place of fun and adventure against which India perhaps seemed to offer little glamour.6 These reasons for Pai's anxiety may also be echoed by the Americanized fantasy world of the . So, not only had English-speaking children in India excelled at learning the classical myths and literature of Europe at the expense of learning the Indian equivalents, but their ideas of play had also been informed by images of the west.

For these reasons, Pai decided that he must intervene and produce an alternative for Indian children. He began to shop around a proposal for an Indian comics series to various publishers in Bombay. All declined until he approached India Book House

(IBH). IBH had been established by the Mirchandani family in the early 1950s as a book distribution company, but had only started in publishing around 1966, when it began releasing India-only paperback editions of well known British books: ironically,

6 It is interesting to note how this desire for 'the other' in children contrasts with adult western orientalist desire. 43 it achieved its early publishing success with its editions of Enid Blyton and with

Classics Illustrated, an American series of illustrated literary tales for children in

English.7 Pai approached Mr HG Mirchandani of India Book House publishers in 1967 with the explicit intention of creating an 'Indian' comics series. Mirchandani was intrigued and a long relationship was initiated.

The first ten or so comics produced by Pai through IBH were Hindu retellings of

English fairytales and nursery rhymes, but these met with little interest from the public

(McLain 29). The first official Amar Chitra Katha title, Krishna, was numbered ' 11' in the series and was released in 1969 at a cost of 1 rupee.8 Pai himself wrote the script and the illustrations were done by Ram Waeerkar, whose work is probably most closely associated with the Amar Chitra Katha style. The cover art of this title, by Yusuf

Bangalorewalla, is quite evocative and has been retained in subsequent reprints of this number, though the interior pages have been changed considerably.9

In the early days Pai promoted the series on doorsteps and footpaths, setting up stands in restaurants and visiting local bookstores. The comic was quite successful, and more titles were produced. At the early stages, the production of each comic took quite some time, with Krishna having taken nearly two years to produce. After the first dozen

7 Classics Illustrated seems to be the model most closely followed by ACK 8 Krishna (v. 11./501) is numbered 501 in the reprinted "deluxe" editions, and thus comes first in both lines. 9 McLain, 36-39; see also Chetan Desai, "The Krishna Conspiracy." IJOCA, Spring 2003. 325-333.1 will take up this issue later on in this chapter. 44 or so issues, Pai and the artists with whom he was working became more comfortable with their mode of operations.

By the height of the series, in the early to mid-1980s, the operation had grown.

Kamala Chandrakant came on as assistant editor, and penned the scripts for many of the most popular titles. But there were many scripts written for the series by freelancers and other associates; Subba Rao became a regular contributor as did Margie Sastry, who remains with the organization today as associate editor. By the mid-1980s, the work of several artists had become regularly associated with the series: in addition to Waeerkar and Bangalorewalla, Pratap Mulick, Souren Roy and CM Vitankar were regular contributors. Several of the authors and illustrators most central to Amar Chitra Katha have been interviewed by McLain, who describes their individual perspectives and attitudes towards comics production.

But though there were many contributors to the series, it was clear that ACK had defined, by as early as the mid-1970s, a clear sense of its own visual and narrative style.

Anant Pai was, and continues to be, a strict editor, overseeing each aspect of production.

From the beginning, Pai believed that it was necessary to have consistency in editorial policies and styles.10 He wanted A CK to have a recognizable feel and look. But more importantly, because he saw ACK as an educational medium, he felt that it was necessary to be meticulous about fact-checking, presentation, and language (Lent 2004:

McLain discusses this in some detail throughout her dissertation. 45

63). Most of the titles were accompanied by a brief introduction, and these would sometimes even provide references to the texts from which the story was drawn. Pai continued to ask contributors to adhere to a strict standard for the comics, and illustrators were frequently asked to show the story in the most authentic way.

Individual titles could take several months to produce, though by the mid-1980s, production remained steady at about two issues each month.

The comics typically follow a standard comics format, with generally 3-7 panels to a page, separated by framing lines. Images rarely break the frame, though in some titles, frameless full page graphics are used to indicate a significant moment, or in some cases to introduce the narrative.12 Images are inked in black and then filled with simple colour. Speech bubbles indicate dialogue, and lined boxes separate the narration from the image, usually using a contrasting colour background. Similar in appearance to other comics texts available to Indian readers, the comics were attractive to children at a variety of reading levels since they offered both text and images to capture their interest. Hema, who grew up in India but now lives abroad, recalled that "that medium of colour and text was so appealing as a child. The colours and the little talk blurbs and just the general comic format really appeals to kids."

11 Almost every scholarly article on ACK has made similar observations. See the introduction for an overview of some of these publications. 12 A good example of this is The Gita (127/505), in which a full page image depicts Krishna showing his true form as Vishnu to Arjun on the battlefield. 46

The comics were originally printed on standard, newsprint type stock. The earliest comics were printed in only two colours in addition to black, but by the late

1970s a four colour process seems to have been in use. The covers generally featured much more elaborate and detailed artwork than the panels inside.13 Panel artwork was generally produced by a staff artist or commissioned artist other than the person who had done the interior work. But most of the artists regularly associated with the series also did covers for various issues over the years.14 Each cover featured a yellow, sun- shaped logo bearing ACK's name prominently in the top left corner of the cover page, along with the individual title number and price.

The original run of the series, from 1969 to 1991, consisted of 436 single issues and several additional special releases and 'bumper' issues. The individual titles were generally 'one-offs', that is, titles which each told a story or series of anecdotes about a different character over its thirty-two pages. However, within the regular title list there are some titles which are largely drawn from the same texts, or which are serialized as a subset of the series; I will discuss some of these shortly.

The enormous and immediate success of A CK sparked a variety of imitators

(such as Gaurav Katha) and made it an important part of a slow-developing Indian comics market. ACKs were read alongside other Indian comics like the famous Chacha

13 Virtually every ACK comic follows this convention. The illustrations I have included at the end of this dissertation provide examples. 14 These observations are based on my own analysis of the list of artists and authors that I received from the ACK offices. 47

Chaudhury by Pran, as well as earlier favourites like the Phantom and works of British children's literature.15 The success of ACK and the proliferation of competition gave rise to a variety of plans for Pai and his crew. One major issue had to do with language.

The original ACK titles had all been done in English. Some titles were translated into

Indian languages and re-lettered (McLain 52). Deals were struck with regional publishers and distributors, and ACK began to widen its circulation, both in English and in regional languages, throughout India.

One interesting effect of the use of both Indian languages and English is that while the ACK universe portrayed India as a homogenized cultural space, it at the same time fostered a sense of regional particularity. For example, some readers felt that ACK projected a universal sort of India: Nandini, a 26 year old Assamese student, told me that though she comes from a region of India that has a complicated relationship with the rest of India in regards to its political identity, "perhaps because of reading^ mar

Chitra Katha, I didn't see the difference between different communities that I had come across. I felt like I have never had that feeling of difference from others. I feel I can relate to everybody."

On the other hand, some readers I interviewed were convinced that the comics originated in and represented their own region of India. Some who had grown up in

Kerala had associated the comics with Malayala Manorama, a language

15 Chacha Chaudhary was begun in 1971 with Diamond Comics. Pran developed several other series but this remains the most successful and well-recognized. Like Pai, he is sometimes referred to as the "Walt Disney of India." See. www.pran.in. 48 newspaper, and with a bookstore chain known as Paico (bearing no relation to

Pai despite the name). While it is true that Malayala Manorama did have a formal publishing and distribution association with IBH, these Keralite readers remained convinced that ^CiC had originated from Kerala. Similarly, many Bengalis I have encountered have also assumed that the series originated in Bengal. These readers tended to read the comics in their regional languages rather than in English.

By the end of the 1970s, the comics were available throughout India and in a wide variety of locations. Several readers I spoke with associated ACK with travel by train, as train station bookstalls were a popular source for the comics. Local newspaper sellers and bookshops tended to carry the comics fairly widely. Vijayalakshmi is a south

Indian librarian in her mid-twenties:

We have a shop where we get all sorts of books. My mother used to look after

the shop, and there we used to get [and sell] comics. So as a result [my] reading

habit developed with the help of these comics. These comics used to attach me

so much that when I was reading my [school]book I would keep the comic

inside and read [it].

Since Vijayalakshmi had direct access to the comics, she was able to read a large number of them though her own personal collection was not very large. But more than two thirds of the readers I interviewed indicated that they had either collected the comics themselves, or had access to a collection. Some readers had amassed fifty or more comics throughout their childhood. 49

IBH understood from an early stage that readers of ACK tended to be collectors, and were aware that many families in India had kept their copies as bound volumes in their homes to be passed on to younger siblings, grandchildren, and so on. Debashish, a thirty year old Bengali graduate student, had a very large collection as a child. He described binding his comics, a common practice among Indian readers:

I bound them, now what I have is some 5 or 6 volumes of bound books .. I used

to bind them because some of them got torn [this was common, so] that is a

useful way of keeping it otherwise the insects and all tear them up. So we used

to bind [the comics]. [I] don't have many bound things, only the comics were

bound, and my father didn't have anything to bind, so the binder was sent for

precisely for preserving comics.

Binding preserved the somewhat delicate comics, printed on poor quality newsprint- type paper. It also ensured that siblings, cousins, and subsequent generations of children in families would be able to read the comics as well. Nirad is a Gujarati Jain who read

ACK widely as a child. He told me:

My parents bought them [for me] but I don't have a single copy left anymore,

it's all passed down through the generations so you just pass it on to younger

cousins as they grow up. They were all in very good condition — I treasure my

books! I cover all of them with plastic covers and laminate them and put them in

a proper place so they were all in very good condition, but by now they must be 50

dog eared in the hands of the fourth generation of cousins and nephews and

nieces who are reading them.

As in this example, the comics were frequently seen not as ephemeral, impermanent texts, but rather as important family texts that could or should be preserved.

Pai started a children's magazine, Tinkle, in 1980. Tinkle also featured cartoons, but these were generally shorter in length and generally starred characters unique to the magazine. Where ACK included many religious stories, Tinkle tended to avoid directly dealing with these topics, though it often included folktales and historical trivia. The

Tinkle comics were often written and illustrated by the same ACK staffers, though

Tinkle did then develop its own office and associate editorship. Like ACK, Tinkle's purpose was educational, but in the latter this took a slightly different and more interactive form, with regular quizzes and contests, letters to 'Uncle Pai,' and children's own submissions to the magazine (fig. 2).

Several of the ACK readers I interviewed who had grown up in India felt almost as fondly about Tinkle as ACK. Hema, who is now in her early thirties, remembers submitting a story called "A Tiger Finds A Wife," and described the thrill she felt when she saw it several months later, illustrated and in print in Tinkle. These kinds of opportunities were not possible in ACK, since those comics were written with an eye to research, scholarship, and authenticity. But as Tinkle developed, ads for each series could be found in the back of the other, and occasional crossovers of content occurred, either with the inclusion of quizzes and contest material in an ACK title, or with the 51 retelling of a particular folktale in Tinkle. Amar Chitra Katha was geared towards a slightly more mature audience of children, and offered far more complex images and narratives.

Tinkle, then, engaged children in a slightly different way than did ACK, but both series continued to be among IBH's bestsellers through the early 1980s. Then, in the late 1980s, sales of ACK began to falter. A new staffer, Margie Sastry, was brought on and was responsible for the scripts of some of the last comics in the series, including a nine-volume serial about the god Krishna, based on the Bhagavat Purana. These and other titles met with less success than earlier comics. In 1991, IBH released title no.

436 in the ACK series, called Jawarhalal Nehru: The Early Days. Sales of this title, again scripted by Sastry, were dismal, falling well below the break-even point (McLain

54). Pai and India Book House blamed the drop in sales, which had been occurring steadily since the late 1980s, on the widening availability of television in middle-class homes. By 1991, sales had declined to only half of what they had been in 1986, only five years previous.16 Production on new titles was halted, and a planned sequel to

Nehru, presumably featuring his later days, never made it to print.17 In 1994, a fire raged through the head offices of ACK/IBH. The original artwork for many of the titles was destroyed. Some printing proofs, however, had been kept with a printer in another part of city. Using these and other remaining records, ACK began releasing 'deluxe

Sales figures provided by India Book House, October 2004. Information provided by ACK staff, Oct 15*, 2004. 52 editions' of some of those comics which had survived. The deluxe editions featured a heavier, laminated cardboard cover, and the cover art was shrunken to make way for a brightly coloured border around the cover image (fig. 3). These new deluxe editions were much sturdier and better reflected the sense of permanence with which ACK readers treated them.

The new deluxe editions sold for 25 rupees, at three to four times as much as the cover price of issues in the late 1980s. Nonetheless, these sold, albeit slowly at first.

From 1995 onwards, sales began to climb once again, and in 2004, sales of deluxe edition A CKs were reported at Rs 14 800 000, more than three times what they had been in 1986. The single issues are issued with new series numbers starting with 501 in order to distinguish them from the old series which ran from 11 to 436.

While there has been a resurgence of interest in the comics particularly in the international market, the interest level of the early 1980s has not been matched. The production and design of the deluxe series, as I will discuss in another chapter, seemed to focus on a different kind of audience than the originals. This could in part be because of competition with other media. Pai blamed the sales slump of the early 1990s on television; since 2000, computer technology may pose another challenge. Nandini wondered if greater access to new forms of media has changed Indian children's attitudes toward the comics:

I have cousins, very young ones, they don't read these kind of comics, they are

more into computers and all that. So I feel like the knowledge that I had about 53

Indian culture, they don't have it; it's a generational difference. These kids are

about 10-12 now. They didn't watch the [Ramayana and ] tv

serials either and they don't have any inclination towards them.18

In 2004, IBH presented yet another revamp of the design of the comics. The awkward laminated covers were gone, and replaced with glossy, vibrantly coloured printed covers. This time, the coloured border around the cover image was removed, to give the artwork primacy. The quality of the paper was further improved to a glossy, lithographic type. Some of the comics in these even more 'deluxe' editions have also been re-coloured to include a wider spectrum, though this was not always an improvement on the sophistication of the images. This redesign brings the comics much closer to the international standard of published collectible comic art, of the kind typically found among American and Japanese or Korean comics.

It also reflects a change in IBH's conceptualization of its readership, from young middle-class Indian children to diasporic youth and adults; as IBH head Padmini

Mirchandani calls them, "the Global Indian."19 Mirchandani is aware that many diasporic Indians have a great deal of nostalgia around the comics. As of 2006, there are now nearly 240 deluxe editions including a few brand new titles, and several bumper issues have also been released in deluxe bound format; some of the biggest markets for

18 These television serials drew an extraordinarily large audience of Indians around the world in the late 1980s, marking the advent of widespread popularity of television programming in India. I refer to them again later in this chapter. 19 Interview with Padmini Mirchandani, Mumbai, October 15*, 2004. 54 the comics are now found via international sellers and through the internet, including

IBH's own web store.20

Comics and South Asian visual culture

Before entering a deeper analysis of ACfCs interpretation of the comics form, and given Pai's ambivalence towards the medium as a mode of western culture, it is useful to pause for a moment to consider some of the ways in which ACK has melded the features of style with the iconography of popular Indian visual culture. Other scholars (Pritchett 1995; Hawley 1995; Srinivas 2000; Lent 2004;

McLain 2005) have already described and analyzed the series and its visual contexts in some detail, so I need only to briefly summarize some of their arguments here.

One of the features of Indian culture most remarked upon by cultural theorists is the intense importance of images.21 Diana Eck's 1981 work Darsan: Seeing the Divine

Image in India prompted a significant shift in the study of South Asian visual culture by pointing towards complex interactions between visual representations and socio- religious practices. She argued that Indian culture in general is heavily characterized by the Hindu emphasis on the visual since the practice of mainstream Hinduism centres around the concept of darshan - the notion of seeing god, and being seen by her, as

20 The new titles include recently released biographical comic on industrialist JRD Tata (v.737), and another on the late astronaut Kalpana Chawla (v.736). 21 See Pinney, "The Image in Indian Culture" in The Oxford Companion Encyclopedia of Sociology and Social Anthropology (New Delhi: Oxford University Press, 2003). 55 paramount to the practitioner's sense of spirituality. In her book, Eck notes in particular the social practices which surround temple worship and the desire of devotees to make eye contact with and be seen by, or 'take darshan' of, the two or three dimensional images present in a place of worship. She argues that it is because of this social practice of seeing and being seen that the visual world plays a particularly significant role in

Indian culture. Much work done by Eck, and after her by other cultural anthropologists and art historians, has elaborated this view.

It is problematic to uncritically assume the primacy of the image in the Indian context, given the long historical significance of oral and written forms of communication throughout the region. But it is nonetheless the case that the visual world is an important part of everyday life in India. In contemporary politics, democracy must reckon with illiteracy, and signs and symbols become the engine of electoral politics. It is also beyond dispute that that visual landscape is filled with

Hindu god-images - on calendars, on consumer products, on posters, in propaganda, in road side shrines, on television and in film. But it is just as important to note that over- valorizing the concept of darshan lends itself to the more general fallacy of the assumption of cultural, religious, and regional homogeneity in India and South Asia.

For example, by itself, the concept tells us little about the ways in which Islamic art and design since the 11th century has had a profound impact on South Asian aesthetics, or about the Buddhist and Jain influences on art and architecture. This use of the concept of darshan also idealizes an Indian visual culture without considering the impact and 56 role of colonialism and modern media in transforming social and religious practices related to seeing.

ACK comics then occupy a unique position within this complex network of tradition, artistic influence, social practice, and textuality. An illustration of this is found in Deepa Srinivas's dissertation, in which she connects the art and style of ACK not only with American comics, but also with pre-colonial visual forms like katha

(storytelling) and chitrakatha, or illustrated stories (Srinivas 63). She writes that in her view, ACK is less like western comics and more like "katha in terms of the high-flown and wondrous nature of any of its tales, and [secondly], it is unlike western comics in the sense that it very often depicts characters from the past rather than choosing its material from a contemporary time and space" (61).

Chitrakatha, an art form which may date back as far as the classical Sanskrit period, refers generally to the visual practices of itinerant or nomadic storytellers throughout India, but perhaps most prominently in the region of the southern Deccan

(today , , Karnataka). Storytellers traveled from village to village and the song and dance of their stories were often visually augmented with painted images. The images would be presented individually on sheets of cloth, leaves, or other material, and would be presented as a sheaf of sheets, on the surfaces of a box, or painted on long scrolls, as continues to be the case with the traditional Bhopas of

Rajasthan. Generally, though, the images used some form of sequence to illustrate the story's narrative, and these were typically mythic or folkloric in nature. This model of 57 representation was common throughout India and over quite a long period of its history.

In the medieval period, chitrakatha was often used by Bhakti practitioners to retell mythical stories. The term chitrakatha is also applied to the visual storytelling practices of Bengal, where for example Jayadeva's 12th century poem Gita-Govindam has been retold many times in visual narrative form (fig 4). Bengal's itinerant Patua community continues the practice of scroll painting and story-telling today. The chitrakatha form has a less transient parallel in the narrative art found in and around Hindu, Buddhist and

Jain temples throughout India as cave carvings, stone relief work, murals and paintings.

Again, these typically retell mythical stories in pictorial form. Traditional visual narrative storytelling is not only a Hindu tradition, but was also common in the art of

Mughal India.22 Aruna Rao also finds a link between chitrakatha and ACK's comic art in the Kalighat paintings of the early twentieth century (Rao 1996: 33).

While I agree with Srinivas's important observation about the kinship between

ACK's imagistic and narrative style and the traditional form of chitrakatha, I dispute the criteria by which she differentiates the series from western comic art.

Certainly, at the very least it must be noted that American and Japanese comics, the most successful among 'western' consumers, also frequently deal with "high-flown and wondrous" topics, and more importantly, contain narratives that represent or invoke a mythical past. I would argue, rather, that ACK is formalistically a kind of hybrid between these traditional forms of storytelling and the modern comic book medium,

22 Illustrations in the manuscripts of the Baburnama and Ain-i-Akbari provide some examples of this. 58 employing conventions of both. I will elaborate further on the conventions of comic art in the next section, but it is worth noting that Pai himself considers ACK part of the chitrakatha tradition, a point that is underscored by the name of the series itself.

The distinguishing feature of chitrakatha art, as opposed to other kinds of Hindu religious art like calendars and posters, is the sense of action that is often depicted in its images. Rather than portraying gods and goddesses in strictly frontal, darsanic, passive views, chitrakatha images often use action and interaction between characters in the story to propel the narrative along its path. The chitrakatha tradition and the specific visual clues of Hindu iconography are very much a part of its mode of representation.

But other structural features in ACK comics, like the strict separation of panels with framing lines or 'gutters,' the use of a 'splash page' in each title, and the use of speech

'balloons' to indicate dialogue, are just as clearly features of modern comic art (fig 5).

The term 'sequential art', employed by Will Eisner and elaborated by Scott

McCloud in their respective texts on comics, distinguishes comics and graphic novels from single 'panel' cartoons and animation by noting that their most basic element is the spatial and chronological juxtaposition of two or more images. This definition does not require that both words and pictures are employed in the image, though this is often the case in modern comics. This definition of 'sequential art' is useful in its breadth as it can also accommodate at a formal level of Egyptian and early South American

23 Eisner carefully and clearly defines these elements in his key text, Comics and Sequential Art. 'Splash page' refers to the title page, usually a full page or large panel, in which the title of the comic is somehow incorporated. 59 paintings, chitrakatha, and other various indigenous or non-western forms of illustrated story that have existed around the world. McCloud, who uses the terms 'comics' and

'sequential art' somewhat interchangeably, notes that these multifarious global roots of cartooning and of sequential art are a reminder that comics, contrary to popular belief, are neither exclusively western nor modem in their origin (McCloud, 14).

In addition to recognizing these South Asian traditions of sequential art, there are significant influences that associate the series within the broader spectrum of modern South Asian visual culture. Several commentators have noted the representative similarity between some ACK images and the style of Raja Ravi Varma

(1848-1906) and the late 19th century realist school of (fig 6). McLain, who makes this point in some detail in her dissertation, writes that Ravi Varma's influence can be seen in the ACK artists' "extensive use of head-dresses, heavy gold ornamentation, and fancy-dress costumes; in the posed stances of the heroes and heroines; and even in the occasional use of stage settings" (McLain 127).

Ravi Varma is a controversial figure in Indian art: even in his own time, he was criticized for his adoption of English and German painting and reproduction techniques, and a structured, realist style of representation that seemed antithetical to traditional

Indian art. By others, however, he was heralded as a champion of an emergent Indian modernism and modernity, and his immensely popular style was copied by many. But

Ravi Varma's lithographic press was also the first to mass produce images of Hindu deities which circulated throughout India, and so while according to some he is credited 60 with developing a singular national modern artistic style, by others he is seen as the first purveyor of a low mass culture. Geeta Kapur writes that

Ravi Varma's piecemeal efforts to produce new forms and techniques is also

precisely the point where classical subject-matter, translating itself in order to

satisfy bourgeois desire, further translates into images for mass consumption

that are facilitated by the reproduction technology of the glossy oleograph.

(167).

Simultaneously, Ravi Varma is remembered as a seminal figure in the representation of nation and nationalism in Indian art, and also as the progenitor of mass-produced religious art, leading Christopher Pinney to write that Ravi Varma "as a sign is split into the father of modernism and the perpetrator of a devalued mass artefact" (2004: 61).

The evocation of his style in the comics is unsurprising given the ubiquity of his style, but is interesting since it underscores the fact that while ^4CX may be itself a hybrid of

South Asian and American media, it also has a place in a larger tradition of colonial syncretic art practices established by Ravi Varma. Kajri Jain writes that Ravi Varma's images can be read "not just as pictorial actualizations of a nationalist myth of origin, but also as objects that traced the two-way traffic between the colonial public sphere and the bazaar" (105).

Echoes of Ravi Varma are seen in contemporary Hindu calendar and poster art, two forms of visual media which have an enormous role in the communication and consumption of , and which are also important influences on the visual 61 scene of ACK. Calendar and poster art are widely circulated, mass produced images of gods and goddesses which are used to decorate homes, work spaces, and public places, but also as part of ritual worship. Such images are also commonly used in association with advertising for consumer products and with materials - especially calendars - promoting businesses and individuals. In terms of its visual style, Ravi Varma is often considered to be the 'forefather' of this genre of popular art and the industry that continues to produce it. Jain points out that Ravi Varma's name is so much associated with this style of art, especially in the early twentieth century, that it can be read almost as a brand name for prints of this kind (106).

In this kind of popular art, religious iconography is often important even while the prints are mass produced, so that the resulting images closely adhere to the descriptions of gods outlined in Hindu religious texts. The stylistic interpretation of these iconographic characteristics may vary from region and region, but many artists operate with an understanding of the traditional codes around representation (Jain 59;

194). Thus, for example, the goddess 's various aspects in such prints may be distinguished from each other by the colour of her sari, or the objects held in her hands; god Krishna's flute and peacock feather are signs which clearly distinguish him from other blue skinned gods (fig 7). But the use of colour, backgrounds, the 'frontality' of

24 See Kajri Jain, Gods in the Bazaar (2007); Tapati-Guha Thakurta, Monuments, Objects, Histories: Institutions of Art in Colonial and Post- (2004); H.D. Smith, "Impact of 'God Posters' on Hindus and their Devotional Traditions" in Media and the Transformation of Religion in South Asia, eds. Lawrence Babb and Susan Wadley (Philadelphia: UPenn Press, 1995). 62 the central figure, facial expressions, and the degree of realism in the image may vary according to the artist, region, and audience. Jain writes that as the calendar and poster art industry developed in the 1950s, especially in relation to advertising, there was an tendency for 'up-market' images to favour a more realist style, while images and advertisements aimed towards a more working class audience tended to have the 'mass appeal' of a more traditional iconic style (155).

Thanks to Pai's rigorous standards of accuracy, iconography also remains quite consistent across the ACK series. But though the comic illustrations, particularly those which retell Hindu mythological stories, rely heavily on the iconic vocabulary of Hindu religious tradition, ACK artists also contend with the conventions of realism established by Ravi Varma. Jain writes about Ram Waeerkar, the ACK artist whose style has come to typify the comics' visual sensibility, as he negotiated between Pai's emphasis on historical accuracy and iconographic verisimilitude; Waeerkar explains that these imperatives sometimes conflict with each other (195). The tension between these drives is in my view part of what results in ACK's unique visual style.

There is an obvious visual parallel between these sometimes contradictory representations of gods mACK, Ravi Varma's style, calendar art, and the mythological films of early Indian cinema.25 The earliest films made in India, such as DG Phalke's

Raja Harischandra (1913), drew from mythological sources to depict gods and goddesses on the big screen in a frontal and sombre style similar to Varma's imagery.

25 Rachel Dwyer and Divia Patel, Cinema India, op. cit., 104-105. as quoted in McLain, 132. 63

The depiction of deities and mythological stories in film continued to be an important part of the Indian film industry even when it turned generally towards more colloquial or secular fare.

In the 1980s, television series depicting the major Hindu epics became enormously popular. Ramanand Sagar's 78- episode Ramayana serial, broadcast weekly on the national Indian station in 1987 and 1988, drew massive audiences in India and later, via video, throughout the South Asian diaspora.26 The extraordinary popularity of the series marked the arrival of a burgeoning Indian middle class and rapidly widening access among the middle classes to television. The martial hero of the series, portrayed as obedient and moderate and as muscular and powerful, parallels the

ACK version of Rama and heralded a shift in Rama iconography away from Ravi

Varma's realism, and also away from traditional textual iconography, towards a depiction of the deity as hyper-masculine crusader.27

On the heels of the Ramayana serial's success, BR Chopra produced an even lengthier televised serial of the Mahabharata, first broadcast from 1988-1990, which further established a middle-class television audience in India and the proliferation of

The serial was also strongly associated with the Ramjanmabhoomi movement which sought the destruction of the Babri Masjid in Ayodhya, and is widely associated with the rise of Hindutva in the South Asian diaspora. See Arvind Rajagopal, Politics After Television (2001); Anand Patwardhan's excellent films Ram ke Nam (In the Name of God) and Father, Son, and Holy War also provide a background to these events and their aftermath. 27 On Rama and hyper-masculinity, see "Market Forces at Work: Religious Themes in Commercial Hindi Films" by Steve Derne in Babb, Lawrence and Susan Wadley, eds. Media and the Transformation of Religion in South Asia (Philadelphia: UPenn Press, 1995), and Anuradha Kapur, "Deity to Crusader: The Changing Iconography of Ram," in Hindus and Others: The Question of Identity in India Today, ed. Gyanendra Pandey. (New Delhi: Viking/Penguin India, 1993). 64 religious stories on video.28 ACK had begun publishing its 42 volume Mahabharata series in 1985. Towards the end of its run, in 1988, IBH began running advertisements suggesting that the comics could be read as an adjunct to the television series, and could help children to better understand what they were viewing. Several readers that I spoke with expressed that their experiences of the TV serials and the comics intersected.

Nandini found that reading the comics did indeed enhance her experience of the television program:

When I had read this [v4CX] Mahabharata, I had a clear conception of what the

Mahabharata was, what the mythology stood for and what they wanted to say

and all. And there was this tv serial on them [the Mahabharata stories] and it

was easier for me to learn them because I had read the comics earlier, so I had a

clear conception of say why this person was doing that... now when I look back

I remember I had that feeling of relishing those comics at that time.

In this way, ACK sought to present itself as a support for children navigating a changing media world, providing continuity and elaboration. The sharing and paralleling of images and narratives across film, television and comics is not limited to mythological subjects, however; there is some consonance between popular historical films and ACK titles. Christopher Pinney notes that no less than four films about the life of nationalist martyr Bhagat Singh between 2002 and 2003 (2004: 201), and it is no surprise that a

28 The Mahabharata is an epic poem, generally dated to around the 6th-5th century BCE. The story tells of a battle between two clans of cousins over their ancestral kingdom. The story is understood to convey the origins of the nation, named Bharat after the king who is ancestor to both clans. 65 biographical comic about him continues to be a popular title in the series. Jain writes that in the last thirty years or so, as the industry of popular religious images developed, there emerged a "vernacular, non-secular, "popular" nexus alienated from the liberal, secular-modernist, English-educated elite" (Jain 155). With the production and distribution of the epic television serials, the split between the two became more self- conscious and explicitly articulated in relation to Hindu nationalist ideology, but as Jain suggests, it was the imagery of the popular print industry and cinema that enabled this early distinction between two regions of the Indian public sphere (ibid).

Building on a legacy first sparked by Ravi Varma's iconic prints then, the calendar and poster industry, the comics, the television series, the film industry and the contemporary populist fascination with figures like Bhagat Singh and VD Savarkar can all be understood as parts of the historical formations of visual culture that underwrite the evolution of the popular support of Hindu nationalism.

On the theory of comics

As I have noted earlier in this chapter, ACK adopts the conventions of

American-style comics in many respects while also situating itself within an indigenous tradition. Before moving into a discussion of the comics themselves, I will take a moment to discuss some of the features of this form. My comments in this section often refer to what I will call 'classic American comics,' by which I mean the form of comic book art that originated in the US in the 'Golden Age' of comics in the 1930s and 66

1940s, and the conventions of this form are still recognizable in American comics today. This is a somewhat simplified way of thinking about comic art in general, and certainly overlooks many of the complexities and innovations in the form. But my definition of the American style would neatly fit within the conventions that many people might conjure up for themselves when thinking about comics, and thus may help to understand the visual form of ACK.

In my view, there are three main parallels between ACK and American comics as a popular art form. First, early American comics were characterized generally by the emergence of characters and narratives which centred around heroic adventure stories, including westerns, detective and crime stories, and most importantly, superheroes.

The most well-known of these comics, including those featuring the earliest Superman and Batman, Captain America, and Wonder Woman, were publications of major publishing houses like Marvel and DC and continue to endure today. Like those comics, ACK also focuses a great deal on heroic adventure. But it is also useful to recognize that in the same period educational comics like the Classics Illustrated series were extremely popular and even supported by educators and parents. Thematically and stylistically it offers perhaps the closest parallel to the ACK series. Classics

Illustrated comics, of which there were about 170 individual titles, retold literary works and some Bible stories in comics form. Second, narratives often enter the realm of the

29 See Roger Sabin, Comics, Comix, and Graphic Novels (1996), and Mike Benton, The Comic Book in America (1989). For more on these features, there are several useful texts on comics, including Richard Reynolds, Superheroes: A Modern Mythology (1994). 67 fantastical, though they may also invoke historical contexts like war and nation- building. This is reflected as much in the realism of Classics Illustrated stories as much as in American superhero comics, in which the American flag motif is visually prominent, and heroes are often associated with government and state. Thirdly, the primary audience of American comics has historically been assumed to be children and younger people, though there is a very large and growing collection-oriented adult audience.

The classic American comics, especially prior to the development of the Comics

Code Authority in the 1950s, are sometimes violent, frequently moralistic, and nearly always nationalist in their ideological bent, though some of this may not be immediately obvious to young readers.30 Visually, though the comics range from black and white to full colour, they are typically characterized by interactions between text and images, and interactions between frames on a page. Action is shown sequentially, with one frame leading the narrative to the next, sometimes with the aid of captions, arrows, and other visual markers. There are some parallels with ACK in this description that are obviously and immediately apparent. But my interest is not in showing what affinity these traditions might have for each other, but rather in showing why it may be useful to consider some of the theoretical analysis that has grown up around this genre of comics.

30 The was established in 1956 after a public outcry, led by anti-comics activist Fredric Wertham, against the corrupting influence of comics on children. Wertham and his supporters argued that scenes of graphic (and even subtle) violence and sexuality in comics wrought serious damage on young minds. The major comics publishing houses joined together to establish a 'Code' for future publishing, and for nearly twenty years comics were effectively 'censored'. See Bradford Wright, Comic Book Nation (2001). 68

Some of the most useful comics theory focuses on the complex interaction between image and text. Robert Harvey refers to comics as a hybrid art form drawing on literature and visual art, and writes about the varying degrees to which these elements can interact (Harvey 1996). Not all visual narrative images or sequential art use words to the same extent, but Harvey writes that there is generally some degree of blending between the two. Comics, although they are now sometimes found in digital media, are most well known and circulated in print form, and because they contain text and narrative, are frequently subject to highly textual, literary interpretations. Some critics liken comics to film because of the use of sequential story-telling and narrativization, the incorporation of movement, and a sense of time. It is true that like film, comics are a highly visual medium in which signifiers are complex and are open to multiple readings. But the static, two dimensional printed page interpellates the comics reader in a very different way than a viewer is interpellated by film (McCloud 8). The passage of time is controlled by the reader, not the automated projection of the film; and unlike a viewer of film for whom each frame moves seamlessly into the next, the reader of comics must work to create meaning in between each and every frame.

Even when there is no text, one might argue that the practice of looking that is involved in comics is much more like reading because it requires a constant semiotic interaction with the page, and the reader must generate 'closure'. One can also return to previous panels, pages, or even previous books, in order to experience the narrative in a different way. Scott McCloud also discusses this significant feature in Understanding 69

Comics, where he writes that "Every act committed to paper by the comics artist is aided and abetted by a silent accomplice....[next frame] An equal partner in crime known as the reader" (McCloud 68).31 Text, in the form of dialogue balloons and captions, can lead the reader towards particular moments of narrative closure, but can just as easily produce further ambiguity. McCloud identifies seven different modes of visual-textual interaction in comics, forming a scale in which words and images either bear no relationship to each other, describe each other, or work together to suggest a meaning (McCloud 153-155). But in each case, the work is ultimately done by the reader.

In the introduction to their book Comics and Ideology, McAllister, Sewell, and

Gordon write that comics "have implications for both representation and interpretation of ideological images and meanings," noting that the physical organization and limitations of the comics page necessitates sometimes complex interactions between images and text (3). On one hand, they argue, these limitations can "create a closed ideological text," imposing a preferred meaning on the reader. On the other hand,

techniques—such as the ease of comics to visually change the point of view in a

or book and the semantic space created by the sometimes ambiguous

relationship between word and picture—make comics a potentially polysemic

31 In a metatextual move, his book is written in comics form, allowing him to carefully illustrate examples. I have tried to format quotations from this text in a manner which best represents this. 70

text, encouraging multiple interpretations, even ones completely oppositional to

any specific artistic intent (McAllister et al 4).

The unique interaction of images and text in comics can lead the reader to specific meanings and while allowing the meanings to appear ambiguously open-ended: the work the reader does in interpreting the frame appears to be her own work, though the semiotic interaction of image and text may over determine meaning. Comics then present a peculiar polysemism: when they may appear to offer simple messages, these may be deceptively complex, and when they appear to be ambiguous, may in fact represent specific ideological aims. It is this polysemic character of the comic which makes it a significant medium warranting a somewhat unique approach. This is particularly an issue, as I will go on to show in the rest of this and subsequent chapters, when the implicit or explicit ideological function of the text is to help its readers develop self-knowledge and identity, as the series claims to do.

Imagining India: modes of representation in ACK

Amar Chitra Katha as a series constitutes a body of work so large and complex that several dissertations could, and should, be generated about it, and research on the series is just beginning to expand. Karline McLain and Deepa Srinivas have already done extensive research on the ways in which Amar Chitra Katha has codified nationhood, gender, and religion in the series. These detailed textual analyses are compelling and useful. Rather than reproduce this research in the rest of this chapter, I 71 am interested in showing how at a more metanarrative level, ACK as itself a system of representation codifies various elements of national identity, effectively providing the ingredients for a "national imaginary."

We know from comics theory that each individual text presents a set of complex interactions between image and language. Each title therefore collects together a group of signs which must be interpreted, or decoded through the reader's interaction with the page. But even more complex is the way in which the individual texts of the series together form a sign-system: considered together, the many individual titles of ACK form a system or chain of representation and meaning. This is an important observation in light of the typical reading habits of ACK readers. All of the readers that I spoke to, even those who were casual readers, had read at least ten Amar Chitra Katha comics, and several had read four or five times that number. That this kind of reading behaviour is common among ACK readers is borne out in McLain's research, and moreover seems to be the norm among comics readers in other cultures and genres.

Since readers tend not to approach ACK as individual titles, but rather as a

'universe' of comics images and stories, one of the underlying concerns of this study is whether ACK as a system of representation or sign-system contributes to a broader, big- picture image of the social world over time. The intense affection and respect that many readers have for the comics suggests that an analysis is required not only of the social world as it is represented in the comics, but also of the interpellation or 'hailing' of the 72 comics readers by these images. In order to begin to understand how social relations are depicted within the comics and constructed by readers' interactions with the books, the rest of this chapter is devoted to a qualitative and quantitative analysis of the series.

Specifically, I want to focus on the mutually constitutive relations of three social, ideological, and aesthetic constructions in the comics: first, the question of religious representation; second, the manner in which gender is depicted in the series; and third, the ways in which race and caste are treated in the images and narratives of ACK. I have chosen these categories because I think they speak most clearly to the kinds of ideological issues raised by the comics in regards to the construction of a sense of national identity and belonging.

As noted earlier, the original catalogue oiAmar Chitra Katha is no longer in print, though around half of the original titles have been reissued as 'deluxe' editions, and a few new titles have also been added to the series. Though in the majority of cases the old titles and their corresponding 'deluxe' editions are identical page-for-page, there are several cases in which revisions have occurred.33 There are also around 200 titles from the original catalogue that are no longer in print. In the course of my research I have been able to collect a nearly complete set of 'deluxe' series comics. In addition to the collection of the older comics that I amassed as a child and those loaned by friends

321 use this term in reference to Louis Althusser's use of the term in his famous essay, "Ideology and Ideological State Apparatuses" in Lenin and Philosophy and Other Essays (New York: Monthly Review Press, 1971). 33 One key example is discussed in Desai, "The Krishna Conspiracy" (2003). 73 and colleagues and purchased in used bookstores, I have been able to view many of those old out of print titles through visits to readers' own collections and a visit to

ACK's own archives.34 Thus, I have had the opportunity to review the great majority of titles in both series.

As in the original catalogue, the 'deluxe' catalogue contains a range of stories drawn from mythological, historical, folkloric, and literary sources. Those original titles which have been chosen for reproduction as 'deluxe' editions have been chosen selectively by Pai and his staff. In an interview with me, Pai noted that in some cases, the decision about which titles to reprint was based on sales and popularity of titles, but he also acknowledged that it could in some cases be a matter of his preference.35

Another factor involved in selection noted by Pai and the IBH staff was the availability of originals and printing proofs, many of these as mentioned earlier having been destroyed in a fire.

Whatever the reasons may be, there are some shifts in the sign system constructed by ACK through the 1970s and 1980s, and that which was reconstructed in the late 1990s. The old list contained a greater variety of stories from various regions in

India, and marginally more titles based on stories and people from religious traditions other than Islam. But during the 1980s, the period on which I focus for the most part in this study, this greater variety of titles was in print and circulating internationally and in

But there about twenty titles that I have thus far not been able to identify or view. Interview with Anant Pai, October 14th, 2004. 74 a variety of languages. For these reasons, in the following discussion I am referring separately to the 'original' and 'deluxe' catalogues so that we may have a sense of some of these differences.

Telling stories: narratives and images

It makes sense to begin by trying to identify the kinds of stories that Amar

Chitra Katha tells. In advertising for ACK, IBH has developed a variety of categorizations for the various comics in the series; in the 1980s, these categories were generally given as 'history', 'mythology' and 'literature', though more recently the

ACK website has constructed a considerably more complex taxonomy.36 For the purposes of the present analysis, I developed my own system of classification for the subject matter of the comics. Table 1 shows a breakdown of the titles by source subject category: folktales, historicals, literary, and religious/mythological titles. In addition to a consideration of ACICs own categorization of each title, I considered the source text or story, the style of narrative, and the original author or protagonist where relevant. In some cases, it was difficult to apply such a classification, or I identified more than one associated category. For example, some folktales have become part of a literary tradition, might have some basis in historical fact, or might have an explicitly

36 www.amarchitrakatha.com. The web site features about twenty different categories which more or less separate the titles by religion and by their historical or religious content. 37 Since there are several old and out of print ACKs which I have not been able to examine, I cannot classify them along the same lines. Karline McLain (2005) provides a list with the author and illustrators of each titles, but gives no further information as regards the subject matter. 75 religious moral, and in such situations I have classified the comics more than once.38

Based on this analysis, I observe that religious/mythological and historical stories dominate the series, while there are somewhat fewer folk or moralistic tales and literary stories.

The historical comics depicting stories from all periods tend to be mainly in the form of biographical narratives, though like all the stories in the series, these biographies are highly abridged or foreshortened. The personages chosen for these titles have tended to be kings, warriors, and contemporary political leaders, but there are also many biographies of Hindu and Sikh religious figures. Most of the historical titles lean towards a detailed realism of their subjects, some in an almost documentary-like fashion, especially those dealing with physical sites like Krishnadeva Ray a (v. 151/636, depicting Hampi), The Historic City of Delhi (v.300/696), or Elephanta (v. 149/519).

Swapna, a 31 year old ACK reader in Toronto, remembered Elephanta as one of her favourite comics: "I read the comic about Elephanta [Island] when I was a kid; when I went there I impressed even the tour guide with my knowledge about it! It was an amazing experience to be able to see the comic relate to something in real life."

Almost all of the titles which are associated with the modern or nationalist period of Indian history are biographical. Some of the ACK artists interviewed by

38 The case of those stories culled from the Jataka Tales are an example of texts which might be identified in more than one category. Though they are considered part of a larger Buddhist tradition, they are non-canonical and have often become synthesized within other folk traditions. They are also very popular stories in the Hindu tradition. But ACK's retelling of these stories rarely mentions any religious context beyond the introduction, and so for this contextual reason I identify these primarily as folktales. 76

McLain indicate that the art in these titles is often based on or inspired by photographs

(McLain 43). It could be noted as evidence of this documentary realism that there are now at least five biographical titles in the series, mostly recent additions to the deluxe line, which feature full colour photographs of their subjects on their covers.39 The historical titles tend also to be somewhat more text heavy, perhaps a reflection of the desire for veracity that ACK's staff have described (Lent 62).

I identify as folktales those stories which are not drawn from a specific religious canon or tradition, which do not necessarily involve deities as characters in the narrative, and which may be regionally specific. Though I use the term 'folktales' for brevity, it might perhaps be fairer to subtitle this category as 'moralistic tales, allegories, and .' These stories sometimes have human and sometimes animal protagonists, are usually fairly distinct from the other categories I have identified. It would seem that the folktales, fewer in number, tend also to be less popular among the readers I interviewed. Some readers voiced their dislike of the characteristic 'cartoony', caricature-style artwork of many of the folktale titles, especially those from the

Pancatantra and the Buddhist Jataka tales.40 These stories, of course, focus on animal protagonists rather than human ones, and their style is quite distinct from the realism of

39 These would be Swami Chinamayananda ( v. 732), (v.628), Swami Pranavananda (v.679), JRD Tata (v. 735), and Kalpana Chawla (v.736). 40 The Pancatantra of Vishnu Sharma is a nitishastra or instructional text which may date back to as early as the 1st century BCE, although the earliest surviving manuscripts date to the 10th century. The stories use animal allegories to teach lessons about leadership and morality. The Jataka Tales date to the 6 century BCE and are said to be the stories told by Gautama Buddha to his disciples about his previous births. 77 the mythological and historical comics. These comics were illustrated mainly by Jeffrey

Fowler and Ashok Dongre, and neither artist illustrated any other kinds of titles in the series so the unique look of the animal fables can be attributed to their style (fig. 8). Of the twenty-one readers I interviewed only one, Hema, identified the animal stories as her favourite in the series.

Those comics which I have identified as dealing with a literary subject often have some overlap with other categories. For example, there are several plays by the classical composer Kalidasa which have been condensed into comics form. l There is also a biographical comic about Kalidasa himself, and I have considered this to be both literary and historical in nature, since very little historical material exists about him and this is largely a work of legend and imagination; I have classified the comic about the legendary king-poet Krishnadeva Raya in the same way. There are several historical novels which have been abridged in the series as well.

Finally, I have classified as 'mythological' all those stories which are taken from a canonical religious source text, or which contain characters or elements which are divine or supernatural in nature. My use of the terms 'myth' and 'mythological' for the moment correspond to the traditional anthropological definition, as stories which explain origins and chronicle the actions of divine personae. They also generally contain some element of the supernatural. Pai and his staff have claimed to take great

41 Kalidasa's life remains largely a historical mystery; he is said to have lived somewhere between the 2nd and 4th centuries CE. 78 care in downplaying such supernatural elements in these stories, attempting to explain them as 'scientific' and 'rational' rather than as 'magic', though this effort seems to have been rather inconsistent.42 These stories are mainly drawn from Hindu, Jain, and

Buddhist sources. There are no ACK narratives associated with these traditions that I would categorize as 'mythology', though this may simply be explained by the relatively different nature of the Islamic and Sikh canons. In the interviews I conducted with

Amar Chitra Katha readers, those I talked with overwhelmingly expressed their fondness for the mythological tales over any other category.

Indeed, overall it appears that the mythological and religious stories are by far the most numerous in the series and the most popular among readers. While I am using these categories here as a means to paint a broad picture of ACK's content, the argument that I propose to make in the rest of this dissertation is that such narrative categories whether imposed by me or by the series itself, are quite indiscrete. Because of the relative visual and textual stylistic unity of the comics across these categories and the remarkable consistency of the religious and the secular iconography of the images, it can become difficult to discern one kind of narrative from another. The relatively seamless continuity between 'mythological', 'historical', and 'literary' subjects in regards to the presentation of the content contributes to a singular, homogenized image of 'Indianness.' Thus, as 24-year old Venugopal put it:

Desai, "The Krishna Conspiracy" (2003). 79

These mythic or mythological stories have always this character of blending into

your surrounding, though either you read it in Telugu or English, you'll always

see it as your past, your people, that kind of character it has, whereas if you

watch a Hindi film probably you would say this is more of a [Hindi or] Punjabi

kind of culture, but you would never feel the same thing whether you read the

Amar Chitra Katha in Hindi, or English, or Telugu.

The series accomplishes this through certain elements of continuity which can be identified even with a cursory review.

Aside from the consistency of the cover design and the use of comics-style framing, as I discussed earlier, there are other features which visually connect the comics together across these categories. Primarily, these concern landscape, colour and the representation of people. Although, as I indicated above, some of the folktales comics use a more iconic cartoon style than the mythological and historical comics, these features could still be generally observed. Buildings, which are generally either palaces or humble huts, are generally given a degree of architectural detail. Most scenes are shown from a neutral, head-on perspective with some occasional variation.

Other than in some of the folktales, people are shown in a realist style with regard to facial features and proportions (fig. 9). The use of colour ties together stories across the series. Even in the earliest comics, pastoral scenes were rendered dominantly in shades of green, blue, brown; palaces and scenes of opulence in bright yellows to represent gold; interestingly, yellow is even used in modern scenes like those in Jawarhalal 80

Nehru (v. 436/700) to depict wealth even if gold itself is not present. Background colours were sometimes varied across frames, creating visual interest but also setting moods, so that reds and oranges often accompanied scenes of anger or violence.

Violence was also a feature which tied the comics together. Although the weapons and style of fighting might differ across historical and mythological titles, many titles feature some kind of armed conflict. Sixteen year old Srinivas recalled that

"there was a lot of fighting here and there. I remember a lot of imagery of swords, and people riding on elephants, and horses and their chariots and stuff like that, and great weapons obviously." But despite this, he also retained strong memories of the pastoral landscapes depicted in the comics:

I remember it as being a beautiful place, really nice, full of wealth, obviously

where all these kings and emperors ruled there was an abundance of wealth and

happy people, and except for one or two conflicts which you had to have

because of the stories, there was a lot of peace. I'd say other than the occasional

war. And also with all those animals, with the elephants and so on, it also

reminds you of the nature of India and of the rich heritage of that whole

continent.

Most of the graphically violent images that readers recalled came from mythological stories: Rama cutting of the demoness Soorpanakha's nose, or the decapitation of

Ganesha. While a few graphic or overly 'supernatural' scenes have been edited out in subsequent editions, the scene continues to be reproduced replete with 81 splurting blood (Ganesha v.509/89; Desai 2003:328). Some readers felt that this kind of mythological violence seemed relatively unrealistic. Renu, discussing Rama's attack on Soorpanakha, said, "that was violent, things like that, but because it was a comic, it doesn't seem so real." If the violent scenes in historical comics like Jallianwala Bagh

(v.358/704) in which a young boy is shown with a shotgun wound, also seem less real I would argue that they are nonetheless depicted in a similar way. The realism of gore in such scenes prevents the reader from having to do much work in closing the gap of meaning, letting the image essentially tell the story. But I am more concerned with the semiotic connections between such scenes of violence; young readers could equate the non-realism of mythical violence to the 'real' violence in historical volumes. Thus, scenes of swords, armies and elephants can appear in Hindu mythology, Mughal history, and 19th century battle scenes, and despite the artists' attention to historical detail, these graphic images remain most memorable. Thus, I observe that colour, landscape, and the depiction of violence form a shared vocabulary of image in the comics.

Aesthetics of gender

Across all the categories of stories that I have outlined above, gender roles are ossified patriarchal and heterosexist structures. Some observation to this effect has been made by nearly every observer and critic of the series. Most of the titles feature male protagonists, and both men and women were generally depicted in traditional, 82 two-dimensional ways. Many of the readers I spoke with made similar observations about their memories of the comics. Srinivas, at 16 the youngest of the readers I spoke with, observed that:

Most of the [men] had moustaches; some had turbans, some didn't; the women

would mostly be in saris, and they'd be housewives, or they'd otherwise be a

queen or princess.. .those few roles. The men would be shown to a greater extent

if I'm not mistaken. A couple of stories were focused on women solely but even

in those ones they wouldn't be the only centre. The men, they would be the

ministers for the king, and artisans, and pundits.

Srinivas's description agrees here with my own assessment of gender representations in the series, noting in particular the few kinds of roles that are available to female characters. In a 1999 article, Aruna Rao identifies seven kinds of female archetypes recurrent in Indian comics: goddess, demon, warrior, victim, vamp, the capricious woman, and the companion, the latter most commonly in the form of a chaste wife.

Though the scope of her article goes beyond ACK to consider a variety of other Indian comics, these categories nonetheless offer a good taxonomy of such gender archetypes for my narrower focus on the series itself. These categories provide a way to think not only about the characterization of women in the ACK narratives, but also about their visual depiction.

There are obvious associations of'good' and 'evil' here, and these are clearly linked to a patriarchal and heterosexist aesthetics. When I asked Venugopal about his 83 recollections regarding gender in the comics, he told me: "When I was a kid I used to feel this is how women should be or shouldn't be, or how men should be, it kind of characterized how a good person or bad person should be, or what a mother or a devilish woman would be like." 'Good' women are depicted as sexually pure, chaste and loyal, no great departure from the traditional image of women in Indian texts. But though even 'good' or divine women might act or appear vampy, as I might describe the character of Mohini in The Churning of the Ocean (v.273/538), the female characters of

ACK- goddesses and warriors alike - are nearly always illustrated according to the same aesthetic: buxom, scantily clad, full lips and flowing hair.

These highly sexualized bodies have become one of the defining visual characteristics of the series in both the 'mythological' and 'historical' stories. While

Pai and the various artists who have worked on the series have defended the costumes of the female characters as "historically accurate," it is undeniable that they often seem provocative, especially when combined with the voluptuous anatomical design of the bodies which wear them. Tracking a number of reviews of the series, Rao writes that

"In a notoriously prudish contemporary society, the comparative state of undress that the ACK heroines sport was tantamount to indecency for some people," (1996: 39).

Though the costumes themselves may be 'historically accurate', or at least iconographically consistent with traditional depictions, several critics have raised the question of why this particular kind of authenticity should be so important to a series 84 targeted towards children. Pramod, a reader in his thirties in Toronto, described the depiction of female characters in this way:

So all the very patriarchal images of feminine beauty, the voluptuous bodies,

these fair skinned women, it's very evident to me.. .what I gather is that this is

just Indian popular culture, it's very Bollywood, these images of feminine

beauty, fair skin, images that are almost pornographic.

Pramod's point is that the depiction of women in the comics is in this sense consistent with the depiction of women in Indian popular culture in general. But I would also observe that the historical, religious, and educational context of the stories told in the comics also presents such images as authentic and traditional, in contrast to the scandalous, 'westernized' bodies of Bollywood.

If female bodies appear highly sexualized and scantily clad, male bodies are correspondingly drawn in highly muscular, hypermasculine form. Anuradha Kapur

(1993) has described how the depiction of the masculine body in Hindu calendar art has changed over the past century from the slender images of Ravi Varma's paintings to the

Schwarzenegger-style muscle-bound Rams and Hanumans of today, noting that this parallels the development of a more militant form of Hindu nationalism.43 The chiselled features of ACK deities and heroes are also reminiscent of the male leads in the earliest Indian films, as well as the mythological films of the 1960s and 1970s,

43 Srinivas discusses this in detail in her dissertation (2000). See also Anand Patwardhan's film Father, Son and the Holy War (1995). 85 which were certainly an aesthetic influence on the ACK artists (fig 10). The overwhelming number of male protagonists in the series are deities, or mortal heroes and religious figures. While in some biographical titles we see the characters develop as children, these heroic characters are usually described as exemplary of great strength and moral character even at a young age.44 It is also clear that the male protagonists dominate the series overall. Women are generally depicted as secondary characters, but even as key protagonists, they rarely exceed the categories outlined by Rao above.

Many readers found that gender roles were made static and uniform across regional and historical differences. Hema felt that when her story was published in

Tinkle, the editors changed the story to align it with the gender optics of the ACK world:

[The story was called] "Tiger Takes a Wife" - actually I think I called it "Tiger

Finds a Wife" but it got changed, it became 'Takes'. What bothered me is that

my story, I wrote it and somebody did the illustrations and there's a scene

where there's a Brahmin couple sitting together, and in the picture, the Brahmin

was sitting on the bed and the wife was sitting on the floor ... and I remember

being mad because that's not how I wrote it in my story. ... I remember just not

liking the way they had depicted that."

Hema is from in the North-East of India, where traditional roles for women are somewhat different than in the rest of India; she felt that in changing the gender dynamics in the story, the editors had also taken away from its regional specificity.

441 expand on this argument in Chapter 3. 86

However, the polysemism of comics texts, as I described earlier, can sometimes produce other kinds of responses in readers. Nirad, who is a gay and lesbian rights activist in Bangalore, told me that he was drawn to the few stories from Hindu mythology in which there was a transgender narrative, like the story of The in

Hiding (v.244/593) in which is transformed into a woman, Brihannala:

Arjun was not a divine figure, and he was not someone who was outside the fold

of society, but it was so easy for him to go on and acquire that [transgendered]

role. Or the whole story of Shikandi [another transgendered character in the

Mahabharata] and the way it was presented. So there was a certain flexibility of

genders and these transgendered identities were actually valorized through the

comics. It's this whole idea about how sexuality and gender or transsexual and

transgender identity became a problem only with the colonial encounter ... I'm

not sure if it's because of the books or the epic structure, or because of the

fantasy it plays into, because it happened in a world far away.

It is extremely useful to observe how Nirad has read the comics in a way which allows him to find a recuperative possibility for identity within them, although I wonder along with him whether this is attributable to the comics or to the narrative of the ancient myths themselves. Nirad also points out that for children of the following generation, who grew up with greater access to cable television, films, and media, there is a greater awareness of the modern taboo against transgendered (hijra) and queer people in India, and that they may not find quite the same possibilities in the comics. For those 87 children, the ossification of gender roles as portrayed in multiple media forms is perhaps more complete.

Race and caste

If the heroic, deific men and women of ACK's universe are meant to be seen as attractive and pleasing to the eye, it is no surprise that they are nearly always depicted in fair skin. The 'fleshtone' colour, a far lighter shade than most Indians might ascribe to their own skin, is the dominant colour of representation for most characters of human form, including the deities. Exceptions to this rule are of course those characters, like

Krishna, Rama, or Draupadi, who are described as being dark in the various religious texts, and who are accordingly shown in the traditional iconography as having blue skin. , , and historical characters from lower caste communities are all invariably shown as having dark or green skin, and misshapen features, underscoring the perception that beauty and nobility are ascribed to the fair-skinned. In a critique of

ACK, children's book editor Sandhya Rao describes a comic which illustrates this point:

[I]n "The Most Beautiful Child in Agra," an Akbar- story about mothers

thinking that their own babies are the mot beautiful, there is a picture of a large,

dark-complexioned, thick-lipped, langoti-clad baby to show that the child is

from a lower caste, that he is poor, ugly, and undesirable. The text also explicitly

states that the baby is ugly and not worthy of being loved (in Birbal the Clever 88

[v. 210/558], 7-8). In the world ofACK, physical beauty is paramount, and

anyone who does not possess it is ugly and therefore wicked (S Rao, 34).

Beyond the connection between beauty and worthiness, there is a semiotic chain of dark skin, ugliness, low caste, poverty, and undesirability that is reinforced in ACK. The child in this particular story is not simply unworthy because he is dark skinned, but also because he is a poor child of low caste - these characteristics seem to go hand in hand.

There are two links in this semiotic chain: first, dark skin characterizes both

'evil' mythic characters like Asuras and 'unworthy' real-world characters such as the low-caste child described above. As a visual marker, skin colour effectively commingles these values so that darkness is always associated with negative traits.

That low caste people are therefore automatically understood as 'undesirable' is problematic, though it is no less a reflection of the real social relations of modern India.

Second is the assumption, uncritiqued in Sandhya Rao's otherwise astute summary of this scene, that a dark-skinned, thick-lipped child is universally unattractive. The racialization in this description is quite apparent, and betrays the dominant hierarchy of human ethnic features which is common to social relations throughout India, and in which fair skin tops the list, and 'African' features are at bottom. In other words, these features are attributed to 'undesirable' characters precisely because they are already socially linked to undesirability. No attempt is made, therefore, to question this hierarchy. 89

A related complexity is that a similar visual vocabulary is sometimes used to mark out Indians from the south of India as different from the Northern 'Aryan' type of people; that difference is characterized along ethnic lines. Debashish, who grew up in

Calcutta, told me that the comics were one of his few sources of information about the cultures of the rest of India:

For example other Bengali comics would have characters which were typically

Bengali. So Amar Chitra Katha would have been the only source for reading

about the South. There were some South Indian community stories.. .So that was

an access to different communities. So you had these stereotypes of what a

Maratha looks like, what a Kerala Brahmin looks like, however wrong these

were.

Susan and Nagalamba are both from southern India, from Kerala and Karnataka respectively. In our conversation, they expressed concern about the way in which the negative associations of dark skin were transmitted not only to lower caste people, but to south Indians in general:

Nagalamba: .. .the north-south divide, it is there, the rakshasas that are given in

these [comics] ~

Susan: But when you were reading that you did not know that there was a north-

south divide being shown... it's only after a certain age that you realise that this

could be that. 90

Nagalamba: But when a kid comes to encounter a dark person in his or her real

life, they would take them generally for bad people.

Susan: Ha [yes], that is there, I have friends who actually used to think like

that...

In the ACK spectrum of colour and ethnicity then, south Indian, low caste, and demonic personae appear semiotically indistinct. This does not necessarily contradict the message of national homogeneity which other readers described; rather, it underscores that there is a kind of upper-caste, central India kind of dominance within its images. It also underscores my earlier argument about the confusion between mythological and historical representations. The denigration of south Indian and low caste people as evil, or as less aesthetically attractive, is reinforced by confusing images which show some

'good' low caste people like BR Ambedkar as having fair skin; this occurs with several protagonists like this. Tribal people, like the Gonds in Rani Durgavati or the Bhil people in Shivaji are shown to be dark skinned.

While caste titles such as 'Brahmin' and 'Kshatriya' are often used, and characters act according to the concomitant behavioural norms, there is little explanation of how caste functions historically or contemporaneously in everyday life.

Renu remembered that as a child in Edmonton ACK informed her understanding of caste:

Our family is Kshatriya, and so whenever I used to read the stories about kings

and queens, I would imagine, oh, I am Princess [Renu], you know what I mean? 91

And you know, that was all part of our heritage. Our last name is a very regal

name, so I would really relate to the kings and queens. Because I really wanted

to be a queen, so I would definitely notice that how they lived was very lavish...

Renu's imagined India was a sort of fairy-tale world, in which the real inequity of caste would not have occurred to her, though she did observe that were generally treated with great respect and reverence.

The majority of references to caste come in stories from Hindu mythology, but the 'morals' or teachings of these stories differ. In andShibi (v. 180/524) a

Brahmin who refuses to take water from a chandala ('untouchable') in accordance with the social strictures of caste is reprimanded by the gods. But in Harischandra (v.

Ml511), a retelling of the classical tale, the king is blessed by the gods for rigorously doing his dharmic duty as the apprentice of a chandala (fig 11). Though the social roles of caste appear to be calcified - into categories roughly corresponding to the chaturvarna system of priest, king, merchant, peasant, untouchable - messages about the ethics of caste can thus become quite confusing.

A significant and more contemporary example of the inconsistent portrayal of caste is the biographical comic on BR Ambedkar (v. 188/611). Ambedkar is the most high-profile leader of the 20th century, and of course made a significant contribution to the nationalist movement and to independent India. The comic tells the moving story of Ambedkar's struggle to get an education and to be recognized for his credentials. But there is little or no explanation of what the caste system is, or its 92 historical roots in Hindu culture. Though the first several pages show Ambedkar as a young boy struggling with poor treatment from his upper-caste classmates, he is soon shipped off for an education abroad and is thereafter always depicted in western-style clothing. Unlike other ACKs featuring low caste or Dalit characters, Ambedkar is shown throughout the comic as having the same skin colour as all the other Indian characters, only a little darker than the peach-pink tone given to the English; he is thus rendered as one of the 'good guys'. The lack of any real information about caste, added to the ambiguous visual portrayal of this caste in this particular issue, led Nirad to make the following comment:

[I]deally speaking any biography of Ambedkar should cause unease to a certain

extent; if you are a Dalit then because of the cultural baggage you carry, and if

you are not, then because of the guilt that it should instil within you, saying oh

god somebody has done this to them. But neither the history textbooks that I

studied nor Amar Chitra Katha were ever able to install that sense of guilt about

caste system.

I interpret Nirad's comments here to address the lack of social critique in the comic's depiction of Ambedkar's story. If the "baggage" he refers to is the lived experience of caste for a Dalit person, then the "guilt" could be understood as a recognition of privilege and responsibility for upper caste people.

Here, I agree with Nirad that the comic fails to provide a social context, or ethical context, for Ambedkar's story. In making this argument, however, it is also 93 important to recognize that ACK's approach to caste was consistent with the general lack of exposure of Indian students to any analysis of it. This was the case for many middle class students, including those who were raised to try to move 'beyond' caste.

Venugopal, who told me that his caste group would be considered OBC (Other

Backward Classes), said:

As a kid we never thought about caste. I started to think about caste only during

my MA. [in secondary school there was] some quota of 30% for scheduled

castes and scheduled . We were all okay, we were treated in the same

manner, we lived in the same manner; there was a kind of uniformity in the

school. It was trying to create equality.

It is likely that ACK is trying to accomplish a similar goal with its sanitized depiction of

Ambedkar. But, read alongside mythological stories like Harischandra, caste representation in the comics across the series paints a more complex and confusing picture for young readers.

Representations of religious difference

I have begun to show how the imagistic and narrative uniformity which characterizes ACK's conception of "Indian heritage" is accomplished through the effacement of difference on one hand, and the calcification or normalization of difference on the other. Regional differences seem to be generally replaced with a uniform image of India, while gender and caste differences seem to be rigid and 94 uninterrogated. Religion and religious differences have played such a significant role in the unfolding of modern South Asian history and are closely tied to concepts of

'tradition' and 'heritage' in the region, and so it is important to consider how religion is depicted in the comics' version of India. When I asked Vijayalakshmi how she remembered A CK's depiction of India in general, she replied:

Indian culture is mainly based on religion where everyone believes in god. Just

giving oral information is difficult and we can't understand clearly but when this

Amar Chitra Katha gives a particular story, it also gives a visualization,

[showing] what will happen next and so on, so it is very nice. .. .a particular

picture gives an idea of what was the case when the story was going on, so say

Rama and , what they went through....

There are two ideas in Vijayalakshmi's comment here that frame my analysis. First is the observation that "everyone" believes in god; the second is that ACK is useful in helping to visualize religious stories. Vijayalakshmi appears to be thinking mainly of

Hindu religion in her comment, but the representation of religion in the series effaces differences within and among religions in favour of a strategic homogenization under the category 'Hindu' - a move quite well aligned with Hindu nationalism.

To illustrate this in quantitative terms, Table 2 shows a breakdown of titles by the religion each is most closely associated with. This assessment includes all the titles, not simply those which cover explicitly religious topics. I have based these statistics on

several factors: 1) the represented religious identity of the story's protagonist; 2) the 95 source material, where an acknowledgement has been made; 3) in the case of historical and literary titles, the dominant religio-ideological paradigm that appears to be at work.

Thus, for example, I have identified Anand Math (v. 86/655) as a 'Hindu' text, because of the importance of the novel on which it is based to subsequent Hindu nationalist formations. 5 I have categorized stories about the 'Birbal' character as 'Muslim,' because though the protagonist in this case is a Hindu courtier, the stories take place in the Mughal emperor Akbar's court, and there are many other Muslim characters.46

Here, I must reiterate that I am referring not to the representation of religion or religious culture, but rather to the construction of 'Muslim' subjects within them. Other titles are more ambiguous in regard to the representation of religious subjects: Sakhi Sarwar

(v.256), a comic not chosen for 'deluxe' reproduction, is a short anthology of folktales from Punjab. The stories highlight the syncretic social practices of Hindus and

Muslims. Kabir (v.55/623) explains some of the ambiguity in the saint's religious background and his criticism of Hindu and Muslim orthodoxy, though the narrative suggests that Hindus were more willing to accept his syncretic beliefs than were

Muslims. Kabir is a revered religious figure for Hindus, Muslims, and Sikhs. In these

Anand Math by Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay (1858) is, of course the major early literary text of Hindu nationalism. It is based on the events of the Sant-Fakir Rebellion of Bengal in 1771-1773, although Chattopadhyay's rendering of the story leaves out the participation of Muslim fakirs. In the novel, Sanyasi rebels fight a war against a 'foreign' invader. Though the original Bengali novel identified this enemy as Muslim, later English translations have replaced it with a British one. The battle cry of 'Bande Mataram' which fuels nationalists even today, and the literal deification of India as mother goddess are part of the legacy of this work. 46 This might be more appropriately called a "Perso-Arabic" rather than a Muslim context. I am using "Muslim" rather than "Islamic" or "Perso-Arabic" to categorize the protagonists and characters of the stories, but in doing so I am aware that I am also unintentionally generalizing about Indo-Muslim cultures. 96 cases, I have enumerated the title in more than one multiple religious category, though a careful analysis of the narratives might reveal a greater emphasis on one tradition.

Those comics sourced from historical and literary subjects are not generally explicitly associated with a religious group, though I would argue that these are dominated by protagonists, authors, and themes which might be categorized as 'Hindu,' and that Hindu religion is often foregrounded in some way in the narrative. The religio- cultural identities of the protagonists are significant as a yardstick of religious representation in the series, as are more qualitative observations about the ways in which religions are generally represented in these comics.

Based on such categorizations, the following observations can be made. In the original series, there are more titles in almost every category, which seems natural given that the title list was nearly twice as long. In the original series, there were 283, and in the new series, there are 169 titles which I have categorized as 'Hindu,' meaning either that they deal with matters of Hindu religious lore or that they feature a Hindu protagonist. India's other religions are represented in far fewer titles.

There were nine stories in the old and seven in the new series from the Jain tradition, drawn from a variety of sources. One of these, Mahavira (v. 82/594), tells the story of the founder of the Jain religion and addresses the challenge of portraying his

'skyclad' meditation with the tasteful placement of leaves and branches. Regarding the

Zoroastrian religion, there was only one title in the original series, Zarathustra (v. 66), and it has not been re-released. Biographies of Parsi industrialists Jamsetji Tata (v. 737) 97 and JRD Tata (v.735) have been added to the new title list. Finally, there is only one title dealing with the Christian faith, and that is a special 'bumper issue' on Jesus Christ

(v. 10003) - however, this has never been published as a regular issue. Christian protagonists were of course featured in several unusual titles in the old series: Pierre and Marie Curie (v. 435), Napoleon Bonaparteiy ATS), Louis Pasteur (v. 422), and The

French Revolution (v. 418), all commissioned by the French Embassy in India, feature protagonists who are Christian, though this is not made explicit in the narratives. Albert

Einstein (v. 284) is the only comic with a Jewish protagonist, and I have seen no other references to Judaism in the series.47 Unlike the case of many of the other biographical titles, religious belief and belonging are not made an integral part of the narrative in these stories. Instead, these individuals are presented as heroes of science, modernity, civilization, and above all as contributors to European society and the world. None of these titles were reproduced as deluxe editions and are therefore out of print. There are no titles portraying South Asian Christians or Jews that I have been able to observe.

It is clear that in both old and new 'deluxe' series, the stories with some basis in

Hindu tradition greatly outnumber those from other religions. In making this statement,

I must make clear that I include in this category titles dealing with local religious practices not because I think they should be subsumed within this larger category, but rather because this is how they are portrayed in the series. 'Hinduism' in ACK is

471 have not been able to review a copy of this out of print ACK, and so I cannot comment on how Einstein's Judaism is represented within it, if at all. 98 constructed as a highly ordered, structured, and textualized tradition in which there is a clear rank and file of deities, and mythic narratives form a sense of linear and chronological time in which the mythic and the historical are part of the same continuum. The special issue Das Avatar (v. 10002) is an excellent example of this. It retells the stories of Vishnu's ten incarnations. The linear chronology is underscored by the final pages about the tenth, impending avatar Kalki, showing a modern man in a business suit apparently meant to represent the Yuga. The introduction of this highly realistic, 'modern' image links the canonical mythic world with the present, and also to some extent with perceptions of the western world.

The Vaishnava-oriented Hinduism of A CK does not reflect the great complexity of traditions that could be grouped under the label 'Hindu'. The sanitized, bowdlerized, amalgam of the region's diverse religious practices presented in ACK is consistent with the tenets of the Brahmanical Vaishnava tradition, the religion with which Pai himself identifies. Thus the myriad of other practices which might be classified as 'Hindu,' including indigenous 'tribal' and Dalit practices, goddess-centred traditions like Shakta,

Shaivite, Lingayat, and Tantra, and regional or sub-locally specific deities and traditions are generally not represented. On the rare occasions when they are, they tend to be associated with 'evil' or are otherwise absorbed into the mainstream tradition through

ACK's visual-textual iconography. An example might be found in Kapala Kundala (v.

193/720), an adaptation of a Bankim Chandra Chatterji novel in which a young girl is raised by a kapalika, or tantric practitioner who is described throughout the story as 99

"evil" and who, in accordance with caste Hindu lore, carries a bowl made of a human skull. 'Kapalik' can also refer to a lower caste Bengali community. In regard to the depiction of mythological stories, there are several comics featuring Durga and Kali, though the goddesses are always represented as aspects of , and she as the consort of Shiva in the Vaishnava trinity. In Tales of Durga (v. 176/514) the goddess is clearly depicted as a manifestation of the male gods' .

In light of the dominance of mainstream Vaishnava Hinduism in the series, it is necessary to consider how other religions are represented in relation to Hinduism.

There are 29 titles in the new series which deal with Buddhist subjects. Of these, 18 are drawn from the Jataka tales, and almost all of the rest are also myths or folktales.

Buddha (v.22/510) tells the story of the life of Gautama Buddha, though it pointedly situates him within a Vaishnaivite tradition as Vishnu incarnate. The Buddha also appears in Das Avatar as one of Vishnu's incarnations. There are several titles recounting the Jataka Tales (v.45/543), which are the Buddha's stories of his previous birth, and are meant to impart Buddhist teachings. Most of the Jataka titles in both old and new series open with an intro which refers to the Buddha as Hindu, stating: "All living creatures die to be born again, so the Hindus believe. The Buddha was no exception." In this way, the Buddha is subtly recuperated as part of the Hindu pantheon, rather than as the centre of a discrete religious tradition. Thus, the Buddhist

ACK titles situate Buddhism as part of the Hindu tradition. Recently, Hindu nationalists have attempted to recuperate Buddhism as a Hindu reformist sect; many Buddhists, 100 particularly Dalit converts, have contested this, seeing it as simply a ploy to swell statistics about Hindu dominance in India. It is in this light not surprising that the least amount of attrition from the old to new series is found among the Buddhist comics; nearly all the original comics have been reprinted.

I found very few examples of comics which alluded to or described aspects of

Buddhist philosophy beyond the simple moralistic terms of the Jatakas. One of these is

Fa Hien (v.3 86/680), which tells of the 5th century Chinese traveller who came to India to pursue the Buddha's teachings. References are made in this title to the eight-fold path and other important concepts. This title is also somewhat unique in that it makes very frequent use of footnotes not only to provide translations for key terms, but also to refer to other relevant ACK comics by title and number, and thus illustrates one of very few attempts by the series to offer some kind of narrative exegesis of the religion's own distinct practices.

There were originally 27, and there are now 18 titles, dealing with Muslim subjects or protagonists. Among these another interesting pattern emerges. Unlike the

Buddhist titles, which are largely drawn from the Jatakas and other folk tales, these titles are generally historical accounts and biographies, mainly on Mughal emperors or people associated with their courts.48 There are, however, no stories whose explicit purpose is to impart religious teachings, as is the case with many of the titles dealing

48 While in the original series, there were 7 biographies of Mughal emperors, only 3 have been re-released in the new series. 101 with other religions. The Birbal comics, which tell tales of Akbar's clever courtier, are all preceded by an introduction which, similarly to the Jatakas, highlights the stories' connection to Hinduism: "Of the handful of followers of the Din-e-Elahi, the new faith preached by Akbar, there was only one Hindu, Birbal" (v.228/618). While the protagonist Birbal is identified as a Hindu, there is never, as far as I have seen, any exposition of either Islam or Akbar's new syncretic religion in any of the Birbal titles.

The stories told in the Birbal titles are of wit, riddles, and humour, and often have a moralistic element, but these are portrayed as universal and secular. When I asked Srinivas what he remembered about Muslims in ACK comics, he told me:

I don't remember and I think I don't remember it because I think there was unity

between them. If there was any difference shown between the Hindus and the

Muslims.... I remember reading stuff on Birbal and Akbar and they were

Muslims.. I mean Birbal wasn't but Akbar was Muslim; I don't think except for

in one story I ever realized the difference between them. They were always

portrayed as the same.

In the Birbal comics, at least superficially, Birbal and Akbar are generally portrayed as equals in class and intellect.

The more serious and historical single issue Akbar (v. 200/603) offers a similarly positive portrayal of the Mughal emperor. Again there is little information imparted about Islam, and though the introduction makes mention of differences between Sunni and Shia Muslims, this issue is not discussed in the narrative. Towards 102 the end, Akbar's religious explorations and veneration of the Chishti shaikhs is mentioned, and though this is a rare glimpse of Sufi Islam in the series, this too remains unexplained.49

But while there is little discussion of the role of Islam in Akbar's empire, his reputation for religious tolerance and for generosity towards Hindus is emphasized.

Though Akbar studied a variety of religions, particularly Christianity, this is mentioned only briefly in the comic. Page 21 of the comic begins with a caption arguing that

Akbar's inclusion of in his court was an expression of his "secular beliefs."

Below this, a long frame centred on the page shows Akbar's Hindu wife anointing his forehead with kumkum. The next frame, of equal dimension, is captioned, "The orthodox mullas hated the enlightened policies of their ruler." Below it three bearded

Muslim men exclaim that "Akbar has given up the true religion." Even the structure of images on this page reveals a kind of hierarchy of thought, with the 'zealot' Muslims at the bottom of the page, the Hindu women in the centre, and Akbar and his advisor at the top.

In Akbar, while the portrayal of the protagonist is essentially positive, what imbues him with this characteristic is his tolerance, his 'secular beliefs', and his criticism of 'orthodox mullas' rather than his identity as a Muslim. It is Akbar's benevolence towards Hinduism and openness towards religion in general that is

49 The Chishti order of Sufi Islam, founded by Shaikh Moinuddin Chishti, was popular in medieval India and continues to this day. 103 underlined in the title, more so than any other single attribute of his rule. In itself, this depiction does not depart too far from common history-text approaches to his character; even the standardized Indian public school texts of the day offer this opinion.50 But contextualized as part of the entire series, it becomes clear that this character is celebrated particularly for distinguishing himself from other Muslims. The point I wish to make is not that the ACK depiction of Akbar is unique, but rather that the comic's subtle encoding, in relation to the other comics of the series, produce an overall impression of Muslims and Islam that is less than positive.

The closest that ACK comes to positively associating any religious practice or principle with Islam is via Kabir. Kabir (v.55/623) is about the legendary Bhakti poet whose songs brought together aspects of Hinduism and Islam, and yet critiqued both for their insistence on ritual and social order. Popular legend suggests that Kabir was born a Hindu, raised by low caste Muslims, and taught by a Hindu guru. Kabir's songs were eventually absorbed into the Guru Granth Sahib, and he is more often thought of as a forefather of Sikhism.

As with the Muslim titles, the Sikh titles have dwindled in number from the old to the new series. In the original series, there were fifteen titles which featured Sikh protagonists; seven have been re-released as deluxe editions. Five of the original titles were biographies of Sikh gurus, and only three of these have been reissued. Extreme care was obviously taken in representing the gurus: most are shown with a halo from

50 Medieval India, NCERT Class XI textbook, rev. 1990, 162-163. 104 birth to indicate their divine stature. It seems also that IBH was careful to include Sikhs in the planning, writing, and illustration of these comics. For example, the inside cover to Guru Nanak (47/590) indicates that script was "approved by Shiromani Gurdwara

Prabandhak Committee, Amritsaar." The artwork in several of the comics, and the covers were done by a Sikh artist, Devender, and this appears to be his only contribution to the series. The script for the comic about the hero Banda Bahadur

(v.43/734) was composed by the famed writer .

Three featured female protagonists, and one of these, Sundari (76) is based on a novel. All of the other Sikh titles are based on history and folklore. Abhineet, a 26 year old man from Vancouver, was raised in both Sikh and Hindu religious traditions and remembers reading ACK comics to learn more about Sikh tradition and history. He recalled the depiction of women in this way:

I particularly remember that the comics that focussed on Sikh women showed

them as being strong-willed, focussed and daring ([ie] Satwant Kaur, Sundari,

Sharan Kaur). They have agency, are masters of disguise (dressing up like men,

old women), and often rescue the men in the texts. In the Sikh texts focussing

on males, the females are usually flat, devoted, and motherly.

This may parallel in general the depiction of women in other areas of the series, and a comparison could be drawn to Hindu heroines like Rani Durgavati or the Rani of

Jhansi. 105

While ACK appeared to take care to respect the interests of Sikhs in developing the Sikh titles, it is useful to make some other observations about these comics in regard to religion. For example, it is notable that the great majority of these Sikh stories are taken from historical sources in which the plot is motivated by conflict with the Mughal emperors. Muslims are invariably portrayed as violent, irrational, and bloodthirsty; in

Abhineet's words, "Muslims are always evil, with caricatured features of Orientalist despots (sharp-pointed moustaches, slanted eyes) and cunning personalities." Since many of these stories take place in the time of Aurangzeb, the associated threat of forced conversion is also a frequent feature in these narratives.

When Guru Tegh Bahadur (v. 114/694) refuses to convert, a detailed, full page illustration marks the moment before his beheading (fig 12). In it, the Guru is shown sitting on a low dais below a tree in prayer position, and is advanced upon by two

Muslim henchmen. One, shirtless and wearing an apron-like garment brandishes a large sword, while another, who appears to be a qazi or maulvi and holds a string of beads, scowls and waves a finger angrily in his direction. Two other Muslim soldiers can be seen in the background. The use of a full-page panel in this instance clearly underscores the importance of the event, and the look of anger and animosity on the faces of the Muslim characters is fierce. The repetition of these negative images of

Muslims affected Abhineet: "I remember that as a child, my perception of Muslims became very skewed based on the fact that I was taking the antagonistic] relationship with Sikhism portrayed in the comics as the truth." 106

While these Sikh titles tend to caste Muslims only in this violent and negative light, the message of Sikhism's close connections with Hinduism is constantly underscored. Nandini Chandra writes that

the disparate Sikh titles were assembled in the early '80s as a mark of tribute to

a Sikh separatist identity - or so it would seem. But in effect, the idea was to

show the Sikh as part of the Hindu family, and anti-Muslim to boot. (Chandra

26).

In these comics, Sikh characters frequently speak on behalf of Hindus or for 'All

Indians'. In Guru Tegh Bahadur, Aurangzeb's attacks on Hindu communities are given as the impetus for the Guru's resistance and call to action (24-25). In Guru Gobind

Singh (v.32/588) the 5 Ks are outlined, a logical direction for the narrative since the 10th guru founded these principles and the Khalsa. But in other comics, such as Ranjit Singh

(v.49/726), such distinctions are downplayed and the interrelationship of Hindus and

Sikhs is emphasized. Abhineet pointed out to me that at the end of the story, Ranjit

Singh's wives are shown committing sati upon his death, and he questioned the authenticity of this scene.

To summarize, then, there are three key points I wish to make about religious representation in the series. First, there is a clearly quantitatively disproportionate representation of Hindu and non-Hindu subjects in the series. Second, other religions are qualitatively represented, to some degree, through the filter of Hinduism. For example, Buddhism and Sikhism are often portrayed as branches or arms of Hinduism. 107

Islam is filtered through a variety of Hindu characters and protagonists. Stories dealing with Muslim subjects never impart any knowledge about Islamic teachings. There are only limited explanations of the beliefs of other religions such as Buddhism and

Jainism. Third, depictions of Muslims as secondary characters tend to occur mainly in narratives which hold them in opposition to Hindu and Sikh protagonists, while it is never the case that a Muslim protagonist is antagonized by a member of another religious group; rather, as is the case with nearly all the 'Muslim' comics, the antagonists are generally other Muslims.

The overall image of national religious unity that is therefore projected is quite similar to that evoked by the calendar image discussed by Patricia Uberoi in her article,

'"Unity in Diversity?' Dilemmas of nationhood in Indian Calendar Art" (2003), in which four nearly identical, cherubic faced children, garbed in clothing meant to iconographically identify each as Muslim, Christian, Hindu, and Sikh, look adoringly toward the centre of the image where Bharat Mata, a Hindu goddess representing India is prominently featured. The idea, presumably, is that these children are all equal to each other, and equal in their nationalist pride. But nation in that image is as distinctly embodied as Hindu, as it is in the ACK series. The central image of Bharat Mata dominates the entire image, reminding the viewer of the nation's 'true' form. Uberoi also comments on how, in that image, the iconographical depiction of the various religions is itself problematic, using sartorial icons (like a hat, in the case of the Muslim boy) to represent vast traditions. Amar Chitra Katha, similarly, makes a public and 108 superficially balanced claim to represent 'India', but the shape of the nation in the series' pages echoes more closely with the romantic, nationalist, Hindu image of Bharat

Mata than with any patriotism towards a secular republic; In Hema's words, "it's the

India we want children to believe in: noble, proud, rich in culture and heritage, tolerant."

Despite the uneven representation of India's various religions, the series claims to represent "the glorious heritage of India," and the comics can be "The route to your roots." These two phrases, contrasted with the actual evidence about religious representation in the series, suggest both an assumption that the reading audience is

Hindu, and also that 'Indian' and 'Hindu' as classifications of identity are essentially interchangeable. Like the image of the four children, the series as a whole claims to represent a diversity of religions and to promote something like 'tolerance', but it is clear that at its core, the interpellation of the image is directed towards a Hindu viewer.

This is reflected in the words of Tanushri, a thirty-two year old researcher from Andhra

Pradesh and great fan of ACK. When I asked her what she remembered about communalism in the comics, she told me that she recalled:

these rulers [who] invaded from outside, you know, like Mahmud of Ghazni,

like that, and during the Mughal Empire, Aurangzeb and all that... India

basically is a country of great tolerance, that's the thing. .. .basically I would like

[people to read ACK] to know more about India's rich tradition and mythology.

We should know more about our country, today science and technology is 109

developing but we had such a great past; all these things they need to know; I

feel it's essential for every Indian to know.

Here Tanushri, who described herself to me as "a staunch Hindu," clearly reflects a line of thinking that I argue is nourished by ACK's vision of India, wherein the reign of

Muslim "outsiders" is contrasted with a mythical past and modern present in which the nation's greatness can be celebrated. Nandini Chandra writes that the 'toleration' supposedly illustrated by the series in fact "concealed a grand plan of exclusion; of

'othering' anything that challenged its Brahmin and caste hierarchy" (26). Somewhat ironically, the effacement of diverse religious traditions under a Hinduism disguised as a secular nationalism is the technique which makes such a plan possible.

Conclusion

In this chapter, I have attempted to introduce the reader to the series and to provide a survey of comics' history as well as of its content. This exploration of the

A CK series has shown how the depiction of Indian religions in the series, from the level of the image to the metanarrative of the series itself, hides the striations, conflicts, and disparities within and between them, and thereby creates a single, smooth, and monolithic religious identity. I also introduced some of the key aesthetics at work in the representation of gender and caste. In what I might call the secular iconography of the comics, gender roles and racial stereotypes are calcified and rigid, appearing only as a shadow or echo of their real social relations. Gender roles are rigid and archetypal, 110 hinging on heroic and masculine male figures and chaste yet sexualized women. Caste functions as a hierarchical system of social behaviour in Indian culture, but bereft of this social context, depictions of caste difference in the comics explain little about its own location in the stories. Within its homogenized, smooth vision of India, ACK produces sameness by making religions appear coterminous with each other and removing their specific historical and social contexts, and projecting a concept of

'Indian Heritage' which is coextensive with the nationalist belief in Hinduism's

"tolerance."

The intense affection of children for the comics makes this message extremely powerful. Akaash, a 27 year old student from Kerala, remembered being more excited about receiving a new J CX than about greeting his returning father:

I used to love all of them... the first thing I remember about Amar Chitra Katha

[is] standing in my grandparents' village somewhere, in a different household.

And my father was supposed to come, I don't know for what reason, on a

scooter from Kalicut which is like four hours away... and I was waiting for him

and I see him come from a distance and I run, crying has come,

Hanuman has come; he was supposed to bring me Hanuman Amar Chitra Katha

[but some people] thought I was calling my father Hanuman.

Memories of affection for ACK are often combined with a deep respect for the comics' educational value. Thus, Akaash proclaimed: Ill

I think reading happened because of Amar Chitra Katha, personally that would

be my take on these things. So for me it was that my interest in literature,

history, all this... if I am reading anything today it's because of Amar Chitra

Katha.

Akaash's perspective on ACK as a foundational text in his life is representative of the attitudes of many readers I spoke with.

Though not all readers learn or absorb the same kinds of lessons from these polysemic texts, there is a metanarrative of Hindu nationalism at work within the comics. In the next chapter, I will show how this rhetoric of 'Indian heritage' is profoundly entangled with the ideology of Hindu nationalism; religious identities and representations are the driving force behind some strands of nationalism in the South

Asian region. 112

Chapter 3: Drawing a Nation: myth, history, ideology

In the previous chapter, I gave a brief overview of the history of Amar Chitra

Katha and made some observations about the content and modes of representation in the series. In particular, I focused on the dominance in the series of topics drawn from

'historical' and 'mythological' sources, depictions of gender and caste, and on the ways in which India's religions are represented. In this chapter, I want to extend this analysis by considering how such representations relate to some strands of contemporary .

Amar Chitra Katha comics are commonly used by children as a means for acquiring knowledge about Indian history and are endorsed by parents and educators for this purpose. Indeed, Anant Pai and India Book House have explicitly designed and marketed the comics with this in mind (Pai 1995). Many of the readers I interviewed both in India and around the world told me that the series was an important source of 113 knowledge for them. Hema, who is now a professor of South Asian Studies at a US university, told me:

Now that I think about it, obviously I had Indian history in school, but my

knowledge of Indian history came from Amar Chitra Katha primarily... [The

series] was an extremely useful means for learning about India. I think now I

would rank it higher than formal education... .when I have to remember

something, I'll actually remember the comics script. Obviously I know things

from other sources now, as an India scholar, but in terms of just knowing abut

history, yeah, it was tremendous.

As someone who has pursued a higher education in South Asian history and politics,

Hema is able to analyse and assess what she learned from ACK and how it was depicted. But not every reader is likely to read a variety of other sources on topics related to Indian history; for Indian students who were inattentive in school, for diasporic students who might not have had access at a young age to other sources of knowledge, and for the many readers who did not pursue a formal study of India, ACK de facto became a significant medium for historical education.

Given Anant Pai's own contention that Amar Chitra Katha promises parents to

"screen each word and picture, as they have a lasting impact on impressionable minds," and that his company need be "more a vehicle of education than a business," it is important to consider the editorial decisions taken by Pai and his staff about which 114 subjects to include and how to depict them (Pritchett 104).1 To choose when to focus on an event, or the life of a person; to choose to omit often salient details; or in other cases, such as with religions other than Hinduism, to provide very little content whatsoever: these are ideologically motivated choices. The links which the series draws between mythology and history are also the product of such choices. It may in reality be quite difficult for young individual readers to discern the difference between

'myth' and 'history', or 'religion' and 'nation', or to understand how such categories melt together. In this chapter, then, I want to introduce my use of the concept of

'mythohistory' as both narrative content and ideological process. I argue that ACK projects an Indian history which is limited and problematic in its perspective, which is frequently confused or tied to mythology and religion, and which can therefore provide nourishment to the burgeoning ideology of Hindu nationalism. This history is constructed by visually and textually conflating literary, folkloric and mythological narratives with historical ones, culminating in what I will call a 'mythohistorical' metanarrative of nationhood. Anthony Smith has observed that the invocation of a mythic ontology of nation is a common feature of nationalist ideologies (2000). It is also often the case that nationalist mythologies come to be understood as historical realities, as is exemplified in several essays collected in the Invention of Tradition

(Hobsbawm and Ranger 1983). My use of the term 'mythohistory' points towards this process, and also its inverse: the heroes, personages, and events of history may also

1 These are phrases which appear in regular back-page advertisements for ACK in the mid- to late 1980s. 115 become mythologized in the service of a nationalist ideology. In the next sections, I will explore my use of this term and my application of it to theories of nationalism and ideology, and explore how mythohistory works in the specific context of Hindu nationalism. In the last part of this chapter, I illustrate the trajectory of mythohistorical narrative through a textual analysis of some specific Amar Chitra Katha titles.

Epics and mythohistory

The term mythohistory has been used by anthropologists, historians, and folklorists in a variety of contexts to describe those events which are collectively remembered at the edges of recorded history, but my use of the term is somewhat different. My interest is in understanding how the epistemological categories of 'myth' and 'history' are constructed and reconstructed through the production of nationalist ideology so that they are rendered indistinct, and yet simultaneously gird and reinforce each other. To develop this argument, I want to first consider what constitutes 'myth' within the series' own parameters.

In ACK's own taxonomy of its titles, 'myth' is a category which is mainly constituted by stories from the Hindu tradition, though there are a few stories associated with Buddhism and Jainism which might also fall into this category or which might be 116 ambiguous in this regard.2 These stories are generally drawn either from the epic traditions or from the , though there are also several stories which are drawn from the . There are also several stories which may be mythological in content though the source is attributed as a folktale or literary work. As I discussed in the previous chapter, the characteristics of mythological stories, both in my own terms and according to the marketing and classification of the series, follows the conventional anthropological description: such stories are usually set in some ambiguous past; the characters are gods and other divine personae; there are usually elements of the supernatural or miraculous; and the stories usually either convey a moral lesson or offer a theory of origins.

Most of the titles in the series are one-offs or single issues, and mythological stories are quite dominant among them. In fact, at least a third of the comics fall into this category, and many of these are associated with the Ramayana or Mahabharata.

These two epic stories are very important to Hindus around the world. The stories likely date back to somewhere between the 7th and 4th centuries BCE, though which came first is a matter of contention among scholars of Hinduism. The events described in the stories are said to have occurred thousands of years in the past. The Ramayana stories have been retold in different ways by various sources over the centuries, and

2 Here I am referring to the categories of 'myth', 'history', and 'literature' under which the titles were grouped on the back covers of many original titles. 117 there also exists a variety of folk versions of the story.3 The Mahabharata, perhaps because of a strong authoritative textual tradition, remains somewhat more stable in its retelling. These two epics, perhaps understandably given the immense scale of the epics and their popularity, are dominant threads in the ACK series.

There are more than twenty individual titles that are related to the Mahabharata stories, including a one-volume retelling of The Gita (v. 127/505) which is based on

Swami Chinamayananda's translation.4 In addition to these single titles, there is also a

42 volume series retelling the Mahabharata. These comics were originally issued once a month as part of the regular series between 1985 and 1988. At that point, ACK was issuing a new title every two weeks, and the Mahabharata comics were released alternately with other unrelated individual titles. Then, in the late 1990s, India Book

House reissued the Mahabharata mini-series not as part of the new 'deluxe' editions, but as a special boxed set of three bound volumes.

The epic story of the Mahabharata, in which the exiled princes battle their cousins the over rulership of their kingdom, is foundational in many ways to the development of the concept of 'nation.' The Pandavas and Kauravas are all members of a single clan, composed of the descendents of Bharata. It is commonly understood that Bharat or Bharatvarsha, the Sanskritic name for India still in use today, is itself a reference to this lineage. The epic's central section, the Gita or 'song of the

3 See Richman, Many : The Diversity of a Narrative Tradition in South Asia (1991). 4 Swami Chinmayananda is a fairly high profile religious leader who is connected with the Hindu right. 118 divine', is recited to the story's key protagonist Arjun by the incarnate deity Krishna; this section of the Mahabharata is perhaps its most didactic and underscores the importance oidharma (duty) and varna (caste) in daily life.

Unlike the Mahabharata, the stories from the Ramayana are not presented in

A CK as a coherent series, but as a loose group of at least 15 individual titles including

Rama (v.15/504), The Lord of Lanka (v.67/541), Hanuman (v.19/502), and Sons of

Rama (v. 18/503). There was also a special 60-page 'bumper' issue retelling the entire epic in heavily abridged form. Most of these retellings are inspired by the version of the epic, though other versions by Krittivasa, Tulsidas, and Bhavabhuti are also represented. Though the Rama volumes are fewer in number than the

Mahabharata, they have pride of place at the very beginning of both the old and new series: of the first ten titles in the old series, eight are drawn from one of these two epics.

Rama is a mythological king and god incarnate who is reputed for his strong sense of dharma, or righteousness, and for being a great statesman. When his stepmother forces him into exile along with his wife and brothers, he readily agrees so as not to contradict the wishes of his elders or his father the king. In exile, Rama's wife

Sita is by Ravana, the king of an island kingdom who in various versions of this story is characterized either as demonically evil or as victim of his own hubris.

With the help of the monkey god Hanuman, Rama defeats Ravana and returns with Sita to his kingdom to take his rightful throne. But, when Sita's chastity is questioned, he is 119 compelled by his sense of dharma to ask her to prove her chastity or return to exile.

Rama's unwillingness to bend the rules of dharma, even for the security of his own wife, is a constant theme in the story.

The Ramayana stories, perhaps even more so than the Mahabharata, are particularly resonant for Hindu nationalists: '"Some of us worship Ram as an incarnation, some admire him as a hero and a warrior, all love him as the most illustrious representative monarch of our race.'"5 Ram Rajya, or Kingdom of Rama, was a rallying cry of the independence movement and was popularized by Gandhi. But since India's independence, the phrase has been co-opted by Hindu nationalists as a slogan for their imagined Hindu state. Gandhi did not use the phrase to impute a historical reality to Ram, but its subsequent proponents argue that Ram Rajya has a basis in fact (Lai 2001).

Many Hindus conventionally understand the epics to have the status of itihasa, a word which is usually translated as 'history' or more literally 'that which happened.'

These stories are not historical in a modern academic or scientific sense, meaning that they are not necessarily verifiable against other records and archaeological evidence.

Historians of ancient India like Romila Thapar have explored the ancient religio- historical texts (itihasa-purana, or ancient histories) within their historical context in an attempt to gain further insight into the material realities of ancient Indian society

5 VD Savarkar, quoted in Basu et al. Khaki Shorts, Saffron Flags, 9. 120

(Thapar 2000). Thapar's approach involves careful assessment and interrogation of the texts which comprise the itihasa-purana. But among fundamentalist Hindus, there is an abiding and deeply held belief that stories like the epics Mahabharata and Ramayana are literally itihasa, that is that they happened and that they are linked to the ethnic identity and 'heritage' of modern India. When I interviewed Tanushri, a self-described

"staunch Hindu", about her experiences with ACK she was keen to share her knowledge about this history:

And I want to tell you one thing also, this Krishna and Rama.. .some might think

they are just mythology, but later on, when they have taken this Dwaraka where

Krishna ruled and all, you might think if you don't believe in Krishna, [you

might think] it was just mythology, [you] might not think its reality, but later on

after thousands of years, Krishna himself predicted that Dwaraka would be

submerged some time; he himself is god, the incarnation of god; after thousands

of years, in the recent past only, they have discovered Dwaraka merged under

the sea. Like that. And even Rama, when he crossed the Indian Ocean to go to

Lanka, they have discovered the dam and all that they built with the stones at

that time, they have found those remains.. .this is what I strongly believe,

actually.. .when we come to know the findings of the archaeological research,

they are all coming out to be true.

6 The collection of Thapar's writings, History and Beyond (2000) comprises four key texts by her. A lengthy discussion of Itihasa-Purana occurs in From Lineage to State, originally published in 1984. 121

Like Tanushri, a large number of Hindus believe that Rama's rule over the kingdom of

Ayodhya should be understood as a real, factual historical event. The intensive ethical code and martial sensibility that are concomitant with the story of Rama's rule can therefore easily be co-opted into a militant Hindu nationalism.

In 1992 the Babri Masjid in Ayodhya was destroyed by Hindu fundamentalists who believed that the site had originally marked the birthplace of the god Rama. These

Hindus believe that a temple at that site had been torn down and replaced by the conquering Emperor Babur with a mosque. The "reclamation" of the "Ram

Janmabhoomi" (birthplace of Rama) site has been a significant and controversial Hindu nationalist project.8 The Janmabhoomi movement, claiming that they had precise historical evidence that the story of Rama was historically 'real' and that his birth had occurred precisely at this site, argued that the mosque that stood there must be destroyed. In order to establish 'historical evidence' for its claim, Hindu nationalists

systematically combined an ultimate appeal to faith with a battery of their own

kind of historical facts: quotations from (real or spurious) documents, a certain

amount of evidence fielded by archaeologists of some stature, a parade of

alleged facts and dates about precisely seventy-six battles fought by Hindus to

liberate the birthplace of Rama from the evil 'descendents of Babar'. 'Faith' was

7 See Sarvepalli Gopal, ed. Anatomy of a Confrontation: The Rise of Communal Politics in India (London: Zed Press 1993). The volume concerns the Ayodhya controversy and includes chapters by prominent historians and social critics. See Richard Davis, "The Iconography of Rama's Chariot," in Contesting the Nation, ed. David Ludden (UPenn Press, 1996). S. Gopal, ed. Anatomy of a Confrontation. 122

deployed as the final weapon usually only when such 'historical' arguments

were seen to be in danger of total refutation. (Sarkar 1997:2)

Though the mosque was destroyed in 1992, the site remains contested, and Hindu nationalists have made the construction of a temple there their goal. There has been and continues to be a great deal of communal violence sparked by this movement, one of the most horrific instances being the Gujarat massacres of 2002.

This deeply literal interpretation of myth as itihasa marks an aspect of what I term "mythohistory," since at the most elementary and literal level, the criteria for what constitutes each are ambiguous and indistinct. ACK's approach to issues of historical reality and itihasa are ambivalent. Anant Pai has widely proclaimed his commitment to historical accuracy in the comics, and to a scientific approach to knowledge (Pai 1995;

Lent 2004). But given the wide oeuvre of the series, there are often inconsistencies. A look at the comics dealing with the Ramayana provides some examples of this. The introduction to The Lord of Lanka tells us that "Unlike the Mahabharata, the story of

Rama has no historical foundation." The introduction to the special issue Ramayana tells us that "In the Puranas, Rama is described as an avatar of Vishnu, but Valmiki does not refer to him as God. The few verses which do are considered interpolations."

However, the story of Rama's father Dasharatha (v. 105/570) clearly shows Rama as a manifestation of god, and the introduction describes him as an incarnation of Vishnu, but this title also claims to be drawn from the Valmiki Ramayana. The difference in opinion could be seen as one contradiction among many on the historicity and divinity 123 of Rama, but it is notable that these divergent perspectives are both attributed to the

Valmiki version.9 It is also important to notice that no dates are given in any of these introductions or elsewhere in the text. More importantly, the portrayal of Rama in all the comics including Dasharatha shows him to be of superhuman strength and as interacting with other gods like Hanuman; Rama is also shown as one of the ten avatars in Das Avatar. In this way, the comics as a series avoid committing to a literal interpretation of Rama as itihasa, but at the same time, avoid any deep commitment to historicizing the Ramayana as a text. One is left with the impression of Rama as a divine figure within a mythohistorical lineage. On the other hand, the Mahabharata stories, particularly those in the 42-volume miniseries, often use the term itihasa and sometimes provide historical detail, strongly suggesting that the story has basis in fact. '

If the mythological is treated in this somewhat confusing way in relation to history, then it is also important to consider how ACK deals with historical topics. If mythology and contemporary history are likewise understood as itihasa, what if anything marks these comics, or the stories they tell, as different from the stories of the epics? In her article "The World ofAmar Chitra Kafka," Frances Pritchett discusses a proposed six-volume mini-series called "The Epic of New India: The March to

Freedom" (Prtichett 90). This mini-series, released in 1986, was commissioned by the

Congress Party as a commemoration of its centennial (Hawley 130). The resulting

91 should also add that neither remains particularly faithful to the Valmiki version of the story. 10 See for example The Pandavas at Hastinapura, Mahabharata 4 (v. 335). 124 mini-series, of which The Birth of the National Congress (v.348) is the first volume, also tells of The Saga of Indian Revolutionaries (v.360), The Call for (364), The

Salt Satyagraha (v.368), and The Tryst with Destiny (v.372). The volumes provide a brief overview of the independence movement.

The advertisement contains a list of the "March to Freedom" titles, but it also provides a list of other A CK titles on modern Indian history, almost all of which are biographies (Table 3).11 The inclusions and exclusions in this list are significant as it essentially outlines the series' representation of the nationalist period. Various figures associated with Congress, like and Lai Bahadur Shastri, are listed here. In contrast, biographical comics on Congress leaders Gandhi and Nehru did not, respectively, appear until 1989 and 1991, more than 20 years after the beginning of the series, and well after the "March to Freedom" was released.

But it is most interesting in this light to note who else is included in this list:

Dayananda, founder of the , VD Savarkar, who wrote the Hindu supremacist treatise Hindutva: Who is a Hindu, and served as president of the Hindu

Mahasabha; Subhas Chandra Bose, the populist hero; and other revolutionary heroes like Bhagat Singh, Rash Behari Bose, Chandrashekar Azad, and Khudiram Bose.

Though all of these men were opposed to British rule, some, like Savarkar, did not share in Congress's vision of an undivided, secular India. It is important to note that of the

11 Since the advertisement is reproduced in Pritchett, I have given a table only to show the list of title included. 125 many Muslims who were prominent in the anticolonial movement both in Congress and the in the Muslim League, none are represented in this list, or at all in the series. It is also significant that while "March to Freedom" series comics were not reprinted in the new series, almost all of the biographies mentioned in this "Also Read" list have been re-issued.12

Some of the men mentioned in the "Also Read" list are characterized by some historians as 'terrorists,' rather than revolutionaries (Chandra et al 1989). Subhas

Chandra Bose, for example, is famous for his leadership of the independent Indian

National Army and for his attempted alliance with Hitler's and during

World War II. Pramod, an avid ACK collector now in his thirties, told me that he remembered Subhas Chandra Bose (v.77/544) particularly well:

that one was widely available, but I remember being invigorated by it in certain

ways. And it probably gave me a different spin on popular history because it

made me see Gandhi in a different way and it made me see Hitler differently

too, because of the alliance with Hitler...13

The version of independence history represented in this comic, then, is not the same kind of story that was represented in mainstream Congress-oriented texts of Indian history.

12 Among the titles not re-released are the only two Muslims represented: the 18th century king Tipu Sultan (v.187), and Thanedar Hasan Askari (v.286), a police officer in the 1930s famed for his keen sense of justice. The latter is briefly discussed by Pritchett (1995). 13 Pramod says that the comic didn't make him feel sympathetic towards Hitler, since it in fact tells nothing about Hitler's political position. He is portrayed simply as the leader of a nation with which Britain is at war. 126

Though the list of titles under in the "March to Freedom" advertisement represents a fraction of the titles issued by ACK, I would argue that this observation could be extrapolated to the series in general. Seen in this way, the list becomes something like a litany of national heroes. Debashish's reading ofv40Chistoricals left him with such an impression:

One thing is quite clear, that Amar Chitra Katha did have more historical stories

than contemporary stories. History for me was up to the Indian national

movement and its heroes. Definitely the heroes were all either the radical heroes

or the standard Gandhi; Ambedkar was also there. But you [already] know those

standard names. So it was a sort of continuity. It looks as if they were heroes,

like from Rana Pratap to Shivaji, then in contemporary times you have Bagha

Jatin and Gandhi and Rash Behari Bose so it's a lineage of historical heroes. So

that's how we perceived it at that level.

These 'heroic' figures come to stand in for the story of Indian independence, in place of characters better known to world history like Gandhi, Nehru, or Jinnah. In ACK,

Congress party figures are often visually and textually described as anglicized, bookish, and physically weak; in contrast, Hindu nationalists like Tilak, Savarkar and Dayananda are physically strong, learned in religion, and appear authentically "Indian." The complex politics of Subhas Chandra Bose are simplified into a tale of heroism and tenacity. The manner in which these historical heroes are represented is similar to the 127 way in which the divine heroes of the Mahabharata and Ramayana are portrayed in those epics and their comic book versions.

The nationalist heroes, and the story of the nationalist struggle, are constructed in Amar Chitra Katha as another epic: a modern Indian epic of nation-building. These heroes are almost always male; the few women represented are portrayed as pure and saintly, and either as warrior-queens or chaste wives (or simultaneously both). Pritchett makes the extremely important point that there are no volumes in the series charting the lives of women in the modern independence movement: "no Sarojini Naidu, no

Kasturba Gandhi, no Kamala Nehru, no Durgabhai Deshmukh, no Anasuyabehn

Sarabhai, no Vijalakshmi Pandit" (95). This is no exhaustive list of prominent women, but it does speak to an overall lack of women "Makers of Modern India" in ACK. It should be noted that among the relatively few non-mythological female figures in the series are Mirabai (a Bhakti poet) and the Rani of Jhansi, warrior-queen. Most commonly, representations of women are devoted to pativrata divine consorts, like Sati,

Sita, Parvati, and so on.

In ACICs presentation of this epic history, India was fought for, won, and defended mainly by upper caste Hindu men: those like Savarkar, Bose, and Singh, who become modern mythological warrior heroes. Rama becomes as real as Savarkar;

Savarkar becomes as archetypically heroic, and as divinely driven, as Rama. Both are the warrior-king fighting against injustice, the righteous man driven by his dharma to defend his nation. Together then, these three epics, the two mythological epics and this 128 epic history of Independence played out by populist heroes, blend and merge in the kaleidoscopic comic book eye of Amar Chitra Katha to become another "epic of New

India"— but this "New India" is not quite the same as the one bom in 1947.

This India, drawing on the comic book iconography of kings, gods and warriors in epic time, is an India for Hindus only: Hindu Rashtra, the Hindu state. The three epics exist within a synchronous, undifferentiated continuum of space and time. In this

India, all battles are always being fought by dharmic heroes against a foreign usurper.

The enemy, be it Asuras or Rakshasas, the British, or the Persians and Afghans, is a colonizer, a threat to the righteous claim to the nobility of Hindu nationhood.

Dehistoricized in this way, India is represented as the land of Hindus, oppressed across time by waves of conquering hordes. The mythic past of the Hindu epics is thus merged into the history of the anticolonial movement, and all of this is blurred together into a concept of the contemporary Indian nation still under threat of the invading

'other.'

Mythohistory then as a kind of nationalist metanarrative has two facets. In the first place, it refers to the messy conversion of myth into historical fact represented by

Hindu nationalism. This kind of mythohistory is a common element of nationalisms, and is often invoked to produce an ontology of nationhood. Anthony Smith, a conservative thinker on nationalism, writes that historical critique is one of several elements that contribute to a nationalist identity: 129

it must be balanced by other factors, such as the energizing force of myths, the

resonance of shared memories, and the vivid appeal of symbols, all of which

carry across generations to establish a chain of felt and willed continuity (2000:

55).

Smith argues that this "living memory" of a population is more important to nationalist thought than the facts of historical record.14 My use of mythohistory addresses this primordialist position, and in doing so points towards both towards the transformation of myth into historical fact, and the mythification of that history for which there is a real material record. Mythology and history are rendered co-extensive and interchangeable in this process, and become increasingly indistinct. The mythohistorical India of ACK exists in a time that is homogeneous and compressed. It is this complex melding of myth and history which makes ACK so open to the ideology of Hindu nationalism.

Roland Barthes, in his book Mythologies, provides a semiotic analysis in which

'myth,' as second order systems of signification, can be broken down into 'form' and

'concept'. In myths, he writes, the 'form,' or signifier is drained of history, which is then absorbed by the concept: "The concept reconstitutes a chain of causes and effects, motives and intentions. Unlike the form, the concept is in no way abstract: it is filled with a situation. Through the concept, it is a whole new history which is implanted in the myth." (Barthes 119). To look at the Babri Masjid through this equation, we can see at work what Barthes calls the key element of myth: it makes the historical appear

14 This argument underwrites Smith's legitimation of Israel's nationalist foundations (2000:47-50). 130 ahistorical or eternal; "it transforms history into nature" (129). In this way, the Hindu nationalists seek to find a 'real' historical anchor for their claims; but history can be just as easily overruled by 'faith' when necessary. Whether or not there is a "real" historical basis for the Rama myth, in Ayodhya or elsewhere, is utterly irrelevant; the 'faith' that the Ramayana events took place at precisely that site transforms the myth into a natural, ahistorical truth.

Mythohistory, then, is a semiotic process which functions multidirectionally but whose terms are similar to those laid out by Barthes above. But I use the term to also refer to the product of this process, which I will call a metanarrative ontology of nation.

It transforms myth into history, and vice versa; but it makes the significations of both appear to be part of the same ideological system. To better illustrate my application of this concept to myth and history in ACK, it would be useful to first consider the concepts of nation and nationalism and nation-building at a more general level. The next section will attempt to define these concepts, and provide a framework for thinking about ideology which I will then carry through to a consideration of the comics medium.

Nationalism and ideology

In order to understand ACK's role in imagining India, it is necessary for me to delineate what I mean by 'nation' and 'nationalism,' and what the nation-building process might entail. To begin with, I use nation in a sense distinct from its more 131 colloquial usage, where it often appears coterminously with 'state,' or, in the other extreme, applies to any broad socio-political group. Nation, for the purpose of my argument, is distinct from state, and is not an absolute material-historical fact. It is, rather, a concept, an ideological construction. The nation is a social construct, and it is produced by nationalism. If the 'state' is constituted by territory, by institutions, laws, and governance, what Louis Althusser calls the apparatuses of the state, the 'nation' is the set of concepts which are, ostensibly, meant to define some kind of socio-cultural unity on the basis of which a group may seek to identify itself with a state; thus nation can be understood as an ideological state apparatus (Althusser 1971).

Ernest Gellner has famously defined nationalism as "primarily a principle which holds that the political and national unit should be congruent" (Gellner 1). The nation is an "invention" of nationalism, and not the other way around. Not all nations are actually congruent with states; there may be multiple nations within a state; there may be nations without territory; but for Gellner, all nationalisms aim to align nations they invent with states, so nation must be understood as a political category.

Gellner's definition of nationalism has been taken up by a variety of thinkers on nationalism, most notably Benedict Anderson and EJ Hobsbawm. All three point at the same concept: that in order to understand 'nation', it is necessary to understand this element of social construction and its political implications. In this respect, they differ from another line of thought on nationalism established by Anthony Smith, who argues that ethnicity is a natural basis for nationalist projects (A. Smith 2000). Hobsbawm 132 writes that he would, along with Gellner, "stress the element of artefact, invention, and social engineering which enters into the making of nations" (1990: 10). Anderson's concept of the nation as "imagined community" is essentially a modification of

Gellner's notion of invention; Anderson argues that 'imagination' does not suggest, as

'invention' does, that there is a true community to be masked by an invented nation; rather, he argues, almost all communities, and therefore nations are to some degree imagined (Anderson 6).

In Imagined Communities, Benedict Anderson provides the following useful definition for the nation. The nation, he writes, "is an imagined political community - and it is imagined as both inherently limited and sovereign" (Anderson 6). He elaborates that the nation is limited because it must operate on the basis of a politics of exclusion - it must have boundaries which distinguish it from others. Nationalisms can claim their basis in a variety of categorical limits: ethnic, linguistic, religious, civic, territorial, cultural, and so on. The nation is imagined as sovereign because the concept of the modern nation has its roots in the European Enlightenment and the French

Revolution; this is an argument echoed by Gellner and Hobsbawm.

Another aspect of the modern concept of the nation, according to these theorists, is that it is closely tied to industrialization and the development of technology.

However, they diverge in their treatments of this point. For Gellner, the development of nationalism is correlative to the rise of modernity and industrialization in Europe, and the formation of the urban middle class. He tends to focus on the role of elites in 133 nationalisms, a flaw which Hobsbawm says leads him to overlook the "view from below" (11). This is a criticism that could also be levelled at Anderson, who tends to focus on the development of 'official nationalisms' while ignoring those which might evolve outside institutional structures. Anderson is interested in the role of technology in nationalism beyond industrial production; he looks to media and technologies of information. The nation is imagined, according to Anderson, through the coextensive developments of print culture, language and capitalism in Europe. But he tends only to consider these as the basis of 'official nationalisms' which develop from the 'top' down; they are often programs of the state or hegemonic power, and they tend to use the resources of the state to disseminate their ideologies.

Thus, according to Anderson, an official nationalism based on a particular language would aim to use the apparatuses of the state to ensure that language's dominance. Strategies for developing this sort of support would tend to centre around the control of media, technology, and social institutions. In the colonial context, both official and unofficial nationalisms may use the same technologies in different ways to legitimate their positions. For example, Anderson argues that anti-colonial movements absorbed and re-deployed the knowledge gathered via instruments of colonial knowledge like the museum, census, and map, in order to produce an ideology of

"official nationalism," a nationalism constructed by the elite classes and then disseminated to the 'people.' 134

While this can help us to think about an ontology for the nationalism of colonial elites, Hobsbawm points out that focusing on official nationalisms tends to elide the

'unofficial' ideologies, identities and sentiments that may exist among the people.

Therefore nationalisms are "dual phenomena, constructed essentially from above, but which cannot be understood unless also analysed from below" (10). However, we cannot come to know about these things with the same ease that we might with official nationalisms, since history does not tend to record the view from below - in effect, the subaltern cannot speak.15

But while Hobsbawm critiques Gellner for ignoring the view from below, neither does he provide a clear sketch of what might be seen from that vantage point, or where in fact "below" might be located, socially speaking. In lieu of a sustained discussion on the view from below, he talks about protonationalisms, bonds of

"collective belonging" which could potentially be aligned with states and nations (46).

These are social formations which tend to emerge from a popular sense of association with a religious or historical community. They are not nationalisms in the sense that they do not give primacy to state association; and indeed may not even consider it.

Hobsbawm writes that protonationalisms are not necessary for the development of a nation, nor do they inevitably lead to a nation - since nations and nationalisms can also be the products of a state - but they can in some situations provide a cultural framework through which nationalism may first get a footing (78).

151 am of course echoing Gayatri Chakravorty Spivak's famous phrase here (Spivak 1988). 135

Protonationalisms are not necessarily representative of the "people," nor do they necessarily provide a picture of what might be seen from below. But since these social formations can exist prior to nationalisms as well as concurrently within them in opposition or in support, the concept of protonationalisms may be useful for thinking about the complexities of nationalism. Hobsbawm's description of protonationalisms suggests that there can be multiple nationalisms working with and against each other within a given social/territorial/state formation, each competing for dominance and official status. There may be multiple religious or ethnic groups within a state or territory, for example, which claim a national identity.

An official nationalism which has developed beyond the folkloric or protonational phase described by Hobsbawm needs to establish its criteria for nationhood in history. If, for example, that nationalism is based on association with a particular ethnicity, it requires that ethnicity to be understood as always already present in the nation's history. History is thus fundamental to the construction of a collective national identity. To facilitate the development and dissemination of a collective identity, a nationalism must produce a version of history which is consistent with its own foundational premises; it must establish traditions, , and a sense of continuity with the past (Gellner 2000).

Hobsbawm argues that nationalisms, official or not, develop unevenly across social classes and regional differences; though a nationalism may come from above, the development of mass support is critical for a nationalist mobilization (12). The people 136 of a putative nation must have a concept of collective national identity with which to connect. History provides legitimation for a nationalist movement, criteria for collective association with the imagined nation, and therefore grounds for mass mobilization and support. The Invention of Tradition, edited by Hobsbawm and

Terence Ranger, provides several examples of how this historical past may be constructed by nationalism.16 The construction of this history is an integral part of nation-building, of constructing the imagined nation.

The process through which it constructs that history is an ideological method.17

Ideology is of course a complex term. There are a number of theories and interpretations of the concept which can differ widely according to disciplinary approach and theoretical methodology. For example, a classical Marxist approach might conceive of ideology as a kind of false consciousness, a misrecognition of social relations which can be escaped through revolutionary practices.18 Ideology describes the world-view of a particular economic class, the bourgeoisie, as it has been made to appear to be 'true,' and thus masks real social relations and the connections between ideas and their material social grounds. Another approach might be to interpret ideology as akin to, or even coterminous with, the Foucauldian concept of discourse as

16 Hobsbawm and Ranger, eds. Invention of Tradition (1984). Anthony Smith argues against this position in The Nation in History (2000). 171 am using this phrase, as I will explain in the next pages, in reference to Marx's "The German Ideology" (1845). 18 An example of such a use of ideology can be found in Engels' writing: "Ideology is a process accomplished by the so-called thinker consciously, it is true, but with a false consciousness" (cited in McLellan, 16). 137 a network of meanings produced by/within a given social formation. Such an approach- would theorize many ideologies as possibly co-existing within the same subjectivity; each might be associated with varying degrees of power in social relations.

There are many theoretical frameworks which understand ideology as monolithic, multifarious, negative, violent, or progressive.19 Broadly speaking, these approaches might be said to share a concern about relations of power, consciousness, and class, but even these categories are widely varied in their interpretation.

Nonetheless, what they have in common is the premise that ideology, whether or not it is associated with a positive, negative, or relative value, plays a role in relations of power, and imposes some kind of lens on what we see and understand.

Given the wide range of interpretations and theories of ideology, it is necessary for me to articulate my use of the term, and to locate it in theoretical discourse. It would be useful then to go back to Marx to consider his use of the term. Though he used it differently in various phases of his writing, one of the most sustained treatments of the concept is in The German Ideology, a useful text for thinking about ideology and nation-building. It is based on the particular context of idealism and the intellectual class in mid-19th century Germany; but insofar as the piece is directly concerned with the way in which Germany understood itself historically at that juncture, the essay lends

19 Terry Eagleton provides a brief but engaging overview of the breadth of these approaches in the introductory chapter of his book Ideology (1991). See also Williams, Marxism and Literature (1977). 138 itself to more sustained consideration about nationalism in general as post-

Enlightenment political formation.

In that text, Marx writes that ideology exists, or occurs, in the production of history, and this production is controlled by the ruling class. Ideology is an epistemological device which "mystifies" lived social relations so that they appear to be abstract concepts. These abstract concepts are re-presented as the content of history, while the real material conditions of life are hidden. Ideology thus keeps us from questioning the social relations which control the ideological production of history.

Because of this, Marx writes, historians see only "the political actions of princes and

States, religious and all sorts of theoretical struggles, and in particular in each historical epoch [they] have had to share the illusion of that epoch" (165). Thus, the "ideas of the ruling class are in every epoch the ruling ideas" (Marx 172). Historians record the world as it has been filtered through the ideology of ruling class. Absent from such history are the lived experiences of people engaged in the most basic functions of survival; what remains are the ideas of those who have material control of society.

Marx outlines in The German Ideology three 'tricks' for the production of ideology:

No.l. One must separate the ideas of those ruling for empirical reasons, under

empirical conditions and as empirical individuals, from these actual rulers and

thus recognize the rule of ideas or illusions in history. 139

No. 2. One must bring an order into this rule of ideas, prove a mystical

connection among the successive ruling ideas, which is managed by

understanding them as "acts of self-determination on the part of the concept (this

is possible because by virtue of their empirical basis these ideas are really

connected with one another, and because, conceived as mere ideas, they become

self-distinctions, distinctions made by thought.)

No. 3. To remove the mystical appearance of this "self-determining concept" it

is changed into a person—"self-consciousness"—or, to appear thoroughly

materialistic, into a series of persons, who represent the "concept" in history,

into the "thinkers," the "philosophers," the ideologists, who again are

understood as the manufacturers of history, as the "council of guardians," as the

rulers. (Marx 175)

The ideas of the ruling class, once separated from the material conditions that facilitate their production, must then be reconnected. Through this process, these concepts at first separated from the material conditions of their production are then themselves re- personified, so that the ideologists are seen as representing ideas; the ideas appear to be eternal. Ideology can therefore work as a method of eliding material relations; it obfuscates a history that can account for lived experience. It makes the past appear as though it were at the service of the rulers of the present. It can make contemporary social practices appear to be timeless traditions. 140

The problem with contemporary theories of ideology such as those I briefly mentioned above is that they understand it as chiefly a problem of content and representation (Bannerji 2001:20). Marx's outline of ideology can suggest a different way of thinking about the concept. In the passage above, Marx describes ideology as not only the content which replaces real social relations in history, but also as the method by which that content can be generated. Himani Bannerji suggests that Marx's tricks for the production of ideology posit not only a way of thinking about ideology as content, but as also simultaneously an epistemological method (2001:28). As such, this theory of ideology would allow us to understand it not just as obscuring social relations, but as a type of social relation which mediates our understanding of the world.

A critical approach to ideology should therefore be concerned not only with representational content, but also with "shifting our gaze to the social relations of its production, until knowledge itself can be seen as a form of social relation" (Bannerji

2001:23). Bannerji, borrowing a phrase from Dorothy Smith, writes, that such a critical approach would be an anti-ideological "conceptual practice of power" which

entails criticizing particular established representations with regard to a theory

of reification. In other words, the cultural critique of knowledge of content must

also rest upon an epistemological critique of the method of production of

knowledge. (Bannerji 2001:26)

This anti-ideological approach would allow us to understand ideology not as a collection of 'false' ideas, or as a monolithic illusion which veils social relations across 141 classes, but rather as both a process for producing knowledge, and as the product of that process.

It is therefore possible to conceive of multiple ideologies which could posit different kinds of content while utilizing a similar methodology of ideological production to generate that content. To pursue this line of thinking, all nationalisms are ideologies, whether they are official or unofficial: they desire hegemonic power over a state. To fulfill this desire they seek to construct a collective history and national identity, and that history and national identity are produced ideologically. Official nationalisms tend to reflect the ideas of ruling class as the parameters of nationhood.

They must therefore call for the abstraction of lived social relations into the concept of collective nationhood. As an ideology, then, nationalism makes abstract ideas appear to be the content of history. Unofficial nationalisms, though they may desire to construct a history and identity that is oppositional to the state or official nationalist ideology, must likewise construct such a history in order to mobilize mass support. This concept of ideology as epistemological method for the production of history is therefore particularly relevant in the colonial context, and provides a framework for understanding mythohistory.

Hindutva and the politics of Hindu nationalism

Bannerji's theorization of anti-ideological critique is specific to the construction of Indian history in the colonial context. By employing such a critical approach, she 142 writes that we are able to go beyond the trap of reading ideology only as representational content, a problem which tends to lead to ahistorical critique:

While recognizing that idealist or metaphysical epistemology - that is,

ideological method - that produces reified knowledge is not a European

monopoly, we also attend to the European colonial context of the texts so

produced, which hold a content appropriate to the time and design of that

colonialism. We recognize that an 'imagined', 'translated', orientalist 'India'

was born through an intellectual process which was implicated in a particular set

of socio-cultural relations existing at that time. (Bannerji 2001:30)

To apply this paradigm to the problem of nationalism in India, we have to consider not only the ways in which the colonial context produced particular versions of the nation in history, but also what social-cultural relations were at play in the production of that knowledge.

A central feature of Marx's analysis is the emphasis on the 'rulers' as the owners and producers of ideology. The makers of ACK, Anant Pai and India Book House, are not political leaders in the conventional sense, nor do they profess any direct involvement with any political movement; but they are very much part of the hegemonically dominant class. The heads of India Book House, which has grown into one of India's major home-grown publishing groups, are certainly owners of the means of production in a literal sense. But perhaps even more significantly, as a Brahmin-born

Hindu, Pai has a privileged view of history mediated by his own subject position. As a 143 middle-class Brahmin, he belongs to the hegemonic class, one which produces its own history through its ideological process. Within it, the ruling concepts of upper-caste,

Brahminical Hinduism are reified. This upper-caste Hindu ideology is a strong current in Indian nationalisms, both secular and sectarian; but perhaps nowhere more so than in the ideology of right-wing Hindu nationalism.

To pursue this line of thought, it would be useful to provide a very brief tracing of the development of nationalist thought in India, where a modern nationalism fitting

Gellner's definition — the desire for congruence with the state — did not appear until the first stirrings of the 19th century anti-British colonial movement. Whether or not it emerged as a result of or as a response to the influence of the Europeans has been a matter of debate among historians, and there are a few schools of thought on this issue.

In his book Writing Social History (1997) Sumit Sarkar outlines some of the key features of these approaches and critiques them.20 One such group of critics, represented by Partha Chatterjee and the Subaltern Studies school of Indian history, would suggest that nationalism in India essentially emerged as a derivative of European nationalist discourse; early nationalists attempted to fight the British by using this foreign ideology to develop an indigenous one.21 Another school of thought, the indigenist school represented by writers like Ashis Nandy, would argue that modern nationalism in India can find its roots in an ancient socio-religious polity, and thus

20 See particularly chapter 1, "The Many Worlds of Indian History" (Sarkar 1997) 21 The phrase is taken from Partha Chatterjee's influential work, Nationalist Thought and the Colonial World: A Derivative Discourse (1986) 144

Indian nationalism bears a unique relationship to the notions of secularism and religion that distinguishes it from the European discourse of nation.22

But by constructing the "nation" as either a colonial concept or an indigenous one, Sarkar argues that these critics of nationalism in India fail to acknowledge how the argument for an indigenous nationalism feeds into the contemporary religious cultural nationalism of Hindutva. He writes that "the Hindu Right often attacks the secular, liberal nation-state as a Western importation," and that a similar strategy is sometimes employed by theorists like Nandy and some members of the Subaltern Studies group.

(Sarkar 1997:101). Further, the position taken by Nandy fails to recognize what happens when an Indian nationalism itself becomes an official, dominant ideology in postcolonial post-independence India.

To better understand these critiques, it would be useful to very briefly summarize the development of nationalism in India. According to the argument laid out by theorists like Gellner, it could be argued that the first incidence of modern nationalism in India occurs with the founding of the in 1885.

It should be remembered however that the British were key participants in the founding of the Congress, and also that throughout its history its members were predominantly

Hindu elites with a small smattering of wealthy Muslims and Parsees. Earlier events like the Revolt of 1857 may be characterized as what Hobsbawm calls

This is discussed in various chapters of Sarkar's Writing Social History (1997). 145 protonationalisms in that though they were in opposition to colonial rule, they did not necessarily conceive of a modern state formation as their goal. With the founding of the

Congress, there is a shift towards imagining India as a sovereign nation-state. This is what might generally be called an 'official' Indian nationalism - to distinguish it from the other forms of nationalism under discussion.

While this form of nationalism certainly played an important role in the anti- colonial struggle against the British, it has also fostered discontent, communalism and violence between religious and linguistic communities. The moderate wing of Congress claimed its nationalism to be secular and socialist, and based its claim to modern nationhood on territory rather than on religion, language or culture. But there were many within Congress who disagreed with this stance, like Bal Gangadhar Tilak and the

'Garam Dal' Extremist faction. Muslims who saw that the Congress elite was dominated by upper caste, upper class Hindus, felt alienated and mistrustful of the

Congress goal of an independent an undivided India; feeling that their interests were not being considered seriously, some of these, like Mohammed Ali Jinnah himself, joined the Muslim League and eventually became proponents of partition. On the other hand, there were many Hindus, led by Tilak, the Hindu Mahasabha, and the fledgling

Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh,24 who felt that India should be defined on the basis of

Hinduism as the dominant national religion; they too came to support the two-nation

23 Jinnah was an early member of the Congress, but disillusioned by the lack of representation of Muslim concerns there, he left to join the Muslim League of which he eventually became leader. 24 See Basu et al, Khaki Shorts and Saffron Flags (New Delhi: Orient Longman 1993). 146 theory. There were also many Hindu reform and revival movements which associated themselves with the nationalist movement, sought to legitimate the claim to nationhood by claiming a lineage with an ancient Hindu civilization; some of these, for example the

Arya Samaj as I will discuss shortly, were precursors to Hindu nationalism.

The anti-colonial ideology of the early Indian nationalist movement embodied by the Congress party focused its attention on domination by the British. After

Independence, the Congress view of Indian history and nationhood as "secular and socialist" had in fact become the 'official' nationalism of India, as enshrined in the

Indian constitution. But the into the two nation-states of India and

Pakistan and the political upheaval before and afterwards had brought a great deal of bloodshed and violence. Communalism, or violent antagonism between Hindu and

Muslim communities, spread in post-partition India. Hindu nationalism resentfully began to oppose secular nationalism and the idea of a multi-religious nation, and called for a nationhood based on the religious identity of Hinduism.

In the late 1980s, a rising tide of anti-Muslim Hindu nationalism, propelled in large part by the Ayodhya issue and increased resentment against the Rajiv Gandhi-led

Congress party, saw a rise in support for the BJP (Bharatiya ). The BJP,

25 The "two-nation theory" held that Hindus and Muslims were essentially two separate nations currently living in one geographically bounded state. Until the late 1930s, this theory was not popularly associated with a geographical and political division into two states; rather, the Muslim League and some Hindu nationalists argued that Muslims could live in an independent India under a separate system of law and representation. 26 There were many significant communal riots throughout the 1970s and 1980s. One of the events which also precipitated the communal tensions of this period was the Bhagalpur Riots of 1989 in which more 147 which became a major force in the through the 1990s, insisted that religion should be intrinsically part of the national identity, and that 'secularism' was actually a figment of the communist imagination. AG Noorani cites the BJP's party manifesto for

1996, which reads, in part:

The BJP is committed to the concept of one nation, one people, one culture. ...

From this belief flows our faith in "Cultural Nationalism" which is the core of

Hindutva ... .Hindutva is a unifying principle which alone can preserve the unity

and integrity of our nation, (qtd. in Noorani 2000: 101).

Hindutva, the ideology of Hindu supremacist nationalism outlined by VD Savarkar in

1923, was in this way established as the core for a new "cultural" and religious nationalism that was opposed to the territorial and of Congress rule.

Thus, in the postcolonial context, the position of "official" Indian nationalism was usurped by Hindu nationalism's new constructions of the nation as religious kingdom. To achieve this goal, the movement needed to, as all nationalisms must, construct a history for itself. Sarkar writes that

[a]fter independence, history and particularly narrative of the 'freedom struggle'

or the 'national movement' became a major means of legitimizing ruling groups

in the post-colonial nation-state through claims of continuity with a glorious

past. (Sarkar 1997: 3)

than a thousand people died, many of whom were Muslim. See Pandey, Routine Violence (Stanford UP 2005). 148

The "freedom struggle," or movement for national independence, was ideologically reconstituted by Hindu nationalists as a struggle, not against the British, but against

"foreign domination." The very presence of Muslims in modern India is an echo, Hindu nationalists claim, of centuries of domination by the Mughal Empire (Basu et al 2, 37).

The goal of Hindu nationalism is not, they assert, a secular and sovereign state in the

European style espoused by Nehru and Congress, but rather a return to a glorious era in which Hindus presided over a peaceful, happy and tolerant land. Hindu nationalists argue that "Hinduism is uniquely catholic and tolerant, and hence superior to any other faith, but its tolerance has often been mistaken for weakness" (Basu et al 37).27

The Hindu nationalist movement has thus anchored itself ideologically to a version of history in which this Hindu golden age precedes the "dark ages" of Muslim invasion — this is the Ram Rajya, the mythohistorical India, which I described earlier.

This historical imagining could be identified as what Gramsci calls a "willed ideology," one which is polemical and arbitrary, rather than necessitated by the material conditions of history (Gramsci 377). It is unstably founded on erroneous facts and alleged evidence, though "every element in this myth has been demolished by historians" (Basu et al 2). Nonetheless it persists because it is willed; because, to borrow another term from Gramsci, it has become part of the common sense.29

27 Evidence of these impressions can be seen in the writings of a variety of Hindu nationalist leaders including Savarkar, Golwalkar, and so on. 28 This view of medieval India as a 'dark age' is described in colonial histories of India like James Mill's The History of British India. 291 use this term in the sense given by Sarkar in the introduction to his Writing Social History (1997). 149

This representation of 'India' is propelled into the minds of ACK's young readers through the personages that are raised up in it as national heroes. To complete its project of creating a mythology of the Hindu nation, Hindu nationalism requires such heroes, modern warrior-kings and occasionally queens. This archetype must resonate through historical nationalist personages in order to link them to a mythology, a mythohistory, of Hindu Indianness. The authors of Khaki Shorts, Saffron Flags write that in its efforts to build such a historical ground for itself while appearing to be inclusive, the VHP adopted an "unusual strategy" of

Continuously dispersing its sources of inspiration as widely as possible among

authorities who are distant, even antagonistic —Rabindranath, Gandhi, Bhagat

Singh, Ambedkar. No great Hindu figure has been wasted. Rather than

composing a distinct, defined lineage for itself, the attempt is to establish a

complex, constantly proliferating and sprawling kinship network which stops

only at the Muslim, the Christian, and the secular. At the same time, the great

figures are frozen into static icons and their specific ideas and messages are left

unpacked. (Basu et al 59).

As I will go on to show in the next sections, the construction of heroes in ACK follows a similar pattern to the one attributed here to the VHP. I argue that Amar Chitra Katha 's short and deliberately lacunary texts operate in the guise of biography for the putative purpose of historical education, but that history is produced ideologically. In the 150 comics, various concepts of nation may polysemically circulate through the text, but the hegemonic one consistently emerges as one informed by the willed Hindutva ideology.

The three tricks of ideological production outlined by Marx are quite neatly illustrated in these comics, and echo the image of the "static icons" described by Basu et al above. The illustrated biographies each focus on a historical figure, a leader who we can read as a "ruling personage," who is then distilled into a rudimentarily represented idea, or concept of nationhood. These concepts are mystically, and mythically, connected together as part of a Hindu nationalist mythohistory. They are then entered back into the text as substitutes for the "ruling personages" themselves. In this way,

ACK situates each figure in relation to this Hindu nationalist history, semiotically marking those who have a place in the mythohistorical heroic lineage.

Messages about national identity which are expressed in this way are powerful, precisely because they are not announced in a definitive, authoritative voice: the medium provides the reader with a sense of autonomy. Multiple concepts of

'Indianness' or Indian nationhood can flow through an ACK text, though one seems to be dominant; it is characterized by Ram Rajya, as an eternal past of Hindu glory. Since other concepts of nationhood may also be present in the text, the dominance of one particular concept is not readily apparent. This is particularly relevant for comics directed towards child readers, who may have a less sophisticated mode of interpreting the sign systems they encounter. ACK comics thus become encapsulated lessons in this hegemonically constructed history. 151

Technologies of mythohistory: language and realism

In an article about the series called "India's Amar Chitra Katha: 'Fictionalized'

History or the Real Story," comics specialist John Lent discusses Pai's legendary insistence on factual realism in his comics, a position which has often been critiqued.

Lent writes that

"[b]ecause Pai and the Amar Chitra Katha staff were so insistent that the books

were truthful accounts and/or accurate translations and interpretations of original

or ancient sources, critics continued to take pot shots at the series. Had Amar

Chitra Katha promoted itself as historical fiction or as halfway between

historical fiction and history, and [had] Pai been less adamant, perhaps the

criticism would not have been as persistent (63).

Lent is specifically responding here to Pai's insistence on adorning the comics with trappings of scholarly integrity; sometimes providing source information, generally insisting on the veracity of such sources, and always making a claim towards realistically visually representing the historical context. Thus, even in 'mythological' comics, an attempt is made by the ACK staff to adhere to principles of realism, though the accuracy of their work is often in dispute.

There are two kinds of realism that underlie Pai's position and the criticism against it. There is first the historical realism to which he aims, and which is underscored by the research which he and the staff do in order to produce each text. 152

Several writers reported that it may take months to complete a single volume, and such dedication appears to be particularly focused when it comes to a historical topic

(McLain, 44). This became more and more elaborate as the series went on, and is in large part driven by the use of text in the comics.

The use of text, especially in the earlier comics, evokes a sense of scholarly erudition and authenticity with the inclusion of historical or untranslated words, usually in English or Sanskrit, and including apparently biblically inspired or archaic English like 'alas', 'lo', or 'boon'. In Tales ofNarada (v.150/520) for example, a speech bubble reads, "You are a great ascetic, O supreme sage! I have failed. I beg to be forgiven for my audacity" (4). In general, the earlier comics often use language which, as has been noted by Sandhya Rao, constitutes an

age-inappropriate vocabulary and ideas and a style lacking humor. For instance,

how will six- or even -ten year old children understand words like "moksha,"

"preceptor," or "emancipation"... (Rao 34)

Regardless of whether or not these child readers had English as a first language or any training in an Indian language, such words would generally be considered to be beyond the appropriate vocabulary level.

By the early 1980s, the style of both historical and mythological comics seemed to change to include more dialogue and narrative description, and more often included footnotes and citations (Pritchett, 91; Lent, 65). In some comics, whole pages of text and glossaries are included, the latter being a particular feature of the Mahabharata 153 series. These techniques lend an air of authority to the texts, making them appear more scholarly, realistic, and researched. But ironically, while the more prolific use of text in the comics may serve to make them appear more historically accurate, it also makes them less appealing, appropriate, and accessible to younger children.30 Pai therefore seems to be faced with a trade-off between historical authenticity and audience appeal and accessibility.

The text of the comics actually distances readers from the text while attempting to adhere to some principle of historical realism. But it is the visual realism of the comics that invite young readers to 'close the gap' of meaning. Several critics (A Rao,

1996; McLain, 2004; Lent 2004) have commented on Pai's insistence on historical accuracy in visual representation, insisting that the architecture, costumes, weapons, and cultural objects should suit the historical context. McLain writes that

[fjormer author and associate editor Subba Rao recalled that the majority of the

visual references came from books, due to budget limitations. However, the

concern with verisimilitude was so great that staff would often go out of their

way to acquire visual reference material...(McLain 43).

See for example the language of this caption from p. 22 ofBheeshma 's Vow (v.331): "Distressed by the birth of a son in her maidenhood, and afraid of her relatives, Kunti thought deeply on what was best for her to do. [next frame] And she cast the infant into the river, where the husband of of the Soota caste found him." The ideas here of illegitimate birth and infant abandonment, as well as the reference to caste, are complex ideas that might be difficult for children to understand; the language does not render this more accessible. At the very least, it would appear that these later comics are geared towards an older reading audience. 154

She goes on to quote Subba Rao, who says that when possible, artists may travel to historical locations like Elephanta Island or Hampi to take photographs. It is also clear that Pai is often the arbiter of what is historical and what is not, priding himself on his own academic knowledge on such subjects. In an interview with McLain, associate editor Kamala Chandrakant said that "scrutinizing the artworks for authenticity in these areas was taken care of by [Pai]" (McLain, 43). People or human-shaped characters are typically portrayed in a comic realist style, except in the case of some of the folktales.

What is important about these observations on images and language is not the tendency towards some form of realism, or even, for the present moment, the claimed commitment to historical accuracy, but the effect on the audience of the visual realist style. The style of image and text that I describe above applies across the entire series to all kinds of narratives, both mythic and historical, and there is little discernable difference between them. When the textual language is opaque, the reader must work harder to close the gap between image and text, and thus the image gains in symbolic power.

To better understand the importance of the image in this respect, it may be useful to return to Raja Ravi Varma, who I discussed briefly in Chapter 2. Ravi

Varma's style was both lauded and controversial because he brought together the heavily formalist religious iconography of classical Indian art and the realism associated with the late 19th century Europe. Ravi Varma painted Hindu deities in this realist style so that they appeared to closely resemble human forms, and yet maintained an evocative 155 auratic quality, a kind of presence. Having mastered the colonizer's techniques, Ravi

Varma was criticized for studying and creating art in the colonial style rather than in a traditional Indian style. But Ravi Varma was also lauded by nationalists for bringing the gods to life in his paintings, and thus celebrating 'Indian' tradition through his art.

Christopher Pinney writes that the techniques practiced by Ravi Varma and other artists of the period effected

a transformation in the relationship between an Indian tradition and what

authorized as believable: Realism - in its pictorial, performative, and literary

guises - provided a translational bridgehead from the 'mythic' to the 'historical',

allowing previously disavowed individuals and narratives to inhabit the

chronotope of truth" (Pinney 2004, 66)

Pinney writes that Ravi Varma's style, in effect, collapsed 'mythic time' into the present, making the gods appear part of the contemporary landscape. This shift had profound consequences for Indian visual culture throughout the 20th century; it affected early film production and essentially gave birth to the genre of Hindu calendar art. Ravi

Varma thus remains controversial because of the difficulty in locating him in the politics of the period, and also in the long-term effects of his work.

I argue that the writers and illustrators of Pai's series actually enable another transformation by rolling together the already synchronic realism of Ravi Varma's realism with the realism of the comics genre. Pai has claimed in several interviews and articles that he is deeply committed to a rational, scientific approach to creating ACK 156 stories. To this end, he meticulously oversaw the production of early comics to ensure that they did not depict gratuitously 'magical' or miraculous events; that principles of physics were sound, and he also claims that he discourages the unnecessary depiction of violence. All of these claims have been disputed by critics. Chetan Desai, in "The

Krishna Conspiracy," writes about how Pai's carefully constructed first issue, Krishna was actually revised ten years after its release so that more miraculous elements could be included (Desai 2003). McLain writes that:

Over the years, Pai began to feel more of a sense of responsibility towards

textual authority, and less freedom for poetic license with mythological

narratives... For this reason, he now believes, the belief in miracles need not

conflict with a scientific outlook. (McLain 41)

The polysemism of the comics medium can allow Pai to show 'miraculous' events in a way which is both realistic and alludes to magic; or, put another way, the realist style of the artwork makes the magic all the more believable. Beyond this, since both the mythological and historical comics are drawn and written in the same style, the element of realism and the possibility of magic are always already present in both.

Realist comic artwork and text which is presented in a scholarly, historical style characterize ACK comics across genre categories, and typify both mythological stories and historical ones. A reader then cannot distinguish what kind of story is being told simply by the way the comic looks or reads. Realism, combined with the evocation of popular Hindu poster art and the fantastical associations of the comics genre, provides 157 the technology by which the material and the magical are rendered indistinguishable from each other. This makes the mythic appear more real and more present, and makes the historical appear more magical and mythic. In this way, it also smoothes over the differences between past and present, nation and religion. It therefore creates a semi- realistic world in which new myths can be built alongside old ones.

In Understanding Comics, Scott McCloud talks about how realism in comic art, as opposed to 'iconic' or simplified forms, produces distance between the reader and the image (50). The more iconic an image, the more possible it is for a larger number of readers to find themselves interpellated by it, and to thus fill the image with meaning.

The more realist an image, the more 'other' and the more specific that which is represented by the image becomes. Realist comic art finds its place somewhere in the middle of a continuum defined by these styles. It is not so photo-realistic as to prevent its audience from identifying with it, nor is it so simplistic as to be completely open to being filled with meaning. A certain degree of realism in comic art allows for some openness or polysemism in meaning without completely reducing the complexity of the image. Thus, comic realism creates a world in which the reader can recognize the landscape and interpolate herself within it, and yet allows for the unreal, the abstract, the divine, and the fantastic. Venugopal described that landscape to me in this way:

It's kind of a dream which you can have when you are young, but not when you

grow up, because you tend to see life, and feel that you really don't want to be

part of it. It is a very imaginary mythic space. There is this distant, historic kind 158

of imagery it has to itself, so when you are young you feel like you know, flying

in the clouds, these phantasmagoric desires you might have, you might try to

imagine those things in that kind of space; if you were Hanuman, what would

you do, that kind of thing.. .like a superhero. For us, Hanuman is a superman,

who can fly, who can lift a mountain.. .you knew that it was some kind of

historic past, [and] without any evidence, without anybody telling you, you

would kind of subconsciously feel like this is our past.

Venugopal's comment here describes the mythohistorical landscape of the comics and its peculiar realism. His memory of Hanuman, the monkey god, as a kind of superhero, is evocative and speaks to the narrative of heroism that binds the mythological and the historical together in the series.

Realist comic art defines the 'superhero' genre of western comics to a great degree, and though ACK does not neatly fall into this genre, there are a number of similarities as I began to note in Chapter 2. Richard Reynolds argues that superhero comics develop their own mythology in a variety of ways, and there, as in ACK, one of the techniques by which this is accomplished is through realism. In the introduction to his book, Reynolds identifies seven points which together offer a structuralist definition of the superhero narrative, some of which are quite resonant with the present discussion.

I note in particular his 4th and 7th arguments:

4. The extraordinary nature of the superhero will be contrasted with the

ordinariness of his surroundings. 159

7. The stories are mythical and use science and magic indiscriminately to create

a sense of wonder. (16)

These arguments resonate here iaACK's depiction of both mythological and historical

'heroes'. Using a realist style but nonetheless meticulously drawing on traditional religious iconography, ACK creates a mythohistorical landscape in which any differences between the mythic and the material are painted over in equal detail.

Against this indeterminate backdrop, both mythic and historical heroes stand out like

'superheroes'. To corroborate this, I widen the focus to include several more points in

Reynolds' formation:

2. At least some of the superheroes will be like earthbound gods in their level of

powers. Other superheroes of lesser powers will consort easily with these

earthbound deities.

3. The hero's devotion to justice overrides even his devotion to the law.

6. Although ultimately above the law, superheroes can be capable of

considerable patriotism and moral loyalty to the state, though not necessarily to

the letter of its laws, (ibid)

Taken most literally, this definition neatly describes Vaishnava incarnate mythology, but at a more abstract level, could also allude to the connections made by ACK between modern heroes and their mythic antecedents. In particular, I recall here the suggestion I made earlier that ACK posits a kind of lineage between the figure of the god Rama and the various nationalist heroes that are profiled by the series. Reynolds's definitions do 160 not necessarily fit the Puranical mythic models of gods like Rama and Krishna, but a parallel can clearly be seen. Rama, for example is an earthbound god surrounded by lesser deities, though it might be rather the case that his devotion to law overrides his devotion to justice rather than the other way around. But the point about patriotism and moral loyalty to the state is what interests me the most here. Reynolds writes that

"Superhero narratives clearly give substance to certain ideological myths about the society they address" (74). In order to present the stories of historical personae in a manner which is consistent with this superhero ethos, it is of course necessary to simplify their character and amplify the qualities that make them seem like "earthbound gods." Abhineet told me that, returning to the comics as an adult, he saw this as a kind of distillation or sanitization of history:

[M]any of the negative things about a person's life in the historicals are glossed

over. In the historicals, the characters aren't "real people" anymore but

superheroes or perfect models who have clear views of morality all their lives

and who hardly ever experience feelings of doubt. I wouldn't feel that they're

"essentially true", but that the characters are constructed in a particular mythic

image and for this reason whatever doesn't fit is left out.

I want to now turn to four examples of ACK biographies of historical figures in order to show how the ideological construction of the mythohistorical 'hero' figure takes place, and following Abhineet's observation, identify what might be left out in the retelling. 161

Amar Chitra Katha biographies

Dayananda

Dayananda Saraswati (1824-1883) was the founder of the Arya Samaj, a Hindu reform movement. Dayananda was, as Sumit Sarkar describes him, a "wandering sanyasi" who left home at an early age, disgusted at the corruption of local Brahmin priests. Traveling the country and debating the Hindu orthodox leadership on points of theology, Dayananda developed a following for his teachings, which are in part, as follows: that there should be considered an absolute separation between human and divine spirit, as he interpreted was espoused in the ; thaty'afr'-based caste discrimination should be outlawed, but 'varna' caste distinctions were necessary social order; that the Vedic texts were to be considered the only authoritative source for Hindu culture; that contemporary Hinduism was a corrupted version of the Aryan religion of the 'Golden Age'; and that 'Arya,' Vedic religion was vastly superior to Muslim and

Christian models; and that Hinduism was fraught with priestly corruption and superstition (Jaffrelot 17; Sarkar 1983: 74).31

31 There is a great deal of confusion around the way in which jati and varna have been translated variously as caste and race. Jati refers to an endogamous system of social hierarchy which is often referred to as caste. Varna generally refers to the four major 'caste' groups: Brahmin, Kshatriya, Vaishya and Sudra. 'Untouchables,' or , fall below the lowest group, or outside the varna hierarchy altogether (Bayly 10). The word 'caste' is frequently translated in both ways, as is 'race.' This leads to a great deal of ambiguity among western scholars about the exact meaning of Dayananda's proposals. See Jaffrelot, 14, and S. Sarkar, "Indian Nationalism and the Politics of Hindutva." 162

During the early period of the Arya Samaj, Dayananda exhorted his followers to distinguish themselves from flawed and corrupt "Hindus," by following his teachings and identifying themselves as "Aryas" instead. This led to conflicts with Sanathan

Dharma (orthodox Brahminical Hindu) groups, but, as Basu et al write, that gradually gave way:

Dayananda in his last years tempered reformist zeal with a growing emphasis

upon Hindu unity, foregrounding cow protection and replacement of Urdu by

Hindi in the Devanagri script: the two issues which underlay the worsening of

communal relations in during the last two decades of the nineteenth

century. Conflicts with orthodox Sanathan Dharma Sabha groups, extremely

bitter in the earlier years, gradually died down, and the Arya Samaj came to

contribute greatly in course of time to the cause of Hindutva in Punjab and UP.

(Basu et al 8).

Arya Samaj ideology was foundational to the later development of increasingly militaristic, right-wing Hindu nationalist organizations: the Hindu Mahasabha and the

RSS (Masselos 106; Jaffrelot 14). Future leaders of the Mahasabha, including Lala

Lajput Rai, Balkrishna Moonje, and V.D. Savarkar, all considered Dayananda a guru of the Hindu nationalist movement.

Given Dayananda's clearly politicized religiosity, it is interesting to see how

Amar Chitra Katha has chosen to eulogize him. The introduction to Dayananda (v.

120/624) speaks explicitly to his reformist stance: 163

Swami Dayananda was born at a time when our country was under foreign

domination. Most of the people were steeped in ignorance and poverty.

Hypocrisy and corruption flourished in the name of religion .. . Prejudices of

creed, caste and community had corroded the social cohesion and the wily and

the wicked were ruling the roost. (Dayananda, inside front cover).

Florid alliteration aside, it is interesting that this first paragraph implies a causal relationship between 'foreign domination' (the British 'them', in 'our country') and religious corruption. However, the same passage polysemically also points to Islam and the perception of Muslim domination; this ambiguity persists throughout the volume's references to "foreign corruption." The introduction goes on to state:

He did not however propagate or establish a new creed or a new sect like

many of his contemporaries ... his main purpose behind establishing the Arya

Samaj was to make people good, to rid the society of its evils and thereby build

a free, strong and united nation. In fact, he prepared the psychological and

social background for Mahatma Gandhi's subsequent political programmes. He

was, truly speaking, one of the great builders of Modern India, (ibid).

The innocuously depoliticised portrayal of the movement in this passage is suspicious, and quite misleading. For example, Dayananda did in fact set forth a "new creed," outlined in his book The Light of Truth; the fact that Arya Samajists were encouraged to differentially identify themselves is evidence of this. It is also somewhat unclear how his position on Hindu superiority over other religions such as Islam and Christianity, 164 could in fact lead to a "United India" — the links between Arya ideology and the later

RSS movement must not be overlooked in this regard. The evocation of Gandhi is also somewhat spurious; the two are distinct in ideology and practice, and the volume makes no effort to support this suggestion, leading me to wonder if this is simply an attempt to provide some legitimation for this characterization of Dayananda as a gentle leader.

Further, the contention elsewhere in the introduction that as a principle of nationalism, "he urged the people to boycott foreign goods and style of living" is of note, especially in light of the ambiguous evocation of "foreign domination."

Dayananda in fact said that "the Europeans are very dutiful and well disciplined" and that "these qualifications and deeds have contributed to their advancement."32 Jaffrelot suggests that Dayananda's position towards the British was one of "strategic emulation," wherein Hindus were encouraged to emulate the basic values of European culture while ignoring its superficial aspects (15). He was also influenced to some degree by the orientalist Theosophist movement of the time, and had read Max Muller's translations of the Vedas. Thus, though we are led by the text to assume that

Dayananda's opposition to "foreign domination" is a reference to the Europeans, this assumption is not borne out in his writing or practice; this returns us to the possibility that the "foreign" in this context is, perhaps, more likely Islam and Christianity as those religions are associated with the incursion of the "foreign."

Dayananda, The Light of Truth (tr. G.P. Upadhyaya 1981) as quoted in Jaffrelot (15). 165

Despite all this, Amar Chitra Katha appears to consciously position Dayananda, in line with other nationalist heroes, as primarily in opposition to British rule and customs, and implies that his Hindu reformist agenda is an anti-colonial response. In this light, it is possible to overlook the Hindu-centric effects of the Arya Samaj, and its anti-Muslim sentiment. This brushing over of detail contributes to the positioning of the British as being a singular threat to nationhood, though in reality Dayananda's thought on the subject was much more complex. In fact, the successor organizations to the Arya Samaj were explicit in placing the 'blame' for Indian political problems at the feet of Muslims and other religious minorities.

The introduction to the ACK version of Dayananda makes a reading of the rest of the text even more perplexing. The first 18 pages are devoted to describing

Dayananda's childhood and early life. Pages 20 and 21 show him bestowing the sacred thread on women and "untouchables." The next four pages show what Sumit Sarkar describes as "acrimonious debates with orthodox Brahmans about the meaning of sacred texts (shastrartha), carried on in Sanskrit and organized by , merchants, and bankers of western United Provinces" (Sarkar 1996:279). It is not until page 26 that he establishes the Arya Samaj, and here too the illustrated panel suggests a kind of glossing over his more controversial ideas: Dayananda's speech bubble reads,

"Arya Samaj means the society of virtuous men. We must all unite with out distinction of caste or creed. Our objectives are to impart true knowledge, to bring about social justice and to achieve freedom from alien rule." Here, the limitations of text in comic 166 book form are apparent; in the absence of a footnote, the word "Arya" is translated in one of its meanings, that of "virtue" or "honour," but not of its other, explicitly ethnic one: for Dayananda, Arya(n)s were those 'original' Indians, practitioners of the Vedic religion of his 'Golden Age,' and the term Arya pointed towards a nationalism based on this conjectural linkage between cultural and religious tradition. Dayananda's evocation of a Vedic Golden Age was one of the strongest influences on the emerging

Hindu nationalist movement, establishing a critical sense of "ethnic pride" (Jaffrelot

16).

Young readers of Amar Chitra Katha, who are presumed by the editors to read

English as a first language, are unlikely to immediately grasp the double meaning of this Sanskritic term. In the frame, this opacity, coupled with the strategic omissions in the call to "unite without distinction of caste or creed" allows "Arya" to be read as socially progressive and anti-communalist, a reading which would misrepresent

Dayananda and the Arya Samaj. In fact, page 27 shows a panel which, in something of a non sequitur, proclaims that "During his tour (of Punjab) he befriended many

Muslims." Again here, the relationship of this statement with the rest of the frame renders a misleading series of connections. It features Dayananda in conversation with a group of men, at least two of whom appear to be 'stylized' Muslims, declaiming, "are we not all the children of the same father?" This could presumably refer to the Arya practice of "," purification, or conversion. Dayananda used this practice to convert Muslims and non-caste people to his brand of Hinduism. In effect, he did 167 intend for Indians to "unite without distinction of caste and creed," but only if they were to first convert to his Vedic religion; otherwise, those distinctions remained obstacles.

But the ambiguity with which the notions of 'unity' and 'shuddhi' are represented through the text and images would make it difficult for a reader without some knowledge of the Arya Samaj to recognize this point. Thus, Dayananda appears in the text as an opponent of British rule, but his sentiments towards Muslims are overlooked.

As I suggested earlier, the trope of heroism is central to the portrayal of nationalists in Amar Chitra Katha, and Dayananda is no exception to this. Here, I want to draw out here the significance of the introduction's language about "making people good" and getting rid of "evil"; this language resonates with the mythic image of the incarnate god who comes to earth precisely to rid it of 'evil' and to further the cause of dharma. Though Arya Samaj i philosophy favours a monist approach to divinity rather than the polytheist one taken by popular Hinduism, the Arya language draws on the

Vedic language of morality, duty and godliness. This allows it to fit neatly into ACK's

Indian history, populated by mythic gods and heroes espousing the same values —most notably through Rama.

I argue that the Dayananda comic actually suggests visually and narratively that

Dayananda is, like Rama, himself a godly man with superhuman strength, divine wisdom, and innate statesmanship In this group of panels, Dayananda, challenged by a follower, stops a cart pulled by two horses—simply by holding onto the wheel (fig. 13).

I want to contrast that with this image of the young lord Rama, who of course performs 168 many feats of superhuman strength (fig. 14). Though Dayananda opposes idol worship, he favours the ideals of duty and kingdom which are epitomized by Rama. But more importantly, connecting mythological and historical personage together with this image of godly strength provides another significant connection—as a "Great Builder of

Modern India," Dayananda becomes part of the iconic genealogy which claims Rama as its father.

There is of course an extremely gendered element to this formation. Though

Hindu nationalists often refer to India as 'Bharat Mata', deifying the nation as a mother goddess, it is a nation whose lineage is traced through a line of hyper-masculine heroes.

The role of women in this nation, is generally one of consort or saintly queen; as with the Rani of Jhansi, she becomes a leader only when she must avenge a wrong.

Dayananda did in fact, as the introduction to the volume suggests advocate for reform on women's issues, but he did so strategically, and in a way which did not necessarily contribute to any substantial freedom for women, or any real criticism of the patriarchal structure of Hindu culture. In "Whatever Happened to the Vedic DasiT Uma

Chakravarti writes that while Dayananda supported some reformist values, such as support for widow-remarriage and the campaigns against child-marriage and sati, he did so in a language which conveyed his agenda of training women to take on the role in the reproduction of the nation. Thus, he called for women to marry during their most fertile years, including young widows. He advocated a project of building a strong "Aryan 169

Nation," a project which has clear eugenicist overtones. It is unclear what role women might take in such a nation, beyond the reproduction of male Aryan bodies.33

Dayananda is one of the earlier volumes in the ACK series. Numbered at 120 in the old series, and published originally in 1976, it was reprinted in 1998 as a deluxe edition. Given its early place in the ACK spectrum, it is clear that Pai thinks of him as an important nationalist hero. But the peculiar way in which he is represented primarily as an anti-British agitator, while ignoring the ideas and practices for which he and the

Arya Samaj are most well known, speaks to the larger conception of nationalism that is expressed through the series. It seeks to, as the VHP does, cast as wide a net as possible in constructing a pantheon of heroes.

Veer Savarkar

Similar issues are raised by ACK release Veer Savarkar: in the Andamans (v.

309/678). In this case, the limitations of the narrative in the text, coupled with its visual elements, provide an even more perplexing representation of a nationalist 'hero.' V.D.

Savarkar (1883-1966) was explicitly a Hindu nationalist. He was the author of

Hindutva: Who is a Hindu?, a text which as mentioned earlier, continues to be integral to Hindu nationalist ideology.34 Savarkar was a young Maratha Brahmin who was

33 See Chakravarti, 1989: 54-60. 34 See Sumit Sarkar's "Indian Nationalism and the Politics of Hindutva" in Contesting the Nation, ed. D. Ludden, Upenn Press 1996. 170 arrested in England for participation in terrorist activities, and imprisoned in the

Andaman Islands for 11 years. After his release he returned to India, where he became leader of the Hindu Mahasabha. He was a vocal proponent of a Hindu-centric state, and supported militaristic defence of 'Hindu' interests in response to his perception of an increased Muslim 'threat'.

In Britain, Savarkar was an associate of other young militant revolutionaries who advocated the violent overthrow of the British occupation. Although in his earlier days he had been associated with socialist activists, after his imprisonment, Savarkar increasingly saw Muslims as the 'enemy', and felt that the Gandhi-Nehru Congress would inevitably lead to the destruction of the Hindu nation. His views and work with the Mahasabha earned him a position as an increasingly right-wing, anti-Gandhian, anti-

Congress, and anti-communist leader. His Hindu Mahasabha economic program of

1939, in fact explicitly supports principles of capitalism, including exhortations that

" must be held inviolate," and that labour strikes "must be referred to

or state arbitration or in serious cases quelled" (Savarkar, qtd. in Mathur 102). His vehement anti-Gandhian speeches (deriding him as anti-national and anti-Hindu) were a source of inspiration to Nathuram Godse and the group of young militants who orchestrated Gandhi's assassination.

D. Keer's effusive biography of him, Veer Savarkar, takes pains to state that while not a communist, Savarkar was certainly 'not afraid of communists' (514). 171

All this, however, is not apparent in the comic book version of his life. The volume, released first in 1984, appears later than Dayananda, but like that title, has also been reissued as a deluxe edition. The introduction tells us that the text of the comic, written by Subba Rao, an ACK staffer, is drawn largely from Savarkar's own book on his prison experience, My Transportation for Life, but no other of his works, including

Hindutva, or biographies are mentioned. In keeping with the educational niche to which Pai aspires for his series, the introduction proclaims that "No textbook of history will tell you the hardships Indian revolutionaries had to suffer and the sacrifices they had to make for their country's freedom" {Veer Savarkar inside front cover). Filling the void left by these textbooks, a reference perhaps to the "communistic" textbooks of

NCERT, ACK takes up the cause of one such revolutionary here.

As indicated in the issue's subtitle, the volume devotes most of its panels to

Savarkar's imprisonment in the 'cellular jail' in the Andamans. The first few pages set

Savarkar up as a strident young revolutionary, documenting his work in acquiring arms and training others in their use. The very first page shows Savarkar giving a concealed handgun to an associate; something which doesn't ring quite true with Pai's claim to protect "impressionable minds" from scenes of violence.36 Subsequent frames show the trial of Savarkar's friend Madanlal Dhingra, who was executed in Britain for his assassination of Sir Curzon-Wylie in 1909. This is interesting, since evidence suggests

36 See Chapter 2. Hawley writes that in Pai's opinion, "Children should not be exposed to scenes violence, prejudice, sexual violence, or superstition" (128). 172 that Savarkar not only provided Dhingra with the murder weapon, but also instructed him to use it (Noorani 2002: 14).

The short introduction gives way to the narrative of incarceration: pages 9-32 of the volume are almost entirely set within the prison, and an inset on pages 16 and 17 describe the jail, known as "Kala Pani" (Black Water) in detail. Scenes of torture, abuse, suicide and insanity abound. Savarkar does not perform feats of strength like

Dayananda, but he is consistently illustrated as having the strength to withstand a great deal of punishment in the jail: on almost every page, Savarkar undergoes some kind of physical trial, from heavy manual labour to torture. This representation of the physical takes narrative precedence over the intellectual and political work he did after his imprisonment.

The narrative makes many references to the need for Indian "freedom from foreign rule." On the final page, only the last four frames encapsulate Savarkar's release. Of his subsequent work, we are given only the final panel, with this text against a tricolour background: "Savarkar took an active part in the struggle for freedom. He had the satisfaction of witnessing the tricolour unfurled on August 15,

1947" (Veer Savarkar 32).37 Nothing at all is mentioned of Savarkar's subsequent role in politics; his work with the Mahasabha, his writing of Hindutva, his antagonistic relationship with Congress, or his eventual arrest, trial and acquittal on conspiracy

37 It is interesting that an earlier frame portrays "Free India" flag that Savarkar had designed, and which was unfurled by Madame Cama, the parsi socialist at the 1907 International Socialist conference in Stuttgart. 173 charges regarding the assassination of Gandhi. Also left unmentioned is the sheaf of letters that Savarkar wrote to the British government, begging for mercy and pledging a

"conversion" of his political views (Noorani 49-52). These pleas for mercy present a very different picture from the stoic and martyred Savarkar of the comic book.

It is also vital to consider the contemporary political context regarding

Savarkar. The BJP-VHP-RSS has taken great pains to resurrect him from history over the last decade, in fact to install him, in place of Gandhi and Nehru, as the father of the nation. Repeated references to Hindutva, such as in the 1986 BJP Manifesto quoted earlier, and to Savarkar in the speeches of party leaders, provide the first inkling of this.

But most dramatic are two contemporary issues. First, the installation of a portrait of

Savarkar in the Lok Sabha chamber, directly across from Gandhi's portrait, was a

sinister action given Savarkar's role in Gandhi's assassination. AG Noorani's book

Savarkar and Hindutva: the Godse Connection makes a strong case for the direct involvement of Savarkar in the murder. Nathuram Godse, who killed Gandhi, was an

RSS member and acolyte of Savarkar. Noorani argues that Savarkar's deep hatred of

Gandhi, and resentment towards the Gandhian Congress, fuelled the assassination

• 38 conspiracy.

The other contemporary incident worth remarking on is the renaming, by the

BJP government, of the Port Blair airport in the Andaman Islands to "Veer Savarkar

Airport," and the installation of a memorial at his cell in the jail there, remembering him 38 See Noorani, 2002, p. 138 and passim. 174 as a "nationalist hero." The latter campaign was carried out by LK Advani who was then Home Minister, and who had been centrally involved in the destruction of the

Babri Masjid. The controversial steps are an indication of the Hindu nationalist desire to systematically replace the ideology of Gandhi-Nehru Congress nationalism with

Hindutva.

As with the case of Dayananda, Pai and his staff portray Savarkar as a national hero, but leave untouched the most controversial facts of his life. Pritchett writes:

No doubt this is the most tactful way to treat V.D. Savarkar, if it is necessary to

treat him at all. Since other, less communally tainted nationalist leaders are

available for the series to depict, why make a point of depicting a communal one

— and then trying to airbrush him into blandness? (94)

Pritchett seems here to miss that this may be precisely the point: by omitting the communalist, or fundamentalist, elements associated with these two figures, it becomes possible to re-position them as squarely opposed to British rule, and therefore as part of a lineage of anti-colonial national heroes suitable to Hindu nationalist ideology. Indeed, as Pritchett herself points out, this volume is included in a an advertised group of volumes called "The Indian Revolutionaries," which includes Chandra Shekhar Azad,

Subhas Chandra Bose, and Bhagat Singh.

This may provide some explanation for the reason why figures like Savarkar, and a host of less prominent characters like judges, policemen, politicians and even industrialist G.D. Birla are graced with their own ACK issues, though high profile 175

Congress leaders like Nehru and Gandhi did not receive their own issues until well into the 1990s. One might argue that these inclusions and exclusions constitute an attempt by ACK to recuperate some of those figures of national history that are overshadowed by Nehru, Gandhi, or the like, as these would be the most likely to be taught in schools.

But such a response does not adequately explain why Pai might choose communalist or

Hindu nationalist leaders over any others, or why Muslim leaders of both Congress and

Muslim league parties might be omitted. It also ignores the ideological backdrop of the

Sangh Parivar, the 'family' of Hindu right-wing organizations which has embraced some anti-colonial heroes while rejecting those leaders who were seen to 'submit' to

Muslim demands.

The history that is presented, then, speaks to a series of deliberate editorial choices that must be considered ideological. To think further about the process of ideological production that is at work here, it would be useful to contrast the representations of Dayananda and Savarkar with the volumes on Nehru and Gandhi.

Nehru

Jawarhalal Nehru: The Early Days (v. 436/700) is a recent addition to the series, published originally in 1991, and re-released in 1999. The introduction on the inside cover describes it as the "last regular title of the Amar Chitra Katha series that retold many a tale from Indian mythology, legend, history, and folklore." Among the 176 new deluxe editions, however, it no longer has this pride of place, as at least 35 comics are numbered after it in the catalogue. Nonetheless, this introduction suggests that the positioning of Nehru at the end of the series should be understood not as an afterthought, but as a deliberate enshrining of the 'ultimate' figure in Indian history.

Such a justification seems odd if one studies the title list, which includes other central mythological and historical figures quite early on. It would at least appear that in most cases Pai and his staff were not reserving any other heroes or historical figures for a similar big finale.39 It is also strange that though the issue is subtitled The Early Days, suggesting that there might be a sequel, there has been no volume of "later days" yet released.

Even working on the assumption that to be last is not to be considered least,

Nehru is structurally, visually, and narratively one of ACK's strangest contributions to comic book biography. At 29 pages, has the dubious distinction of being the shortest volume I have come across; given Nehru's prominence and the fact that he was a prolific writer, it seems unlikely that this is due to a lack of material. Nehru was, of course, the son of lawyer and early Congressite Motilal Nehru; a socialist and lifelong

Gandhian, he became the first . His career was not, to put it lightly, without controversy. In the years after Independence, his daughter and

See appendix, figures 2 and 3; the original 100 or so volumes also include Shivaji (23/564), The Rani of Jhansi, and an illustrated version of Anand Math (86/655), as well stories from the Mahabharata, and other major myths and figures. 177 grandson also became Prime Ministers, making the Nehru dynasty, for better or worse, one of the most infamous and recognizable families in India.

ACK's volume on his life does little to describe, or even contextualize, the details of Nehru's political life. Inexplicably, the text's author, a staff writer named

Margie Sastry, chooses to begin the narrative not with Jawarhalal, or even Motilal

Nehru, but many generations previous, in 1716 Kashmir.40 The first page establishes the family's habitation in Delhi; Motilal isn't born until the third page. It's not until the fifth page that Nehru's birth date and time are announced with some ceremony.41 The successive 20 pages, of a total 29, are devoted to describing Nehru's early childhood and college education. Visually, these illustrations are among the most striking of the four volumes I examine here. The volume goes to some lengths to establish the degree to which Motilal's family was 'anglicized': between pages 5-10, there are at least two images of Nehru, in school boy uniform, with a bicycle, the first of which is captioned,

"Jawarhalal was brought up in a lavish, westernized lifestyle." Other images show young Nehru riding a pony, playing with toy soldiers, and so on. Scenes with his mother establish a Hindu religious education for the child, and illustrate an interesting dichotomy between a masculine, secular, westernized father and traditional, religious,

Hindu mother.

This reaching back in time may be for the purpose of allowing the comic to visually stake a claim to this disputed territory. 41 "...A son was born to them. He was called Jawarhalal," reads the text in an eerily biblical way. See fig. 10. 178

On pages 10 and 11, the comic shows scenes of a party, attended by Europeans, at MotilaPs house. In a half-page panel on page 10, the striking lack of difference of skin colours among the Indians and English in the scene is again evocative of the westernization of the family (fig. 15). In contrast, a panel at the bottom of page 14 shows young Jawarhalal rejecting an invitation from a playmate in order to attend a theosophist meeting. That the child is portrayed as having dark skin, and that he does not understand the purpose of this meeting, implies that the child not as well educated as Nehru; perhaps that he is also meant to be of lower caste. In this way, Nehru is presented both as a high-caste, educated and wealthy Brahmin man, and as rejecting

Hindu culture in favour of British; both implications already represent him as outside of hero's lineage.

The next pages show Jawarhalal tutored by an English theosophist, and eventually joining the Theosophist league; setting sail for England and his education at

Cambridge. While the Savarkar volume shows its hero in England plotting revolution with his peers at India House, Nehru is here portrayed living the British lifestyle, playing soccer and socializing with white British people. However, a half-page panel on page 20 shows portraits of the anti-colonists who were making waves at the time in

India: Tilak, , , and Aurobindo. It should be noted that those portrayed here are largely Hindu nationalists (fig. 16). The text tells us that

Nehru and other Indian students debated the issues raised by these leaders: "While their discussions were far removed from reality, the actual scene back home was pulsating 179 with life" {Nehru 20). Contrast this to the opening pages of Savarkar, in which his circle in England is itself 'pulsating' with revolutionary life; Nehru's lifestyle in Britain is implied as being largely westernized and apolitical. In fact, it is not until page 25 that

Jawarhalal, motivated by Gandhi's Satyagraha Sabha, becomes involved actively in politics. The next events, those of 1919, come quite quickly on pages 26-28, through the Satyagraha and hartals of the period, the massacre at Jallianwalla Bagh (illustrated in a single frame), and the meeting of Congress of that year.

The last page, 29, shows Nehru in 1920, speaking to villagers outside

Allahabad; the final caption reads: "Thus began his close identification with the masses of India. The man of destiny who later became the architect of India had stepped into the arena of public life." The truncated narrative does not go on to describe Nehru's involvement with the socialist caucus of Congress, his political problems, his imprisonments, or even his or his descendents' tenures as Prime Minister. It does not even hint at the allegations of corruption and elitism that surrounded him before and after partition.

Instead, the remaining three pages of the volume are filled with advertisements for products of India Book House. This materially and narratively foreshortened volume returns us to the question asked by Pritchett about Veer Savarkar. In that case, she wonders why the editors would choose a communalist leader, and then airbrush him into "blandness." Here we see a leader famed, if anything, for his moderacy, beloved for his pacifist Gandhian leanings and commitment to secularism; and yet he's painted 180 with the same brush. It appears that to avoid any details which cast Nehru in a critical light, or to make him appear as neutral as possible, ACK halts his biographical narrative in 1920, well before the most critical moments of his career.

But this is not to suggest that the representation is empty of ideological content.

If there is nothing overtly critical in the comic about Nehru, neither is there anything to recommend him as a hero of India, as with the Dayananda and Savarkar comics. To contextualize the comic book once again as a putatively educational text, I wonder what young people are to learn from this about Indian political history, other than to walk away with the contradictory messages regarding the elite, westernized character of the

Nehru dynasty, and the Nehru's commitment to the masses of India. The prevailing message appears to be that young Nehru is enamoured of European thought and attitude. He is imagistically portrayed as less strong, and fundamentally less authentically Indian, than Savarkar and Dayananda.

This 'Europeanized' representation of Nehru is thus consistent with the Hindu nationalist opinion of him, which would lay India's social and economic problems squarely at the feet of "'Pseudo-secular' nationalists like Nehru, who preferred the bondage to an alien system of thought, [who] perpetuated it by integrating this notion within the 'pseudo-secular' constitution" (Basu et al 37). By semiotically connecting

Nehru with a perceived European-ness, the ideological framework of Hindu nationalism is reinforced — the heroes of Hindutva appear strong and masculine, in contrast to the intellectualized and westernized Nehru. 181

Gandhi

The volume on MK Gandhi (1869-1948) is illustrative of a similar ideological fashioning. Titled Mahatma Gandhi: The Early Days (v.416/650), it is visually quite similar to the one on Nehru. The Gandhi on the cover is not the little man in a dhoti mostly remembered by history, but of a moustached man in a European style suit (fig.

17). Like the Nehru volume, it was also published quite late in the series, in 1989, and reprinted in only in 2002. Unlike in the Nehru case, there was a second volume published, called Mahatma Gandhi: Father of the Nation, (v.418); it was published just after The Early Days in 1989, but was never re-released as a deluxe edition, and as such is long out of print. That volume, in text and title, portrayed a much more familiar

Gandhi. Considering that Father of the Nation has not been re-issued, nor have any of the "March to Freedom" series, the Early Days now stands as the only representation of

Gandhi in ACK. The truncation of later events from this narrative seems even more problematic in this context.

As is the case with Nehru, the volume begins with an detailed lineage going back to Gandhi's grandfather. The narrative spends much of its time dealing with

Gandhi's childhood and education in England. The next part of the volume focuses on his life in South Africa, where he worked towards rights for the Indians there. He returns to India only on page 23; the last pages of the narrative bring the story to 1919, 182 when Gandhi began his Rowlatt Satyagraha, eventually leading to a proposal from King

George V to begin some negotiation on reform. There are no images of Gandhi himself in the final two pages. The second to last frame of the comic shows a blue eyed King

George with a narrative box beneath him reading "Gandhi trusted the British and welcomed the proposal." Though the last lines of narrative read that "Gandhi was established and acknowledged as a leader of the nation," the previous line seems to imply a kind of doubt about Gandhi and his willingness to negotiate with the British.

This should be read in contrast to those Hindu nationalist heroes like Savarkar who seem, in according to ACK entirely unwilling to negotiate, though we know now about his own extensive epistolary negotiations with the British.

Like Nehru, Gandhi, in the ACK visual representation, appears westernized and somewhat foppish. It makes much of his family's Brahmin vegetarianism, and talks a great deal about his pursuit of English customs: on page 11 (fig. 18) consecutive frames show Gandhi in a suit, with the narrative caption reading:

Forgetting his school-day dislike of the English in India, Gandhi admired the

English in England and tried to make himself an English gentleman. He took

dancing and violin lessons, and joined elocution classes. Then one day, he

suddenly awoke from the false dream and decided to remain Indian and

concentrate on his studies. (Gandhi 11).

While these aspects of Gandhi's story are widely known, the percentage of visual and textual space in the volume devoted to it seems disproportionate given the lack of 183 coverage of the historical events for which he is most well known. When on page 23,

Gandhi gives up his western-style suit for a kurta and dhoti, the caption reads that

"inwardly he already deeply felt himself an Indian; even outwardly now, he became an

Indian." That the narrative goes somewhat out of its way to focus on Gandhi's flirtations with European culture is hardly insignificant. Golwalkar, the RSS leader, writing about the Congress leaders who he felt had consorted with the enemy by working with Muslims, wrote that they were "as if pledged to sap all manliness from their own people" (qtd in Noorani 2000: 22).

Here we have an explicit delineation of the rhetoric of masculinity within Hindu nationalist ideology. A connection is made by Golwalkar between effeminacy,

European-ness, and "anti-Hindu" activities, which would of course include 'placating minorities.' Gandhi was seen by Hindu nationalists as one of the worst offenders of this

"weakening" of the Hindu position. Such resentment of Gandhi was the reasoning behind his assassination in 1948 (Noorani 2002: 94).

As is the case with the Nehru volume, then, there is nothing explicit to denigrate

Gandhi in the comic, but nor is there anything to substantiate the reasons why he has come to be known as 'the father of the nation.' The representation of Gandhi is emptied of such content, and what is left is a comic representation of a small man putting on

English airs. Though Gandhi became, later on, very much a spiritual leader of the movement, he is here represented as mainly interested in western intellectualism. While the narrative tells us that he "soon woke up from this false dream and decided to remain 184

Indian," (11), the text seems unwilling to ascribe to him all the great Hindu traits attributed to heroes like Dayananda and Savarkar. While he is, perhaps grudgingly, included in the litany of Hindu national heroes, the portrayal of Gandhi, like Nehru, clearly marks him as different- and less heroic.

Ideological construction in the comic book narrative

Biographical narrative seems to be an optimal forum in which mythohistorical ideology can be created; the comic book form appears to facilitate that because of the abridgments, omissions and simplifications required by the medium itself. The four major historical figures I've looked at thus far provide us with some striking contrasts and may raise provocative questions. Earlier, Dayananda and Savarkar provided examples of ACK's willingness to include communalist leaders early on in the series, removing from their stories the details of their communalist perspectives, and representing them uncritically as national heroes. In contrast, Jawarhalal Nehru, a

Congress leader, is hardly represented as a politician at all in his biographical comic;

Gandhi is portrayed for the most part in his days as a student and barrister.

A return to Marx's three tricks of ideology can illuminate the method of ideological production at work here. Trick one is to separate the ideas from the rulers themselves, and the empirical conditions in which their lives are lived, and their ideas produced. In the hegemonic context of British colonialism, none of these figures were rulers because they were colonized subjects. Within the context of nationalism, it is 185 clear that they are considered to be major political figures. Certainly, in the emerging historiography of Hindu nationalism, these 'founding' fathers take on the role of leaders in history. If we consider them leaders within that movement, and then consider their differing ideas on what the 'nation' itself should be, we can immediately see such a separation of lives and ideas taking place. Thus, the varying ideologies of Aryan majoritarianism, Hindutva, socialist secularism, and , are extricated to varying degrees from the lives of these individuals. Separated from the empirical, historical circumstances which allow for such varying theories, what is separated out from the leaders, then, is the ideology of 'the nation' itself.

Trick two tells us to then find the "mystical connections" between the ideas thus separated from the people who think them. Separated out of the empirical historical context in which their thinkers think them, these varying ideas about the nation's identity are homogenized through ACK, until their common thread is revealed to be a common concern with 'nationhood.' Despite the fact that they differ wildly on how such a nationhood should be conceived, it is this point which earns them a place in

ACK's version of India. While the logical, empirical connections, as Marx writes, are already there - these men clearly interacted with one another, worked within roughly the same period, likely read each other's work, and in some cases, antagonized each other - the kernel at the centre of their ideas, 'the nation,' is what binds them together in comic book form. 186

The kind of nation' that is symbolized in ACK by Dayananda and Savarkar is represented more favourably than the nation of Congress, because it is intrinsically based on a collective association with Hindu, or Vedic identity. That version of

'nationhood' is ideologically dominant in the series, but the communalist, exclusivist facets of this nationalism are not on display. Scenes like that of Dayananda eating with

Muslims completely eliminates the vehemently anti-Muslim rhetoric of early, and ergo contemporary, Hindu nationalism from view.

With such representations, the British are clearly marked as the enemy, while the perception of the Muslim enemy, and the history of communalism itself, is obscured. ACK thus plays a role in the transformation of Hindu nationalist ideology, from an anti-Muslim to an anti-British one. Hindu nationalism is thus emptied of communalist tendencies, and made to appear, in line with the VHP's ethos, as totally inclusive of all thing 'Hindu.' ACK employs techniques enabled by the comics medium, such as creating polysemic interactions between image and text and strategically including and omitting content, to make mystical connections between disparate political figures and ideologies. The series can thereby make them appear homogeneously part of the same ideological narrative.

Trick three is to change the idea back into 'a person,' to imbue it with 'self- consciousness,' agency, to associate it once again with the ideologues themselves. Here is the place in which ACK's process of ideological production is illuminated. The biographical narratives of these comic books perform precisely and literally, this third 187 trick: to turn 'the nation' into a series of personages, "Makers of Modern India," or

"Indian Revolutionaries." Removed of the actual details of their analyses, lives, and work, these four become precisely what ACK would like them to be: comic heroes for the children of an independent Indian nation — but this nation is a rather specific one: the 'fathers' of the nation are Hindu; devoid of the specific context of Hindu nationalism, and the communalist violence and hatred associated with it, these men become 'air-brushed' heroes of a united India.

Impacts of Amar Chitra Katha

In "The Eighteenth Brumaire of Louis Bonaparte," Karl Marx writes that in times of crisis, people "conjure up the spirits of the past to their service and borrow from them names, battle slogans and costumes in order to present the new scene of world history in this time-honoured disguise and this borrowed language" (595). In contemporary India, the BJP, VHP and other Hindu nationalists are conjuring up spirits from Indian history and Hindu mythology to their service. In this process of ideological production, the line between the 'historical' and the 'mythological' is complicated and blurred until these conjured images become part of a single, homogeneous mythohistorical narrative about the supremacy of Hindus in India.

While Pai himself has taken pains to be seen as without a political agenda, it appears that the series can lend itself to the Hindu nationalist ideological project. It is unlikely that Pai, or India Book House escape entirely from political pressure but 188 regardless, the simple majority of volumes devoted to Hindu religion, heroes and stories suggests that some agenda is at play. John Hawley writes that because the series is directed towards children, Pai claims that each plot must involve action, and should be

"simple, coherent and devoted to developing the 'core personality' of the lead personage" (128). In the context of the comic book medium, these limitations seem functional, but they also allow for a great deal of the selective omission that I have identified here. Within these constraints, the deliberate nature of the choice of

'personage' and the choices of omission and inclusion point back repeatedly to the larger ideological construction of 'the nation.' The series bills itself as representing

"the glorious heritage of India." But that India is carefully constructed via these choices, so that the ugliness of Hindu fundamentalist nationalism is diligently avoided, while a shining mythohistorical image of Hindu nationhood is allowed to emerge. This concept of nation is produced by ideological method: it is not simply that ACK contains ideological content, but that the practice of creating, and reading comics, is ideological.

Bannerji reminds us that we must consider not only what ideological content may be present, but the social relations of its production.

It is worth noting in this light that IBH's re-release of the new series of 'deluxe editions,' and coincident deletion of previously issued titles has coincided with the rise of the BJP to political power. In that light, one wonders if the editorial choices might be informed by this nationalist agenda. As I noted earlier, Pai and IBH once accepted a commission from the Congress party, which was in power at the time (Hawley 130). 189

Though A CK was in circulation for almost 15 years before Congress really made a substantial appearance in its pages, the BJP has been occasionally and publicly associated with the series in the last several years. Recently, then BJP Prime Minister

Atal Behari Vajpayee commemorated the release of a new CD-ROM version of Amar

Chitra Katha at which he praised the series's role in educating young people.42 To relate Pai's desire to create an educational medium for young people lacking knowledge about "their own traditions," with the increased BJP revision of school texts deemed anti-Hindu brings this into perspective. Though the BJP's defeat by Congress in the

2004 elections may indicate a wider rejection of communalist, nationalist politics, it is a fact that communalist violence continues. It is also a mistake to suggest that the BJP's power has waned much; various actions in 2004 have kept the opposition party regularly in the news.

Pritchett writes that although there are clearly problems in ACK, the series of itself should be considered constructive:

Amar Chitra Katha's readers may indeed by led to hate the British, who are no

longer there to object, but they will also be led to hate untouchability and to feel

outrage at the plight of the poor and to admire the gallant deeds of at least some

women and non-Hindus. And they will never, in any issue, that I've seen, be led

November 13, 1998. the CD-ROM volume, called Jungle Whispers, provides interactive versions of some popular folk-tales. 190

to feel hostility toward one another. They will have a strong, positive sense of

India as a multicultural nation in which they can all work together. (103)

Pritchett is not entirely wrong when she writes that its readers will not be led to feel hostility towards each other. In that the series' target readership is mainly Hindu, it is certainly the case that they are not meant to feel hostility towards each other, for this hostility is meant to be directed towards the 'foreign.' But I would suggest that she is missing a crucial element here about the ideological construction of the foreign not just as British, but as non-Hindu. In the context of Hindu hegemony in India, the series resonates in a very different tenor.

As an apparently innocuous form of media targeted towards children, ACK's messages about nationalism are able to circulate widely and slide under the critical radar of its readers. It is necessary to recognize that though the immediacy and highly visual nature of the comic book form may prove pedagogically useful in an information culture, this renders it all the more vital to consider the ways in which ideology is quietly constructed, and disseminated, in the name of educational pursuit. While ACK may never directly exhort its Hindu readers to hate Muslims, there is a subtle message about Hindu superiority and the failure of Nehruvian secularism and Gandhian one- nation politics that imbues the entire series, and this cannot fail to have an impact on its readers.

To think critically about ACK's process of ideological production means observing that the simplified, illustrated nationalism of the series and the Hindu-centric 191 stage on which its dramas are acted out do not lay a foundation for a "multicultural," unified Indian future; on the contrary, it lays a fertile ground on which Hindu fundamentalist ideology can grow. The steps between 'Veer Savarkar: comic book hero' to 'Veer Savarkar, founder of Hindutva and father of the Hindu nation' are few.

In not identifying the historical realities behind these figures, ACK makes it possible for such slippages to occur quickly and with ease. In comic book form, Savarkar certainly seems more exciting and heroic a personage than Nehru.

In an information culture each new medium may be a potential machine of ideology. To dismiss ACK simply as a series of comic books for children would be to miss both the pedagogical significance, and the cultural significance, of this medium.

Sumit Sarkar writes that "The Hindutva version of Indian history, again, is obviously grounded on certain kinds of 'nationalist' readings that had once predominated, had been overcome at sophisticated levels through research over the past generation, but are now being sought to be reimposed by state action" (2002:9). It is significant to consider how Amar Chitra Katha 's self-proclaimed role in education might lead it to act, in many situations, as a companion to this new history. Debashish, a 29 year old graduate student from Bengal, told me:

most of the history that I have read, I mean we didn't used to study much history

in school, we skipped classes and studied only for passing exams, so I would say

that most of my knowledge or whatever ruins or fragmentary knowledge of 192

history, both Islamic history in India, and also the history of whatever

mythological history, like Mahabharata is primarily from ACK.

Debashish recalled that the biographies of heroes he read in ACK left a greater impression on him than the histories he read in school:

we had a hard time learning Gandhi, because you went through a set of political,

very dry, mobilizations and movements and dates which are not [easily]

remembered. I mean Quit India for us was a matter of someone becoming a

hero. If you did not have a conspicuous hero in that, who threw a bomb or did a

war or something, you tended to push it out of your memory.

Debashish's comments typify the experiences of many of the readers of ACK I spoke with. If ACK so often acts as an adjunct, or even as a stand-in, for the formal study of

Indian history, then it is important to consider how that history is constructed. I do not argue that ACK turns its readers into religious zealots, or that all readers lack the critical capacity to think through what they see depicted in its pages; certainly Debashish, or

Hema, whose words I quoted at the beginning of this chapter, show such a generalization to be untrue. But I do argue that the mythohistorical narratives of ACK can nourish the Hindu nationalist imagination. If the crisis of which Marx writes in

"The Eighteenth Brumaire" is made evident by growing support for Hindutva ideological positions in India and around the world, then I argue that Amar Chitra

Katha is one popular cultural mechanism among many that can facilitate Hindu 193 nationalists' "conjuring up" of the history of the independence movement to serve an increasingly fundamentalist agenda. 194

Chapter 4: Chachas of the Nation: Gender, Ideology and Avuncular Education

In the previous chapter, I identified some of the contrasts between ACK's portrayals of Gandhi and Nehru and those of prominent Hindu nationalists, arguing that the comics appeal to a mythohistorical imagery of nation. In this chapter, I want to further interrogate the comic-book associations of masculinity, nationalism, and heroism by considering the trope of the uncle in Indian popular culture.

There is little question that modern nationalisms are deeply invested in patriarchal power relations, as theorists like Nira Yuval-Davis (1997) have discussed at length. Women are materially imbricated in the ideology of nation, charged with reproducing a nation's citizens; and they are symbolically charged with the representation of the nation, as we see with nation-goddesses like Britannia or Bharat

Mata. Modern nations and nationalisms are deeply paternalist, and even the language of patriotism carries the logic of the father as the nation's progenitor. 195

In Indian politics, ideologies of paternalism and patriotism are invoked in the

self-constructed rhetoric of the Sangh Parivar, or 'family' of right-wing Hindu fundamentalist organizations. The use of the word 'parivar' (family) in this naming consciously refers to the way in which the Hindu right organizes itself: if India is Bharat

Mata, or the mother, then these organizations see themselves as her brothers and sons.

The founders and early leaders of the RSS and VHP are 'fathers', and successive

generations of leadership see themselves as continuing their lineage. Men are the

leaders of these groups, with women participating in generally less prominent roles. In

"Making India Hindu and Male" (2006), Himani Bannerji writes that in the Sangh

Parivar, "[t]he male leaders of the nation are supposed to hold homologous relationships to fathers and husbands in the national family, while women are its mothers and

daughters" (381). A paternalist structure underpins not only the leadership structure of the Sangh Parivar members, but also pervades the activities of the groups, for example

separating out boys and girls for training in gender-specific activities that are linked to a

Hindutva interpretation of Hindu social ethics (Basu et al 1993).2 Thus, girls are trained to be supportive, chaste, and fertile wives and mothers of nation, while boys are trained to be workers, soldiers, and leaders. Thus, Bannerji notes that

The hindutva family code inculcates hierarchical familial relations,

1 There are some notable exceptions, such as Uma Bharati or Sadhvi Ritambara, but by and large women's participation is limited to the women's wings of these groups, and is always undertaken in ways which are ideologically consistent with Hindutva. See Tanika Sarkar, Hindu Wife Hindu Nation (2001). 2 Thus, for example, while girls are taught about religion, domestic life, and prayer, boys are trained in martial arts and physical activities. I discuss this later in the chapter. 196

with father at the head, and filial as well as wifely obedience and caste

proprieties. It resonates with a cult of powerful leaders and unquestioning

obedience to superiors and group loyalty. (2006: 380)

Given the propensity for nationalist ideologies to invoke the imagery of the nuclear family, it is perhaps surprising to notice the prevalence with which not just fathers and mothers, but uncles are symbolically engaged in the production of national ideologies. Though one tends to think more immediately of the fathers and mothers of nations, uncles have played an important role in the histories of modern states - from

Uncle Sam to Uncle Joe Stalin to Uncle Nehru. Uncles in popular culture and in nationalist imagery tend to be associated with several features. Firstly, as a figure separate from but related to the father, the uncle has access to power but it is power of a non-procreative nature. Since the uncle is then not associated with heterosexual sex, uncles are sometimes associated with sexual ambiguity. Secondly, the uncle is avuncular - friendly, accessible to all, warm and inviting to children; in this respect he differs from the authority of the father although the uncle may wield power of his own.

Thirdly, the uncle is frequently associated with money and capitalist expansion; thus he fits well within the framework of a modern liberal nationalism, particularly in the colonial context. In each context, the uncle is often read as an adjunct to the patriarchal power of the father, as a gentler, friendlier version of the father's power. 197

Various manifestations of the uncle reflect these various characteristics. In

India, Jawarhalal Nehru is perhaps the most important uncle figure in Indian popular culture: he is still remembered by Indian school children as Chacha (Hindi and Urdu for paternal uncle).3 Nehru's birthday is celebrated each year as Children's Day; his fondness for children and commitment to their education is generally remembered with great nostalgia,4 something underscored by the great number of schools and institutions named in his honour.5 As the first Prime Minister of India he is venerated as an uncle, but that is not quite the same as being a father. The role of the nation's father is commonly ascribed to Mahatma Gandhi, and so as the father's brother, Chacha Nehru is eulogized as the avuncular adjunct to Gandhi's progeniture of the nascent state. As I explored in the previous chapter, in A CK Nehru is depicted as effeminate and westernized, and in this way his authority is displaced in favour of a pantheon of heroes who appear more vigorous, masculine, and religiously nationalist. This effeminate representation of Nehru as Chacha illustrates one important mode of the avuncular in popular culture, in which uncles are non-procreative, queer, but still powerful figures.

Another face of the avuncular is represented by Anant Pai himself, known as

'Uncle Pai' to many Indian children who grew up in the 1970s and 1980s. Pai is also

3 There are other important pop cultural uncles in India: Chacha Chaudhary, the comics detective drawn by Pran and featured in a syndicated newspaper strip; and the archetypal uncle of Bollywood cinema, as seen in films like Chacha-Bhatija (1977). 4 In Gods in the Bazaar Kajri Jain discusses a poster image titled "The God of Indian Children", in which a wide-eyed child prays in front of a framed image of Nehru (283). This image exemplifies this kind of nostalgia. 5 One of the most famous of these might be Jawarhalal Nehru University in New Delhi. 198 frequently associated with another uncle, Walt Disney; an illustration on ACK's web site prominently declares this association (fig. 19).6 'Uncle Walt' is a pop cultural uncle in his own right, and the association of Pai with Disney is obviously prompted by his commitment to children and his chosen medium. The association of Pai and Disney points to a somewhat more complex juxtaposition of uncles in popular culture. Pai, the non-Nehruvian Disney-style uncle, represents another important mode of the national avuncular: as I will go on to argue, he is the protagonist in a story of capitalist advancement.

In this chapter, I make three key arguments. Firstly, I argue that the uncle in

Indian popular culture manifests as a powerful ideological figure and is directly linked to the nation's construction of itself as a modern state under and after British colonialism. Secondly, I consider the relationship between 'Uncle' Anant Pai of Amar

Chitra Katha and other pop cultural uncles, particularly in regard to popular culture and education. Here I propose that nationalist popular education has an intrinsically

avuncular character, and ACK provides an illustration of this. Thirdly, in the final

sections of the chapter, I show how the Hindu nationalist movement in India engages in this kind of avuncular popular education, and I consider the relationship between its

ideological moves and the constructions of ACK.

6 Amarchitrakatha.com (Accessed May 8th, 2007). 199

It is important to notice at the outset that there are few aunties in this avuncular world. ACK's feminine counterpart to the benevolent but heroic uncle is the dignified and self-sacrificing rani, or queen. Like the uncle, the rani figure is sexless, but is so because she is a chaste wife, a virgin, or a widow.7 In this chapter, a narrow focus on uncles allows me to reveal some particularities of Indian popular culture within its specific contexts of patriarchy, politics and global capitalism, but in order to do so it is necessary to acknowledge that women are few in the story as it is told by Amar Chitra

Katha.

Nations, capital, and uncles in the extended family

The sweet but bumbling crimefighter Chacha Chaudhary is an Indian avuncular defender of the nation. The comic book character, the feature of an eponymously titled regular newspaper strip, was developed by artist Pran in 1971 and over the decades has been read and loved by millions. Pran, like Amar Chitra Katha" s Anant Pai, says that he began his syndicated series in the hopes of providing a homegrown Indian alternative to western comics. Chacha Chaudhary is an uncle that supports the nation at a large

scale by thwarting criminal conspiracies and serving the government, and at a smaller local scale by helping neighbours and relations; all the while using his great intelligence as his primary skill. Chachaji has a share of heroic strength in his partner, a giant from

7 See the Rani ofJhansi, the Rani ofChittor, or any of the titled depicting women said to have committed jauhar (self-immolation). 200

Jupiter: "In 1972, when issues like terrorism plagued India, I created Sabu—a muscular character to deal with the issue" (qtd in Kaely 2005).8 Pran was born near and moved to India after Partition: "I have seen the bloodshed and trauma, and so I wanted to put a smile on the face of the people."9 From an early stage, then, it appears that

Chacha Chaudhary has been connected with larger issues of national identity, as many popular cultural uncles are.

Uncles in Indian culture, of course, are significant for practical and anthropological reasons. In the traditional, patriarchal and patrilineal cultures of most regions in South Asia, maternal and paternal uncles play significant roles in family life.

In many parts of India, in both Hindu and Muslim culture, maternal uncles are considered to be extremely close blood relations of a child.10 In parts of , the practice of maternal uncle-niece marriage is a long-standing tradition. Among Hindus in other areas, a bride's maternal uncle 'gives' her away at her wedding though he may be a rare presence in her life thereafter. Paternal uncles tended historically to be more of a regular presence in the lives of children because of the prevalence of the joint family system of cohabitation in which a young married couple reside in the ancestral

One wonders if the name Sabu might be an allusion to the star of several early film adaptations of , Sabu Dastagir. Since 2002, Chacha Chaudhary has also become the star of a live-action television program. The comics show characters in Indian clothes and interiors and landscapes have uniquely Indian features; they have been translated into several Indian languages, but remain most popular in Hindi and in a translated vernacular English. 9 "I didn't want a handsome comics hero: Pran" Times of India, March 25th 2002. 10 See Marriage and Kinship among Muslims in South India, Husain Khan, CG. New Delhi: Rawat Publications, 1994. p. 167 201 home of the husband and his parents.11 This makes uncles extremely significant from the point of view of accruing family wealth: property and inheritance could be passed on by or shared with a chacha, though this would more rarely would this be the case for uncles on the mother's side.

Despite India's many religions and languages, a common cultural practice is for children to refer to all elders, not just those who are relations, as 'uncle' and 'auntie' - this practice occurs in indigenous languages but the English words are also often used by middle-class Indians and diasporic families.12 The use of these terms is preferred over other English terms of respect like "sir" or "ma'am." 'Uncle' therefore is understood as a term of respect, but it also makes the suggestion of a kind of extended family relationship within a community; uncles and aunties are to be respected, and they are often understood to be implicated in some way in the culture of the family and the upbringing of children. To this extent, 'uncle' is applied with equal generosity to neighbours and to politicians. Even police are uncles, though uncles of a sometimes more threatening nature:

The first contact of the child on the streets is the police. To him/her the police is

either a "Chacha", a person who reaches out to him/her to do a good turn, or, in

most instances, a person to fear. (Menon 16)

11 Dube, Leela. Sociology of Kinship: An Analysitical Survery of Literature. New Delhi: Popular Prakashan, 1974. 12 Jhumpa Lahiri's novel The Namesake describes this practice beautifully. 202

In this way the use of the term 'uncle' in such capacities, even when used in a satirical tone, draws a child into a familiar relationship with a person who may have authority

(or at least age) over them. But it is important to note that the term 'father' is not generally used in the same way by middle-class Indians. Words for father, such as

Baba, are used in situations which demand a degree of awe toward the person in question; Gandhi, Ambedkar, and a great variety of Hindu saints and god-men provide examples.

The 'uncle' in everyday Indian culture serves the particular purpose of offering familial respect and recognition of a man as part of one's extended family.

The 'extended' or joint family social model is often held in opposition to the nuclear family model in order to illustrate the vast cultural and economic differences between colonial South Asia and Europe. But Indian feminist critics have pointed out that extended families are no less patriarchal (Sreenivas, 2004). Some anthropologists have argued that the nuclear and joint family models are not so distinct from each other, and that the nuclear family model existed prior to colonialism in India (D'Cruz and Bharat

2001). Conversely, various kinds of joint extended family practices were still common in late 19th century Europe.13 What is however more certainly the case is that the idea of the nuclear family became, in the 20th century, an emblem of capitalist modernity towards which more middle-class Indian families strove, as did their counterparts in

Europe and the US.

13 On the latter point see Cleere, "Introduction." 203

But joint family or not, the uncle does not disappear in the nuclear family; he becomes a symbol of the power of exchange. In her highly original and fascinating book Avuncularism: Capitalism, Patriarchy, and Nineteenth-Century English Culture,

Eileen Cleere develops an argument about the significance of the uncle in the Victorian period, a time in which, she writes, "though few fathers can be found, uncles proliferate" (3). The absent father of Victorian literature has often been read through a psychoanalytic lens, particularly through Freud and Lacan. The uncle then either acts a surrogate for the father, or represents the limits of male heterosexuality by representing the lack of the father. Writing about the Importance of Being Earnest, Eve Kosofsky

Sedgwick argues that the avuncular can be read as the instantiation of queer possibilities. The uncle in that text, which she considers emblematic of late Victorian literature, is presented as sexually ambiguous, or potentially as queer, and that in this way the uncle disrupts the primacy of the patriarchal family narrative.14 But to pursue only this line of thinking, Cleere argues, creates several problems - it takes for granted that the nuclear family structure is the normative family model, thereby reinforcing the

'law of the Father', and it ignores the more complex reasons why, though fathers may be absent, their brothers are more frequently part of Victorian narrative. Cleere sets out in her book to identify some of these reasons, and presents an intriguing analysis of the political economy of literary uncles.

14 Sedgewick, "Tales of the Avunculate: Queer Tutelage in The Importance of Being Earnest" in Tendencies (1993). 204

In nineteenth century English literature, the word 'avuncular' carried the meaning it still has today as an adjective meaning friendly, affable, and harmless - as an uncle should be. But avuncularism carried a second humorous and colloquial meaning as a euphemism for a pawnbroker's trade: to do business with one was to borrow money from 'one's uncle.' This use of the term highlights two interesting associations with the idea of the avuncular. The first is that the Victorian uncle was quite deeply associated with commerce: Cleere raises a variety of examples throughout her text of uncles who, benevolent or curmudgeonly, are frequent bestowers of inheritance, instigators of adventure, and mysterious dwellers in far-away lands. Citing novels like Jane Eyre as well as lesser known works of fiction from the period, Cleere writes that the uncles of nineteenth century literature are often associated not just with wealth, but with the colonial enterprise in particular (4). Due to the law of primogeniture, the eldest son in an English family inherited the ancestral wealth. His brothers were left to build their own fortunes, and in the 19th century this often took the form of colonial adventure and

settlement.15 According to Cleere then the uncle is,

in most cases, a non-procreative younger brother who owes his "patriarchal"

status to colonial commerce rather than English patrimony.. .the figure of the

uncle in the nineteenth-century British novel marks an important cultural and

historical schism in the concept of patriarchy, a schism provoked by significant

15 See Leonore Davidoff and Catherine Hall, Family Fortunes: Men and Women of the English Middle Class, 1780-1850 (University of Chicago Press, 1991). 205

historical events from the onslaught of industrial capitalism, to colonialism, to

the demands of a newly global economy. (Cleere 6-7)

The schism is characterized by popular ambivalence towards the insecurities of free- market capitalism and it is manifested in ambivalent attitudes towards uncles, so that the avuncular in essence has two sides - the queer, or sexless, harmless and non- reproductive uncle, and the uncle of capital, a gruff adventurer who may not reproduce, but certainly masters production.

It is in this context of colonialism, exchange, and the accumulation of capital that Cleere's argument about uncles most particularly interests me for the purpose of this project. The colonial uncle takes us circuitously back to twentieth century India, where uncles are being fashioned and refashioned in a way which I would argue mirrors these English anxieties. This is hardly to suggest that the primacy of the uncle in Indian popular culture is a product of British colonialism, since of course the socio-cultural roles of uncles date much farther back than that. Rather, I want to make the link that in the nineteenth and early twentieth century, ideas about nation, family, culture, and

economy are themselves commodities of exchange, and uncles are especially implicated

in their trade. 206

A Duck's your uncle

A classic text which exposes the connections between uncles and capital is Ariel

Dorfmann and Armand Mattelart's revolutionary book, How to Read Donald Duck.

Published in 1971 during the height of Chile's socialist revolution, this analysis identified Disney comics as a tool for the promotion of American Imperialism. The text remains controversial for its scathing critique of an imaginary world that many would like to remain 'innocent' and familiar. Any reader who is acquainted with the world of

Walt Disney will recognize Donald Duck and his avian compatriots, including of course his uncle Scrooge McDuck. Many storylines revolve around Uncle Scrooge's and

Donald's attempts to make yet more money and to train the nephews in his arts. There are few females in the comics, with the occasional exception of Daisy Duck, with whom

Donald seems to enjoy a largely platonic relationship. There are no mothers at all. The three generations of male characters experience many adventures through the comics, many of them pivoting on ideas associated with money, accumulation, success and conquest.

The Donald Duck comics of this era are largely the work of one artist, Carl

Barks, who is recognized today as an immensely important figure in the cartoon world.

Though even Dorfman and Mattelart have softened their critique of the comics in more recent years, recognizing that much of Barks' work incorporates an incisive satirical

edge, the analysis of what the comics do when in circulation as an ideological tool is 207 still relevant today.16 Dorfman and Mattelart felt they needed to respond to the manner in which the comics were being circulated by the US in Chile as propaganda against the socialist revolutionaries. While the original works of Barks may have taken a more satirical tone, the comics that circulated in Chile and translated into Spanish carried an earnestly propagandistic intention.

In a chapter called "From the Noble Savage to the Third World," Dorfman and

Mattelart explore the international travels of Uncle Scrooge and Uncle Donald, including their adventures in the Asiatic country of'Unsteadystan,' a simulacrum of

Vietnam where guerrilla soldiers serve the communist dictator Wahn Bheeg Rat. The ducks prevail, bringing tidings of American-style capitalism and comics to the forlorn foreign land. Commenting on the manner in which the infantilized world of Disney recreates the relations of power of the real world, Dorfman and Mattelart write:

The hegemony which we have detected between the child-adults who arrive

with their civilization and technology, and the child-noble savages who accept

this alien authority and surrender their riches, stands an exact replica of the

relations between metropolis and satellite, between empire and colony, between

master and slave. Thus we find the metropolitans not only searching for

treasures, but also selling the native comics (like those of Disney) to teach them

the role assigned to them by the dominant urban press. (51)

16 David Kunzle discusses the more generous approach to Barks taken by Dorfman and Mattelart in recent years in his introduction to How to Read Donald Duck (3rd edition, 1991). 208

The world of the ducks mimics the real world by even by mimicking the same ideological circulation of comics that Dorfman and Mattelart call into question. Like the Amar Chitra Katha comics, the Disney comics in this way reflect a sense of awareness of their intention which is masked by the childish exuberance of the texts themselves.

But to return to the uncles: having spent a moment considering the Disney world, we can return to the figures of Donald Duck and Uncle Scrooge in order to ask why Disney should give the uncle such primacy in these texts. Donald is himself an uncle to three nephews - Huey, Dewey, and Louie. As Dorfman and Mattelart point out, there are no fathers in Disney's world - only non-procreative uncles. Donald himself has an uncle, the infamous Scrooge McDuck. Uncle Scrooge is a venture

capitalist of the highest order, a ruthless and miserly feathered head for business.

Donald, in contrast, is gentle, meek, and apparently harmless. The dichotomy between these avuncular categories mirrors that identified by Cleere in the Victorian period.

Uncles, whether queer and non-threatening or macho and adventuring, are everything that fathers are not. This has significant effects on power in the Disney world. Like

Cleere, Dorfman and Mattelart see this shift in familial metaphor as informed by the

economic role of the uncle under capitalism. Patriarchy is socially accepted as

normative and biologically predetermined (The Law of the Father), but the authors

write: 209

Uncle-authority, on the other hand, not having been conferred by the father (the

uncle's brothers and sisters, who must in theory have given birth to the nephews,

simply do not exist), is of purely de facto origin, rather than a natural right. It is

a contractual relationship masquerading as a natural relationship, a tyranny

which does not even assume the responsibility of breeding. And one cannot

rebel against it in the name of nature; one cannot say to an uncle, 'you are a bad

father.' (Dorfman and Mattelart 34)

Though they are writing about somewhat different cultural universes, Dorfman and

Mattelart, like Cleere, are pointing to the uncle in Euro-American popular culture as the

symbolic embodiment of the contractual relationship. The ACK comics present yet

another world in which the uncle of Europe and America is complemented by the figure

of the Indian uncle, and in this respect these 'universes' dovetail together especially in the proximity of uncles to colonialism. In each context it appears that uncles are

uniquely suited to the kind of accumulation rendered by colonial capitalism, since their

authority is very much a contractual relationship (mercantile colonialism) masquerading

as a natural right. And since, as they write above, one cannot rebel against an uncle in

the way one can against a father, uncle-authority is ideally suited to a nationalist

ideology. Since uncles are not 'fathers' of a nation but rather a nation's avuncular

minders, they can accomplish a great deal under a veil of benevolence.

This idea of uncles as the minders or guardians of the nation resonates with

Donald Duck's benevolent care of his mini-nation of duckling nephews. National 210

uncles are nothing new. The most famous national uncle must be Uncle Sam of the

USA, who tells us what America wants while staring out from early twentieth century posters with a grave and sombre intensity. Uncle Sam dates back to the early 19th

century, but he persists to this day in the media. He has an eponymous breakfast cereal,

and is even featured as a superhero in an American comic book series.17 Whether as muscle-bound hero or as stern elder statesman, Uncle Sam continues to be the most recognize-able national uncle in the world. He is a fictional anthropomorphized

representation of the nation itself rather than a real historical figure, but he remains

instantly recognisable in both name and image. Though most national personifications

in the modern world are maternal women (from Britannia, Germania, and Columbia to

Bharat Mata) or fathers, Uncle Sam marks the beginning of a popular cultural turn

towards the uncle in this symbolic vocabulary.

Uncle Sam was the addressee of a series of writings by Sadat Hasan Manto from

1951 to 1954.18 Manto is remembered as extremely significant figure in both Indian

and Pakistani literature, and is perhaps most famous for his writings about the 1947

partition of the two nations. After Partition, Manto went along with many other

Muslims to Pakistan. Both the colonial British and Pakistani governments found his

17 'Uncle Sam' the superhero was leader of a troupe of heroes called the Freedom Fighters, and was also a sometime member of the Justice League of America. These characters are owned by DC comics. A new series featuring the Uncle Sam and Freedom Fighters characters has been released starting in Autumn 2007. See www.dccomics.com. 18 See Letters to Uncle Sam, translated by Khalid Hasan (Islamabad: Alhamra Publishing, 2001). According to Khalid, the first of the original letters, in Urdu, was commissioned and then rejected by an American-run magazine which had planned to translate the piece into English. The subsequent 'open' letters were circulated locally in Lahore. 211 writings objectionable, and he was tried for obscenity on several occasions. By the

1950s, Manto was personally disintegrating, having given in to alcoholism and writing widely mainly to support his habit; ironically this is considered to be a period in which he wrote some of his best work.

The Letters to Uncle Sam are nine in number, and several of them have been translated into English. In the letters, which are written in a casual and somewhat

satirical tone, Manto describes the Pakistan in which he lives, his daily life, and comments on current world events. On several occasions he takes Uncle Sam to task

for American actions and positions on foreign policy, and he compares what he sees as the lifestyles of Americans and Pakistanis, commenting on cars, make-up, fashion, and

literature. In one memorable passage, he writes to Uncle Sam:

The number of your nephews runs into millions but a nephew like yours

truly you will not find even if you lit an atom bomb to look for him. Do pay me

some attention therefore. All I need is an announcement from you that your

country (which may it please God to protect till the end of time) will only help

my country (may God blight the distilleries of this land) acquire arms if Saadat

Hasan Manto is sent over to you.

Overnight, my value will go up... . 19

Manto, "Third Letter to Uncle Sam." Translated fromUrd u by Khalid Hasan and accessed at http://www.chowk.com/show_article.cgi?aid=00005100&channel=chaathouse accessed May 21 2007. 212

Referring to himself as Uncle Sam's Pakistani nephew neatly metaphorizes and satirizes the relationship between the two countries of the period. In a mode rife with humour and a whisky-soaked cynicism, Manto repeatedly beseeches Uncle Sam to share the prosperity of the US with Pakistan. In this passage, he asks 'Uncle' to help him leave

Pakistan to enjoy the advantages of the US. But Manto is also suspicious of the enormous economic disparity between the two countries:

Uncle, forgive me for my impertinence, but is it not really something of a fraud?

Where do you get all the money from? I know it is not my place to say so, but

your actions have only one purpose and no other: show off.

Though these writings by Manto are worthy of a study in their own right, what interests me in light of the present argument is the extraordinary dialogue between the iconic

American imperial uncle and his nephew, the colonized subject. Uncle never responds, but through these writings we see some of the political economy the avuncular relationship: in an echo of the 19th century definition of the uncle as pawnbroker, Manto repeatedly laments his poverty and begs Uncle Sam for a little help. Manto rages, beseeches, threatens and cajoles Uncle Sam, but Uncle is silent; Manto's original texts include notes suggesting that the letters themselves could not be sent due to lack of money for postage.

Manto, "Second Letter to Uncle Sam." Translated fromUrd u by Khalid Hasan and accessed at http://www.chowk.com/show_article.cgi?aid=00005100&channel=chaathouse accessed May 21 2007 213

Uncle Sam is perhaps the best example of a fictional uncle who is explicitly associated with a nation. But, as I pointed out earlier, nation-uncles both real and imaginary abound in history and popular culture.21 Canada had an uncle in Prime

Minister Louis Stephen St Laurent. "Uncle Louis," running as leader of the Liberals post-war in 1949, was criticized for being too reserved and unapproachable. In a move quite comparable to contemporary political spin-doctoring, St Laurent embarked on an

'uncle' agenda, dressing casually, being photographed with children, and presenting a generally avuncular demeanour. He won the 1949 election in a landslide, and the nickname stuck.22 St Laurent was a politician-uncle of a different stripe than the

socialist-liberal Nehru, but the qualities of uncle-ness are similar in both, perhaps most

acutely highlighted by their reputed affinities for children.

Uncle Pai: India's Walt Disney

These political and nationalist uncles point us towards another kind of popular

cultural uncle, the uncle behind the curtain throughout the previous section of this paper. Donald Duck, after all, has a ducky uncle in Scrooge, but a meta-Uncle in Walt

Disney. 'Uncle Walt' is, next to Uncle Sam, arguably the most widely recognisable

211 am not addressing here other uncles like Remus and Tom who also play an important role in nation and culture, as these would take me too far afield of the present topic; but the connections between these uncles could be taken up in a future study. 22 "Uncle Louis takes the lead." http://archives.cbc.ca/IDC-l-73-2137- 13077/politics_economy/louis_stlaurent/clip3 Accessed May 21st, 2007. 214 uncle in American culture. The entire Disney Empire, including the duck corner of its universe, is built on the premise of Walt's avuncular benevolence towards the nation and the world. But as Richard Schickel has written, Disney was hardly an avuncular person in real life:

Asked late in life what he was proudest of, he did not mention smiling children

or the promulgation of family values. "The whole damn thing," he snapped, "the

fact that I was able to build an organization and hold it." These were not the

sentiments of anyone's uncle — except perhaps Scrooge McDuck (Schickel,

1998)23

Like Uncle Scrooge, Uncle Walt maintains a facade of affable, child-friendly uncle- ness, but also like Uncle Scrooge, his chief goal, by his own admission, was to build an empire. Making full use of his uncle-authority, Disney was reputedly a hard-task master and a shrewd entrepreneur.

Despite these cracks in the surface, the mythology of Uncle Walt persists.

Schickel's book, The Disney Version, was roundly critiqued by Disney aficionados for presenting Disney as a reserved, unsociable businessman rather than as a warm and kindly family man.24 Walt Disney is an uncle to several generations of Americans and

American-media consumers. Disney cartoons, to return to Dorfman and Mattelart, have

23 Schickel, "Builders and Titans: Walt Disney." Time, Monday Dec 7th 1998. 24 Schickel, The Disney Version. Simon and Schuster, 1969. Though Schickel's book is nearly 40 years old, it continues to be seen as a controversial interjection into the mass belief in Disney's magical character. 215 to varying degrees of intensity always expressed some of the core principles of

American family-values oriented capitalist culture. Disney World is where all one's dreams can come true, if one can afford to pay somewhere between $70- $120 per day for the privilege.25 The cultural and political economies of Disney are very microcosms of global capitalism and culture.

In Uncle Walt then, there is a coming together of the various threads I have attempted to identify here. He is the uncle of contract and empire, an uncle, who like

Scrooge McDuck or the 19th century colonial uncle, makes money through somewhat mysterious and magical means, and though loathe to part with it is always perceived as generous by a wanting nephew.26 Like Donald and many other uncles, some of his power comes from his apparent sexual neutrality, with no threat of reproduction except for the reproductions of capital.27 Disney and his world exist outside the nuclear family, as an adjunct to its world-system but never encroaching too far into it:

It was no accident that Disney gained the moniker "Uncle Walt" in the 1950s. In

a very real ways, he became a beloved avuncular presence in millions of

ordinary American homes, hovering in the cultural background as he offered

uplifting amusement to inquisitive children and sage advice to anxious parents.

(Watts 360)

25 http://disneyworld.disney.go.com/wdw/index (accessed May 22, 2007). 26 No nieces, and aunts here; that is another story. 27 Though Disney had children of his own, they were rarely in the public eye and were not part of the Uncle Walt persona. See Steven Watts, The Magic Kingdom: Walt Disney and the American Way of Life from University of Missouri Press (2001). 216

Disney's insistence on the purity of the values represented in his company's work is as legendary as his character:

Walt clearly understood that 'Disney' now symbolized an amalgamation of

qualities and that personally had evolved into a many-sided image: a revered

national moralist, an example of American achievement, a trusted guardian of

the nation's children, and a representative of average citizens and their values,

tastes, and desires. (Watts 405)

The Disney persona provides a sense of wonder and mystery (like the absent colonial uncle in Victorian literature), but also represents the kind of uncle-authority of which politicians, entertainers, and writers of fiction have all sought to avail themselves.

Uncle-authority, for Disney as for Uncles Nehru, St Laurent and Sam, provides the perfect logic through which to rule since like the state itself, the uncle exists outside of the nuclear family but always as an adjunct to it. An uncle can therefore govern kindly

over a nation of nephews and nieces. I want to now consider how uncle-authority and

its relation to the nation-building project are implicated in Amar Chitra Katha.

On the Amar Chitra Katha web site, an image of Pai proudly proclaims him to be "India's Walt Disney."28 The parallel is apt in some ways: like Disney, Pai is

generally credited with establishing a national comic art industry; like Disney, Pai's

work is deeply invested in the preservation of family and tradition; and like Disney, Pai

www.amarchitrakatha.com accessed May 22 2007 217 is popularly celebrated as an uncle to the masses.29 Even the well-known origin story of

Amar Chitra Katha, which I discussed in a previous chapter, specifically locates Pai as an uncle: he talks about the idea for ACK springing from his observations of his nieces and nephews and the gaps in their education. Though the uncle persona was perhaps more deeply elaborated through Pai's other ventures such as Tinkle and Storytime with

Uncle Pai, Anant Pai is, at least for Indian readers of Amar Chitra Katha, an immediately recognisable and much loved figure.30 Hema, who was a big fan of both

ACK and Tinkle comics, still feels a great deal of affection for Uncle Pai:

I used to write letters to Uncle Pai as well by the way. [I used to say] I like

Tinkle very much and please publish more animal stories. [Did uncle Pai seem

like a real person to you?] Of course! He is, right? You are not going to tell me

that Santa doesn't exist now.. .(laughs). Uncle Pai used to write in each Tinkle

comic, there was a little story, a message, a letter from the editor, I don't know if

they still do that with Tinkle.. .he must be old and grey now, but he just used to

say hey kids, how are you doing, next month we'll bring out this, and I loved the

continuity of that, just the continuity of a regular letter from someone.

Though like Disney, Pai has children of his own, it is the friendly persona of 'uncle to the nation' that precedes him nearly everywhere he goes. Even India Book House is

29 Pai is sometimes referred to in the media as "the father of Indian comics." To follow the logic of these familial relations, that would make the comics themselves something like cousins to the children who read them; thus the ethos of familiarity and friendliness embodied by avuncularism prevails. 30 There are many newspaper articles and headlines to this effect, such as the one from The Hindu, Sat Oct 9th, 2004, titled simply "Thanks, Uncle Pai." 218 extremely conscious of the significant 'brand power' that Pai has as uncle to the series

itself. In Bombay, I interviewed Padmini Mirchandani, the head of India Book House.

In the interview, she asked me whether or not, as a diasporic reader of ACK, I had

associated 'Uncle Pai' with the comics as Indian children do:

at least as far as Indian readers are concerned he's sort of intrinsically linked to

it...so now we're trying to delink, I mean we're not delinking him from the

product, but we're trying to, make it known that it is IBH that is the publisher,

and that is more the company that has been responsible for the distribution, I

mean Pai without a distributor, without a publisher. My father actually he went

to...I mean he went to several different publishers and they all turned him away.

My father said sure, let's try, and gave him [a chance]. Now we want to be more

associated IBH with the brand. Which people don't seem to know in corporate

India.31

Like any good uncle, Pai's business ventures all centre around the popular

education of children and young people. To date, in addition to Amar Chitra Katha and

Tinkle, Pai has also produced a series of audio books, a program of 'personality

development' through which children are encouraged to improve memory and

confidence; a video presentation of the Vedic concept of Brahman (Ekam Sat); and a

series of quiz contests. On www.unclepai.com, Pai provides lessons on nutrition,

31 Interview, Mumbai, Oct, 15th, 2004. 219 banking, and 'history made interesting.'32 In the 1990s, Indian Express even published a regular column for children called "Ask Uncle Pai," in which Pai responded to children's questions about science and other topics. These somewhat disparate educational projects have a distinctively avuncular nature as Uncle Pai provides a friendly, accessible alternative to learning through schools and parents.

All of these educational projects are associated with a grander project of nation- building. Pai is interested in teaching children as much about his own, Hindu nationalist, conceptualization of history, as he does about how to manage life and money in the middle-class under capitalism. He is building better citizens, but they are

citizens of a modern, Hindu dominated India. Uncle-authority means that his lessons

are perceived as accurate, genuine, and intellectually sound; as an uncle he is above reproach, and his motives are selfless. In claiming an avuncular primacy, then, Pai

dislocates the legendary uncle relationship of Nehru to India's children as the favourite

Chacha. Pai is conscious of this dynamic. In my interview with him, he remarked:

There was a chasm after Nehru. Children loved Nehru, tomorrow is Nehru's

birthday, Nehru loved children, but after Nehru's death there was a chasm ...

I'm everyone's favourite Chacha after Nehru. [Even Bollywood actress]

Raveena Tandon said that she's always liked Uncle Pai. Here is a full page one

Accessed May 21 2007. 220

[showing me a newspaper article, reads the headline], "Bacchon ke Pyare

Chacha: comic book hero turns 75."33

Pai makes what seems to be a somewhat neutral reference to Nehru, another popular figure among Indian children. But in doing so, I argue, he is very consciously displacing the figure of Nehru as uncle and replacing it with his own particular avuncularism.

In chapter 3,1 discussed how Nehru is presented in ACK as being an overly

anglicized, English-educated, foppish person who studies English literature, music, and religion. Pai, in contrast, has portrayed himself from the outset as a critic of the

Eurocentric content of English education; he believes strongly in traditional Vedic religious practices and considers himself to be an erudite scholar of Hinduism. Pai, then,

would be an uncle in relation to the kinds of heroes I described in the previous chapter,

like Dayananda for example. Though Pai is not and does not claim to be a religious

leader, his attitude towards religion is prominent in his work and in his own words; in

his interview with me he frequently quoted from the Vedas and other Sanskrit religious

texts.

Speaking about the relationship between India's major religions, Pai told me that

in his view Sikhism should be understood as part of Hindu dharma:

Interview with Anant Pai, Bombay, Oct 14 , 2004. Note that Children's Day in India is in fact Nov 14th, a month after the interview and not in fact the next day. 221

It was Khalsa Panth, not Khalsa dharma. The British must have encouraged this

line of thinking [as a separate religion]. Sikhs are the fighting arm of the

Hindus. Buddhists are the thinking arm of the Hindus. I can say I give freely

speeches on Buddhism, I have been invited to many Buddhist societies, I mean

to freshly converted Hindus, Dalits, dharma Hindus.34

Pai's characterization of Indian religion here correlates precisely to that described by

Hindutva rhetoricians like Savarkar, and which continues to be supported by Hindutva organizations like the RSS and VHP. "Freshly converted Dalits" is a reference to those

Dalit people who, since BR Ambedkar's participation in a mass conversion to

Buddhism in 1956, have chosen to convert rather than to continue to live under the

systemic oppression of orthodox Hinduism. Hindu nationalists want to "reclaim" Dalit converts as Hindus to bolster Hindu demographics and to argue that Hindu religion is

actually inclusive of religious difference - clearly a paradoxical idea given the conditions of their conversion. To support their reclamation of Dalit Buddhists, Hindu nationalists argue that Buddhism has always been a branch or sect of Hinduism itself,

and similar claims are applied to Sikhism and Jainism. In claiming these religions as part of his concept of Hinduism, Pai is able to simultaneously gesture with avuncular

Interview with Anant Pai, Mumbai, Oct 14 . 2004. "Freshly converted Dalits" refers to those Dalit people who, following a path laid out by BR Ambedkar, have chosen to convert to Buddhism. These people are sometimes called "Neo-Buddhists". In calling them "dharma Hindus," I take Pai to mean that he understands these converts to continue to belong to Hindu tradition. 222

generosity towards the (limited) diversity of religious representation in A CK, while

simultaneously reinforcing the hegemony of Hinduism within the series' universe.

Although Pai has said publicly that he does not like to be associated with any

political group or party, there are some acknowledged links between him and Hindu

nationalists. Sumit Sarkar has gone so far as to suggest that the publishing of ACK was

itself an RSS project.35 When I asked Pai about this, he insisted that neither he nor

Amar Chitra Katha had any formal relationship with either the RSS or BJP and told me

that he had "never attended RSS, never attended any meeting of the BJP, not at all."36

But he did also say this:

What is important is that wherever I go, suppose the RSS people, BJP people,

come to know that I have arrived, they want to take me around and show

whatever good work they have done.37

In his office, he showed me pictures of himself with Atal Behari Vajpayee and Murali

Manohar Joshi, both BJP politicians in the previous government. While he has also

encountered other political dignitaries (Rajiv Gandhi for one), it is these two

photographs which are prominently displayed in Pai's office and on

www.unclepai.com.

35 "Shakhas combined physical training of young men with indoctrination through bauddhik sessions, a chain of schools was built up, ideas were disseminated through personal contact and conversation, and even a very popular Hindu comic series was brought out (the Amar Chitra Katha extolling Hindu mythical or historical figures)." Sarkar, "Fascism of the Sangh Parivar". www.sacw.net/DC/ CommunalismCollection/ArticlesArchive/sSARKARonSANGHPARIVAR.html (accessed June 1, 2007). 36 Interview with Anant Pai, Mumbai, Oct 14th, 2004. 37 Interview with Anant Pai, Mumbai, Oct 14th, 2004. 223

Even ACfCs publisher Mirchandani, (who inherited the post from her own uncle, GL Mirchandani) told me this about Pai and ACK:

This is true that the bulk of the titles are 'Hindu' titles, this is definitely true.

There are Islamic characters, Buddhist characters, but the bulk is Hindu. I think

Pai's personal leanings are more RSS so he perhaps tends to think more in terms

of those sorts of subjects. But as a company, if I had had anything to with it in

the past, I would have ensured that we had a more broad-based kind of

representation, more balanced representation across the different communities

and cultures.38

In attempting to distinguish the company from Pai, Mirchandani shows that she is aware of the potentially inflammatory political location of Pai's project. There is a distinct link, then, between Pai and the organized Hindu nationalist movement, though it is not formalized by his membership in those organizations; such an affiliation might prove too inflammatory for IBH's tastes and could endanger the broadbased market for the comics.

Instead, Pai's nationalist work is done chiefly through comics. Just as Disney carried out the 'imagineering' of a nation through animation and comic art, Pai's goal has been to construct a comic vision of the India in which he believes. These nation- building projects centre around popular public education as a means for producing an ideology of nation. Disney's vision of America, economics, and family became an

38 Interview, Oct 2004. 224 education not only for the American children of the 1940s and 1950s, but for the children of Chile and other parts of the global south as well. Using comics as a means for public education is nothing new for the world, though it was a significant intervention into the popular culture of India in the 1970s. In the next section of this paper, I want to explore the relationship between uncles, popular education, and nation- building.

The avuncularism of popular education

Earlier in this chapter, I briefly examined the symbolic role of the uncle in modern literary and national cultures. One of the chief tasks of uncles, from the

Victorian uncle to the present, and from Britain to its colonies, has been the guardianship and tutelage of the young. Absent uncles, in the Victorian novel, may provide means, but in general uncles are narratively obliged to take care of their

charges. Donald cares for Huey, Dewey, and Louie, Uncle Scrooge for Donald and the

whole family. National uncles like Sam are charged with shepherding an entire nation;

and to that end, his likeness and character was frequently used in political pamphlets

and posters.39 For Uncles Walt and Pai, the task is slightly more complex. Using a

medium associated with entertainment, these uncles aspire to teach their nephews and

nieces about their world.

See Cleere, "Conclusion: Home Trading Redux," in Avuncularism. 225

I argue here that there is something about popular education that is distinctly avuncular, and I mean this in several senses of the term. Popular education is to formal education as uncles are to fathers: lacking the power to discipline, and without the hierarchical authority of the institution, popular education often appears benign and friendly. But such friendliness can disguise the ideological work that happens in the name of popular education; Dorfman and Mattelart's case study of Disney in How to

Read Donald Duck illustrates this perfectly.

As I discussed in Chapter 3, the work of ideological production is often

disguised in the name of history; it is also, as many cultural studies scholars have noted,

disguised within the banalities of popular culture. Comics, as I argued in a previous

chapter, are uniquely suited to this purpose because of their polysemism and the

interaction between image and text. In an article called "Comics as a Vehicle of

Education and Culture," Pai himself writes:

Over the past ten years, I have used the comics medium to teach children the

principles of banking and the need to save money in a bank (Adventures ofShiri,

a project for the Canara Bank), on protein nutrition (Tarang Triumphs), on

cotton cultivation and coffee cultivation (projects of American Spring and

Pressing Works Ltd), on prevention of cancer.. .and recently a book on nuclear

power (The Power of the Atom for Nuclear Power Corporation, of the Dept of

Atomic Energy, ). (1995: 109) 226

I quote this passage at length because it provokes a few important critical observations.

First is the diversity of subjects on which Pai has worked beyond the historical and religious themes of Amar Chitra Katha. The second is the careful listing by Pai of the

sponsors in each of these cases, the last being the Indian government itself. Finally it is

significant that these sponsors, public and private, have recognized the importance of comics to public awareness and propaganda.

The sponsorship or patronage of politicians and companies is nothing new:

Frances Pritchett has noted that a series of ACK comics commemorating the anniversary

of the Congress party was in fact sponsored by it, at a time that Congress was in power

in the central government (Hawley 130). But what interests me here is how the themes

and their sponsors — a bank on banking, crop cultivation sponsored by a pesticide

sprayer company, the benefits of atomic energy — all point to a world view in which productivity and growth are encouraged. While Amar Chitra Katha'?, task is mainly to teach children about history and religion, then, it does seem that Pai is quite aware of a

broader political-economic project in which that education is seen as a necessity.

Of course, using comics to teach young people about religion, politics, history,

and everyday life is certainly nothing new. Comics have been used in a variety of ways to promote popular education. While in Chile they were used to promote American-

style capitalism, in South Asia and Africa they have recently been used by NGOs to 227 promote AIDS education and sexual health awareness.40 Comics have been a mainstay of American Christian popular culture, dating at least as far back as the 1940s. MC

Gaines, the comics pioneer who founded All-American Comics in the 1930s, is perhaps most famous for the establishment of early superheroes like the Green Lantern and

Wonder Woman. But around the same time, he also created a series called Picture

Stories from the Bible, still available today collected in hard-cover form.

In the early 1940s he established a publishing house called Educational Comics which specialized in these and other titles like Picture Stories from American History.

Gaines also provided illustrations for the Classics Illustrated versions of Bible stories.

That series, which began in 1941 in the US, continues to be fondly remembered by readers around the world. Classics Illustrated published comic book versions of literature, historical events, folklore and Christian religious stories. Titles ranged from

Hamlet and to Uncle Tom's Cabin and The Conquest of Mexico.

Many of the Indian comics readers I interviewed, now in their late twenties and early thirties, remembered reading Classics Illustrated as children. Indians of the generation before them were likely more familiar with such comics, as Pai himself was. He professes to have never been a "comics fan", though Pai was certainly aware of their popularity and of the kind of educational project undertaken by Classics Illustrated.

40 There are many examples of this kind of work at both local and international levels. See for example "Popular Media for HIV/AIDS Prevention? Comparing Two Comics: Kingo and the Sara Communication Initiative." Rose Marie Beck, The Journal of Modern African Studies 44. 4 (2006), 513 - 541. 228

Indeed, these kinds of comics were an inspiration for the project. Pai writes that

"Not many are aware that the massive publishing program, under which nearly 150 titles on history have been published in the Amar Chitra Katha series, [is] unparalleled

in the whole world, thought the lead came only from the west, particularly the USA"

(Pai 1995: 114). But Pai was likely also aware of the criticisms of this comics style.

Fredric Wertham, author of the 1953 anti-comics polemic Seduction of the

Innocent, fervently believed that all comics, even illustrated versions of classic stories,

would bring harm to young readers. "I have never seen any good effects from comic

books that condense classics," Wertham wrote, in a tone that might cast him as a bit of a

righteous uncle,

Classic books are a child's companion, often for life. Comic-book versions

deprive the child of these companions. They do active harm by blocking one of

the child's avenues to the finer things of life. (311)

Wertham's grave concern about the deprivation of imagination in young Americans was

widely shared by many parents and critics. Wertham quotes a newspaper writer in his

text who comments on historical comics:

A good summary of comic books in which 'history emerges from balloons' was

given by May Lamberton Becker in the Herald Tribune: 'I can't say I think 229

much of any of them. If you try to meet Superman on his own ground, you will

be beaten unless you jazz up history until it isn't history at all.' (Wertham 31).41

In quoting Wertham and his fellows here, I by no means intend to give credence to his

argument that all comics are inherently bad for children. But the quotation above points

out an interesting aspect of historical comics. Despite sharing a medium, fiction,

folklore and history do not share the same allure for young readers. Comics meant to be

'educational' may seem dreary unless they are 'jazzed up' enough to meet the

competition. Pai, who is an enthusiastic supporter of educational comics, is aware of

this and claims to be quite conscious about avoiding too much 'jazzing up' of the

historical titles in his series. This however has an effect: almost universally, the ACK

readers that I interviewed declared a preference for nearly any kind of title other than

historical ones. So though the accurate depiction of historical events is a priority for

Pai, and certainly a benchmark for the promotion and praise of the series, it is probably

the least popular aspect of it among children.

Still, comics cannot help but be more appealing than textbooks. Many of the

ACK readers I interviewed commented that they found they recalled better what they

learned in comics than class, and others still told me that they weren't certain if the

41 It was the vociferous arguments of critics like Wertham that resulted in the establishment of the Comics Code Authority in 1954. The CCA was a regulatory system voluntarily agreed to by the major comics publishing houses. It imposed censorship of depictions of crime, violence, and sexuality, and though the regulations have been modified over the years, it continues to exist today. The CCA is not an uncle but certainly a 'Big Brother' to the comics industry. But in 1954, Wertham and others remained unsatisfied by this measure, and continued to argue that all comics were innately bad for children. 230 lessons they remembered were the result of formal learning at all. Debashish remembered that in Calcutta, he and many of his classmates used ACK to catch up on lessons they were meant to study in school:

I knew lot of people who used to buy them [for this purpose]. For example at

our point, studying history was an unusual thing. Like you did maths, that sort of

thing, but [even] if you were a good student you never did history. So I presume

that anyone who did averagely in history part of it came from familiarity with

Amar Chitra Katha, at least knowing the brush-ups of stories.

Similarly, Venugopal told me that when he was studying for a boarding school entrance

examination, he used ACK "because most of the comprehension passages will come

from some of these stories...and they used to be [like] these guides and stories which

would be similar [to the exam] stories."

Pai recognized this very early on in ACfCs history. India Book House

Educational Trust, a charitable arm of the publishing company, organized a research

seminar on "The Role of Chitra Katha in School Education" in February 1978. At the

seminar, Pai and colleagues presented the reports of teachers in 30 Delhi schools which

participated in a study of the comics. Students were given comics on historical topics

and asked to read on their own for a time before sitting for a test on the subject. The

study showed that students' marks and enthusiasm improved. Though the central

government's Ministry of Education and NCERT found the results compelling, ACK 231 did not subsequently become an official part of the curriculum for school children

(Chandra 27).

Pai's enthusiasm for getting the material into schools reflects his remarkable belief in the power of comics to entertainingly educate children. At least part of this is spurred on a by a certain avuncular satisfaction on his part. In his article he describes giving a copy of Krishna to a neighbour's child and reading it to her; a rather avuncular gesture. He describes amazement when the same child is able to 'read' the story back to him a few days later, and immense pride in the fact that "she, like many others whose first exposure to learning was only Amar Chitra Katha, has done extremely well in her academic career (she is now doing her MD)" (1995: 110). Uncle Pai has 'given' comics, though he may not have handed them over personally, to millions of nieces, nephews, and neighbour children in a similar fashion, and he has enormous faith in their success.

The very gesture of choosing these pop cultural methods for formal or popular education, be it via the medium of comics, television, film, or music, is to present knowledge as friendly, non-threatening and non-intimidating - to eliminate the barriers of formality that may dissuade students from study. In this way, I argue that there is something decidedly avuncular about the notion of educational comics. The comics themselves replicate the roles I have earlier identified with uncles in popular culture.

Educational comics can be subversive, disruptive, queer; and they can aggressively normalize the conditions of power and contract under which capitalism rolls onward. 232

At least part of this is because in order to be educational, some 'educational'

comics are doing the work of institutions. Analysing the precedent for such comics in the US, Pai writes,

Archie Comics and Dennis the Menace have explained pollution. Uncle Scrooge

comic has tried to explain banking. Superman has dealt on the Black problem of

the USA. The US Atomic Energy Committee has used the comics medium to

describe the structure of the atom and what happens when it is split. (1995: 114)

But such comics would certainly never accuse corporations of industrial pollution, or

banks of unfair practices; such a comic might illustrate nuclear fission but would never

show the aftermath of an atomic bomb.

But even those comics which claim a more purely academic purpose must be

imbued with the air of the academic institution; and so A CK historical comics, like

Classics Illustrated titles, often carry footnotes and references while presenting a fun

and friendly visual field. Comics, then, are imbued with uncle-authority, in contrast to

the paternalist, patriarchal authority of formal education. But just as the uncle's

authority can simply mask the power of the father in the lessons of the family, the

comic book can offer a friendly face to the brutal ideological lessons of history. In

other words, comics are avuncular because they present an apparently ideology-free

face to nephews and nieces, but like other real and symbolic uncles, they are imbued

with the weight of ideology. 233

The Sangh Parivar - uncles of the nation

Thus far, I have argued that uncles in Indian and in global culture play a unique role in the production and dissemination of ideology. From the apparent avuncularism of Uncle Scrooge, Uncle Disney and Uncle Pai, I moved towards the argument that comics, and pop cultural educational media in general, have an avuncular quality. In this section, I want to turn to another kind of symbolic avuncular, that of India's right wing Hindu nationalist movement.

The forces of Hindutva in India are chiefly represented by the Sangh Parivar, or

'family of associations.' The invocation of 'family' in this very name invites a little uncle-analysis. As I discussed in the beginning of this chapter, the Sangh Parivar is

dominated by its male leaders and members, and reflects a highly patriarchal order in

both organizational structure and political message.42 Here I want to suggest that the

Sangh Parivar attempts to represent itself as something of an uncle-collective to the

nation. This can be illustrated both in its relationships with young people, and in its use

of pop-cultural educational tools in its programs. To explain how I arrive at this

conclusion, it will be useful to recall some of the history and practices of these

organizations.

As discussed in the introduction to this chapter, the Sangh Parivar is quite male dominated, though women play some significant roles in its ongoing work, particularly in politics. See Tanika Sarkar, Hindu Wife Hindu Nation (2001). 234

The Sangh Parivar's three key members are the BJP (),

VHP (Vishwa Hindu Parishad) and the RSS (Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh). These three organizations claim to represent, respectively, something like the political, social,

and 'martial' arms of the Hindu nationalist movement. Khaki Shorts, Saffron Flags is a

short work which describes some of the ways that Hindu nationalist ideology has been willed into being through the historical development of these three significant

organizational bodies.43 In it, the authors describe how the RSS, which was founded in

1925, has grown into a major paramilitary style force in Indian politics despite claiming

to be a 'cultural' organization. The organization has a long history of anti-Muslim,

casteist and anti-minority sentiment as part of its nationalist agenda. MS Golwalkar,

head of the organization from 1940, was explicit about his appreciation of the Nazi

extermination of Jews, writing that

[njational pride at its highest has been manifested here. Germany has also shown

how well-nigh impossible it is for races and cultures, having differences going

to the root, to be assimilated into one united whole, a good lesson for us in

Hindustan to learn and profit by. (qtd in Basu et al 26)44

These words provide a keen illustration of the extent of the extreme political leanings of

the organization. The RSS took this position quite seriously, and though the association

43 The 'khaki shorts' mentioned in the book's title refers to the militaristic uniform the boys wear in RSS shakhas or local branches; the saffron flag, the 'Hindu' standard. 44 It is interesting to note that the RSS today vocally supports the Israeli Zionist position and opposed the Palestinian right to homeland. 235 with has been subsequently denied, the idea of racial and cultural purity as represented by the concept of Hindutva continues to inform its rhetoric.45

The RSS has a strict hierarchical structure: those who attend meetings and events are called swayamsevaks or volunteers. One of the explicit goals of the RSS, and

its key methodology for teaching lessons about Hindu supremacy and nationalism, is the organization of young boys and men into something like a paramilitary reserve. To

accomplish this, the RSS operates a rigorous training system based on shakhas, or

'branches'. Each shakha has a volunteer leader or Sanghchalak, and then there are

regional leaders and committees. At the top is the Sarsanghchalak, a post held at one

time by Golwalkar, and today by KS Sudarshan, a Brahmin man now in his late 70s.

Orders are given from above to below, and so the swayamsevaks themselves are

something like foot soldiers for a movement which is described on the RSS's website as

"religious activism." The site describes the swayamsevaks as follows:

The thrust of all samskars [rituals] in the Shakha, though it outwardly appears to

be for military-like discipline, which in any case is essential for any nation-

building exercise, is for imbibing the noblest qualities of head and heart. ... The

Shakha, in fact, is not an end in itself, but just a means to achieve the end, which

in brief is social transformation. The programmes in the Shakha are so

45 Though VD Savarkar was a member of a rival organization (Hindu Mahasabha), his conceptualization of Hindutva which he developed nevertheless constitutes the backbone of the RSS ideology, and Savarkar is considered one of its heroes. Indeed, when Mahatma Gandhi was assassinated in 1948 by members of Savarkar's Hindu Mahasabha, the RSS was considered an allied organization and was also banned by the government. See Noorani, Savarkar and Hindutva. 236

structured that while they develop a proper insight and make one aware of the

deficiencies and drawbacks in the society, it also instils a sense of pride and

intense love for its glorious cultural heritage and, simultaneously, awakens his

commitment to work for its emancipation.46

I quote this passage at length because it illustrates the interconnectedness of the RSS's religious views with its nationalist rhetoric. The group uses Sanskrit terminology to describe shakha training as samskars (traditional rituals), to encourage volunteers to see their religious and national identities and commitments as essentially indistinct. But what is also brought forth by this passage is the sense of the shakha as a forum for self- help and personal development. Despite the emphasis on the rigidity of rules, the rhetoric of self-improvement seems often to be associated with avuncularity: Uncles

Disney, Pai, Sam, and others have also been deeply invested in the strategy of self- improvement as a national duty. There is also something avuncular about the very structure of the RSS: it maintains the superiority of the family and the nation in its ideology, but provides an alternative to state institutional structures through which senior men (uncles) train and mentor younger men and boys.

The avuncularity of RSS tactics are nowhere better illustrated than in the RSS's own description of the daily shakha routine. Each morning, around India, boys and men

"Vision and Mission: Antidote to Self-Oblivion." http://www.rss.org/New_RSS/Mission_Vision/Why_RSS.jsp Accessed May 22 2007. 237 gather in an appointed (usually outdoor) place and engage in prayers, exercises, and martial arts practice:

Youths and boys of all ages engage in varieties of indigenous games.

Uninhibited joy fills the air. There are exercises, Suryanamaskar [sun

salutation], sometimes training in skilfully wielding the 'Danda" [stick]. All

activities are totally disciplined. The physical-fitness programmes are followed

by group singing of patriotic songs. Also forming part of the routine is

exposition and discussion of national events and problems. The day's activity

culminates in the participants' assembling in orderly rows in front of the flag at a

single whistle of the group leader, and reverentially reciting the prayer "Namaste

Sada Vatsale Matrubhoome" (My salutation to you, loving Motherland). The

prayer verses, even as the group leader's various commands, are all in Sanskrit.

The prayer concludes with a heart-felt utterance of the inspiring incantation

"BharatmataKiJai".47

Despite the RSS's strict and hierarchical structure, the description of the shakha invokes

'fun' and entertainment, a similar strategy to the kind of avuncular education I

described in the previous section. The boys engage in fun sports and games, but are at

the same time trained as Hindutva forces. The process of ideological indoctrination is

positioned outside the structures of the state, i.e. government run schools, and is

47 "Vision and Mission: The Sangh Methodology." http://www.rss.org/New_RSS/Mission_Vision/Why_Shakha.jsp Accessed May 23, 2007. 238 presented as an alternative means for children to meet each other and receive guidance

from elders:

The fairly brief shakha routine does not disrupt studies, and, with the deepening

penetration of the ideology of Hindutva to which the RSS itself has contributed

so much, the basic ideals would have become the common sense of many

relatives, friends, and neighbours. (Basu et al 36)

The RSS therefore mobilizes the ideology of Hindu nationalism into communities

through the youth themselves.

With the daily shakha routine, the boys and men are encouraged to develop a

paramilitary group sensibility based on Hindu nationalist "pride" which they can carry

home to their communities. This can mean constructive volunteerism, but it also often

means their participation in public events and protests. The riots in Ayodhya in 1992

and Gujarat in 2002 are both examples of violent events in which members of the RSS

were involved. In these situations as in others, older boys and young men of RSS

shakhas are deployed, in military style, to "defend" Hinduism where it is seen to be

under attack. Thus, the RSS has played a major role in a variety of communalist events.

The BJP is the political party associated with the Sangh Parivar. Though its

current incarnation is relatively recent, its roots are in the RSS's 'political' wing.

From 1997-2004, the BJP enjoyed control of the central government and that of several

48 An earlier incarnation of the BJP was the Bharatiya Jan Sangh, firstforme d in 1951, and which was also closely ideologically tied to the RSS. 239

states. During this time, the rhetoric of Hindutva became prominent in public discourse and gained a great deal of international support. The government of Atal Behari

Vajpayee did not waste time in creating changes which reflected this ideology, even

eventually going so far as to place a portrait of VD Savarkar in the central hall of

Parliament. One of the first declarations of the empowered BJP was to proclaim its

intention of building the Ram Janmabhoomi Temple on the site of the Babri Masjid, a

symbolic and powerful gesture in favour of the Hindu right.

Instrumental in that campaign was the third major member of the Sangh Parivar,

he VHP, or 'World Hindu Council' The VHP, formed in 1966, is less militaristic than the RSS but is a nonetheless highly organized group which sees itself as representing all

Hindus regardless of caste or sect. Although Hindus have no formal oversight body or

single religious leader, the VHP functions as the self-proclaimed 'voice of Hinduism'.

Having established itself as the overarching (and thus homogenizing) authority of

Hinduism, the VHP sees itself as defending Hinduism in any situation in which it

believes it is under attack, the most notorious incidence of this being the Ayodhya Rath

Yatra campaign of 1990, and the subsequent mosque demolition.

While the RSS defines itself by rigid rules and parameters, the VHP is organized

around a principle of an apparently expansive inclusivity: it seeks to absorb into it the

vestiges of difference. The organization attests that the wide variety of beliefs and

practices that might have been at one time or another labelled as "Hindu" simply

represents the great plurality and diversity of Hinduism (Basu et al 57). To promote its 240 vision of Hinduism, it organizes campaigns and festivals throughout India,

incorporating various regional traditions into a single, homogenized calendar.

The VHP, like the RSS, is decidedly avuncular in its manner of attracting and

maintaining support. Like the RSS, its worldview is presented as both outside the state,

since it insists on its own non-involvement with politics, and as resistant to the state, particularly in those regions where 'secular' leaning politics dominate. The VHP presents itself as a reasonable, practical, and virtuous way for Hindus in India and

abroad to establish a sense of community.

One of the ways in which this happens is through the savvy deployment of

media and popular culture in its campaigns.49 It produces a great variety of audio and

visual material related to the cause of Hindu "unity": this includes calendars, stickers,

pamphlets, audio and video cassettes. Basu et al write that these forms of media were

crucial to the Ayodhya campaigns, and to the propagation of Hindu nationalism. Using

pamphlets and other various forms of media, they write,

the VHP broadcasts a vision of history extending to the present. Using all the

media techniques at its disposal — dramatic sequences, editing, music,

commentary, etc — it tries to project its world view as the natural source of this

country's heritage. (Basu et al 93)

The VHP's harnessing and circulation of such media was integral, the authors write, to

the mobilization of support for the Ram Janmabhoomi movement, and for the

49 Vishwa Hindu Parishad (World Hindu Council) and Bharatiya Janata Party (Bharat People's Party). 241 development of a distinctly Hindutva concept of nationhood. Arvind Rajagopal has also written at length about the VHP's harnessing of a television series about the God

Rama to mobilize Hindus in support of Ram Janmabhoomi campaign. That campaign encouraged Hindu 'volunteers' to destroy a mosque in Ayodhya which is said to be built on the ruins of a temple to the god Rama. Actors from the TV series were prominently shown in campaign materials, encouraging people to link their weekly viewing with the mythology of the Ramayana and the desire to build a new temple on the site.

In a sense, the Sangh Parivar presents itself as an avuncular alternative to the paternalism of the state. If 'state' is paternalist, then 'nation', lacking the apparatuses of the state but nonetheless wielding an ideological, patriarchal authority, is avuncular.

While the state may come to represent institutions and ideologies that are widely disliked, the nation can always appear neutral, unified, and friendly. Media plays an extremely important role in the construction of such national identities. Anderson, as I noted earlier, has written extensively about how the development of widely circulable print media plays a significant role in the construction of the imagined nation.50 The circulation of these kinds of messages, and their significance in the popular imagination, is dependent on hegemonic power. Walter Benjamin has famously written about the role of film and mass reproduction in the rise of fascism in Europe.51 Such media

Anderson, Imagined Communities (2007). 51 Benjamin, "The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction." 242 allows ideology masked by the apparent friendliness of national unity. Both Anderson and Benjamin would agree that images can powerfully project a homogeneous image of the nation onto its heterogeneous 'people'; national as a willed ideology can thus be promulgated with ease by those who control the means to produce it.

This can have particularly powerful effects on children. Like the RSS, the VHP places a great deal of importance on the training of children and youth; its and departments organize camps for young people. Nagalamba, a student from Karnataka, told me that as a child she had attended a 'day camp' of this kind, run by "an organization which is related to RSS":

My brother was in the school which is run by that organization, that kids' group

kind of thing. He was in that institute, so they had a program to educate the

mothers of those kids if they opted for it. [They were] educated in several ways,

in many things about culture, in the sense of learning about the Ramayana and

Mahabharata. And they also had a program for some cultural education in the

sense of dancing and singing and all to the sisters and brothers if the kid had

[siblings].

Nagalamba recalled that ACK comics were used as part of the "cultural" training of the boys' siblings, and with the boys themselves.

For the RSS, Pai's project is very much in keeping with their ideological aims,

and their support of him and ACK seems a natural fit. Pai is an uncle to the children and youth of the RSS and VHP, as he is to children in the mainstream of Indian society. But 243 the difference is that for the Sangh Parivar, there need be no attempt at obfuscating the ideological leanings of the texts themselves.

A textbook history

Like Uncle Pai, the members of the Sangh Parivar have been extremely critical of the education received by English-medium students in Indian public schools.

Nowhere has that been more apparent than in the BJP's overhaul of Indian history textbooks in the early 2000s. The National Council of Educational Research and

Training (NCERT) was founded in 1961 to oversee the curriculum for public schools throughout the young country. The central government's goal was to establish a national system of education with rigorous and centralized standards. Eminent researchers in their fields contributed to the curriculum, producing high quality

scholarly textbooks for every grade level. For secondary level Indian history classes, textbooks were produced by notable historians like Romila Thapar, and

RC Majumdar. Though these scholars did not share a political viewpoint, critics on the right were concerned that the texts produced by them presented a transparently secular,

liberal, and even socialist position, and that they too favourably represented the

'foreign' Muslim elements of Indian society. This accusation has particularly levelled

at Romila Thapar's contributions to the study of ancient India, as her work disputes the

Hindu nationalist assertion of an indigenous and primordial ancient Hindu culture. In 244 the late 1970s, the Janata Party formed a coalition which presided over the central government in the aftermath of , and one of the key members of the coalition was the Jana Sangh, the precursor of the BJP. With the Jana Sangh's rise to power, accusations became more vocal and there was pressure to ban these texts. At around the same time, the RSS formed a sub-group called Vidya Bharathi, which has been systematically establishing an RSS-based system of education throughout India, emphasising development in rural areas (Lloyd 1999).52 The Vidya Bharathi program was intended to provide a Hindu-centric alternative to the state-structured curriculum.

This issue reared up once again in 1998, when the BJP party led in the central government elections. Atal Behari Vajpayee was sworn in as Prime Minister, and very soon afterwards , an RSS member who was appointed Minister of

Human Resources Development, announced a review of the much-maligned textbooks.

The BJP governments of some states had already begun rejecting the NCERT texts, and some schools had adopted the textbooks developed by the Vidya Bharathi: "by the early

1990s, it [VB] was running the second largest chain of schools in the country, controlling about 4,000 schools, 40 colleges, a total of 36,000 teachers and about ten lakh students" (T Sarkar, Seminar 522). Taught throughout this extensive network,

VB's school texts were full of 'saffronized'53 versions of history and politics, and

52 " has set up 14,000 primary and secondary schools and dozens of colleges, operating in 32 of the 33 states, with 1.8 million students. It is working hard to expand its network, particularly in remote areas, where Christian missionaries have made inroads." Lloyd (2007) 53 Saffron orange is a colour generally associated with Hinduism, and is said to represent India's Hindus on the country's tri-colour flag. 245 greatly alarmed academics and activists throughout India.54 The BJP now intended to nationalize this project.

The textbooks were revised, to widespread consternation in the academic community, and some were entirely rewritten. Many of the changes were based on the

Vidya Bharathi texts already in circulation in RSS-operated schools. Released in 2002, the new NCERT books were criticized for their uncritical presentation of uncorroborated 'facts' of Indian and world history, as well as for their poor use of

English (Behal 2004).55 The members of the Sangh Parivar were pleased with the changes:

The RSS chief, without mincing words, said that Joshi has achieved what the

RSS had been fighting for the past 50 years.

"They (the secularist lobby) had de-saffronised education, retaining its largely

colonial nature and distorting history. And now Joshi has brought back the

traditional culture into education. What is wrong in that," [Sarsangchalak K.S.]

Sudarshan said.56

But many teachers around India refused to use the new texts, which omitted references to the assassination of Gandhi and Hitler's role in the Jewish Holocaust, suggested that

See Parvathi Menon and TK Rajalakshmi, "Doctoring Textbooks," Frontline, 15:23 (Nov. 07, 1998). 55 Though the identity of the textbook writers was kept a closely guarded secret, one of the key contributors was the VHP-associated historian Makhan Lai. In 2004, he was accused of sexually harassing some of his female university students. 56 "RSS Thanks Joshi for giving what it wanted" Indian Express online, October 03, 2002 http://www.indianexpress.com/res/web/pIe/full_story.php?content_id= 10590 Accessed May 20, 2007. 246 early Aryans did not eat beef, and that Harappans and Aryans were likely the same people.57

As soon as the Congress-led UPA coalition took power in the central government in 2004, it announced plans to re-revise the NCERT textbooks. The BJP's appointee as head of NCERT JS Rajput who was closely tied to the RSS and Murli

Manohar Joshi, was asked to resign. The new appointee, Krishna Kumar, is an eminent researcher of education and since 2004 has been working to 'undo' the BJP's Hindutva

'saffronizing' of the school texts, and to improve the curriculum in other ways. Kumar has pointed out that the original texts by Thapar, Chandra, and others were quite out of date and required revision; his book Prejudice and Pride (2001) also pointed to this need. Despite this, the Indian history textbook controversy continues to plague India; in

BJP dominated Uttar Pradesh, revised Vidya Bharati -style textbooks continue to be used in schools.58 The issue has also left India and infected diasporic

Indian communities, as in the recent textbook revision case in California which I will discuss in chapter 5.

Sangeeta Kamat writes that though there appears to be a contradiction between the conservative and nationalist approach to history illustrated by the Sangh Parivar and its attitude towards global economics, the Sangh's ideology finds a way to explain it:

57 References to such changes are compiled in several articles: see Nandini Sundar, "Teaching to Hate: RSS Pedagogical Programme" EPW April 17 2004 1605-1612; Kumkum Roy, "What Happened to Confucianism (The New NCERT Textbooks)" Seminar 522 February 2003. 58 Experts see textbooks promoting 'half-truths.' The Hindu, Feb 14, 2007. 247

The expansion of market led economies and communication technologies are

seen as leading to more individualism and autonomy which education should

counteract by promoting common values and team work. The authors emphasize

that education should play a 'dual role of being conservative and dynamic—

bringing about a fine synthesis between change-oriented technologies and the

country's continuity of cultural tradition' ("Curriculum 2000," Government of

India, p. 5). (281)

In this regard, the BJP's textbook revisions satisfy another aspect of avuncular popular education by association with the larger project of privatization and globalization of the

Indian economy. There is no wonder then, as I will discuss in the next chapter, that the ideological project of the Sangh Parivar also has a globalized reach.

The goal of the BJP and the Sangh Parivar had been to reject secularism in education in favour of a faith-based revision of history. Even arithmetic and math was supplanted in some texts by something called 'Vedic Mathematics' (Thapar 199).

While the left and liberals called this the 'saffronization' of education, the Sangh repeatedly suggested they were merely 're-saffronizing' it after years of secularism.

This conceptualization of the project is fully in keeping with the larger scope of the

Sangh Parivar's view of history, in which Hindus and Hinduism have been eternally and primordially dominant and need to be reinstated to their former glory. But more broadly, the aim was to project India to the rest of the world as a Hindu nation, and to 248

strengthen its international profile. Former NCERT director JS Rajput said at the time of the revisions:

India's education system must be based on its own philosophical, cultural and

sociological traditions. It must respond to the emerging needs and aspirations of

the young generation. The new NCERT curriculum stresses the need to get

education rooted in Indian reality and composite culture.59

There is an obvious conflation here between what is understood as 'Hindu' and what is understood as 'Indian', an ideological manoeuvre which occurs throughout Hindutva rhetoric. Along with that, as I discussed in chapter 3, comes the conflation of myth with history. Pradip Kumar Datta, writing about how this notion of history has been

embraced by Hindutva leaders, quotes a BJP leader who was involved in the textbook revisions issue:

One such cogent definition of Hindutva history has come from K.R. Malkani, a

leading Hindutva ideologue, who advocates a synthetic principle. Replying to

the charge that the HRD [BJP's Human Resource Development] ministry is

promoting myths in the name of history [in changing public education

textbooks,] Malkani declared, "The fact is that there is often more history in

myths and more myth in history." (Datta 2003)

Rajput, JS. "Opinion: These are the values we cherish." Indian Express Online, Thursday, October 10, 2002. 249

The BJP's plan to revise the NCERT textbooks constitutes an attempt to institutionalize the kind of education that had thus far existed only outside the state in the Vidya

Bharathi-run schools. I argue that here, the BJP-governed state is attempting to

avuncularize institutional education by making institutionalized education appear more

friendly towards the conceptualization of Hindu national unity. It is what Pramod, in a

comment about Amar Chitra Katha, called "soft-core Hindutva" - ideology which can

be passed off as simple patriotism. There are many who are receptive to this message,

as the enormous success of the VB schools indicates. But the Sangh Parivar's

ideological approach has been consciously and decidedly avuncular, as I have discussed

above. Institutionalizing its ideology requires a shift away from uncle-authority towards another kind of institutionalized, patriarchal, paternalist-state authority, and the

BJP managed nearly to succeed in this exercise until the 2004 elections ousted the

party. The avuncular popular education offered by Pai's ACK comics shares some

similarities with the story of the NCERT textbooks. As I have discussed in this and

previous chapters, one of Pai's chief motivations for the development of the series was

his concern about lacks in the English-medium education of middle-class Indian school

children. Pai, though reluctant to say so publicly, is likely concerned about the 'secular

and communist' approach to education that is often vilified by the Sangh Parivar. His

comics series in certainly seems to fill that gap by presenting religious and historical

stories as coterminous with one another, precisely as the VB/BJP textbooks appear to

do. As I mentioned in the previous section, attempts at introducing ACK comics into 250

Indian public schools as part of the NCERT curriculum failed. Nandini Chandra writes that the idea of using ACK in the classroom "was to appropriate the credibility of pedagogic textbooks representing the 'received' statist perspectives and propagate its rival claim to exclusive cultural truth" (Chandra 27). ACK comics, like the VB textbooks, have some power as popular/populist educational materials outside the state.

Part of their avuncular power comes precisely from that position - once again, it is uncle-authority at work.

The comics provide an alternative both to the formal educational environment of school, and an alternative to the 'official' narrative of secular Indian nationalism.

Caught up within one text, these two meanings become intertwined with each other, so that what is fun and entertaining also has an aura of 'truth. In capturing students' imaginations, it also determined their absorption of historical knowledge to some degree. Debashish told me that most he and his friends used ACK to study for history examinations, but he also noted that this had an effect on what, and how, they studied.

So for example it is much easier to remember Akbar...and that again is mediated

by Amar Chitra Katha because you already knew about Akbar so writing an

answer, putting the names in places is much easier. But you didn't have Indira

Gandhi, so writing about dry constitution and answers about the Indian National

Congress movement, this was not covered so well [in the comics].

If mainstream school-text history is unrepresented in the comics, it is also important to recall, as I showed in Chapter 3, that the history that is depicted in the comics is itself 251 ideological. In an earlier chapter I discussed Akbar and some of the issues around the representation of Mughal emperors in the series. Recognizing how ACK proposes to act as an avuncular adjunct to formal texts, it becomes clear that Debashish's memory of some historical events and personages over others is hardly coincidental.

As an adjunct, or a supplement to formal education, ACK provides the impression of 'filling in' gaps in students' knowledge. Akaash told me that felt that his reading of the comics and his formal education fit together perfectly:

I think there is some parallel with the history textbooks, so there was a

seamlessness between the two that made it quite easier to manoeuvre without

much complication.

But while people like Debashish and Akaash now look back on ACK with a more

critical eye, some readers of ACK remain convinced of the absolute veracity of its representations. Thus, one poster in an online discussion forum wrote:

ACK had filled my childhood years with joy. Well do I remember :

- the thrill of rushing to shops to get the latest copy,

- the pride & amazement of learning about India's glorious past, an

insight completely denied in schools, or

- my blood boiling as I learnt of India's depradation by rapacious

The poster goes on to decry 'communist' Indian historians who cater to minority interests, and "foreign detractors of India, many in the pay of Saudi or Christian fanatic orgs" common themes among the vocal 252

This reader clearly believes that the history represented in ACK provided something which was lacking in his education; but he also recalls the comics as entertaining and as a source of "joy"; here there is a reflection of both the avuncularism of the comics and their successful integration into Hindutva ideology. The avuncularism of the comics, as

I am arguing here, imbues them with a special authority. Nagalamba remembers that when younger relatives read the comics, they too would be convinced of their authority:

I used to teach my niece and nephew about many things, including school

[tutoring]. When they found any contradicting element in what they have read

through the comics.. .and they find the opposite thing in the [school] text or in

my teaching, they would tell that they [ACK] are the original source.

Some other readers of A CK having become more aware of a critical context for the comics, told me that they felt that using the comics to teach about India could be useful if they were used not as a supplement to formal education, but rather were supplemented by careful and critical supervision. Nirad told me that he had used the comics with younger children in a critical way:

I used to go and read out stories to children at the Chinmaya Mission61 and we

often used Amar Chitra Katha as ways of introducing the very, very young

children, 6-8 years old, into understanding different notions of India. But also to diasporic supporters of the Hindu right. Attributed to "Dev Mukerji" and posted Tue, 06 Jul 2004 12:18:49. Available at http://www.indolink.com/Forum/Arts-Culture/messages/5571.html. Accessed July 15, 2005. 61 The is the organization behind Swami Chinmayananda, who I briefly discussed in Chapter 3. Chinmayananda is a longstanding member of the Hindu Right, and was involved with the founding of the VHP. 253

try to be critical and tell them that this is not the only way to do it. But if there

needs to be an entry point, then I think comics are a good thing, like Amar

Chitra Katha.

Akaash agreed that "as a starting point I would say it's fantastic learning [tool], by itself

I'm not too sure, but it's a good place to start."

I am more ambivalent on this point than the readers I spoke with. I certainly agree with the suggestion that a reading of the comics can be productive when supervised by a parent or teacher with a critical eye. But I am concerned about how the comics are understood by children in relation to their formal education. The uncle- authority of the comics is pervasive and powerful, and the agency that children gain in independent reading is also a factor in their enthusiastic comprehension and absorption of what they read.

Comics, uncles, and ideas: conclusion

In this chapter, I have tried to lay out the various connections between ACK and what I have called the avuncular in national popular culture. I established a connection between uncles and a particular kind of colonial capital accumulation, the concept of contract, and the avuncular as a kind of alternative authority to the law of the father.

Uncle-authority, I argued, can provide opportunities that institutionalized patriarchal authority may not. I connected this notion of authority with the kinds of uncles which 254 have been traditionally associated with national popular cultures like Uncle Sam and

Uncle Walt Disney, and I considered where Uncle Pai might fit in relation to such figures. In the second half of the chapter, I have shown how national popular education has a distinctively avuncular quality, and nowhere is this better illustrated than in the nationalist Sangh Parivar's attempts to take control of the formal institutions of

. ACK's attempt at avuncular education has been more successful in

its aims precisely because it has not been absorbed into an institutional structure and has thus retained its avuncularity.

ACK has accomplished the kind of restaging of myth and history in children's

education that the BJP textbook revision hoped for. The series has been able to do this because, since it is not an institutionalized text, it remains in the domain of the

avuncular-popular. Because ACK has been so profoundly successful at these lessons, it

is no wonder that it continues to enjoy a high profile among people in India and abroad,

but is generally remembered as a source of pleasure rather than as a scholarly text.

Partha Chatterjee also sees a correlation between the BJP textbook revision project and the ACK series as regards their mutual efforts at avuncularizing academic education. He writes:

I do not have any simple recipes for making academic history more sensitive to

the popular. Certainly, the answer cannot be to turn academic history into some

variant of the Amor Chitra Katha. Methodological rigour and intellectual

discipline are the two pillars on which the superior claims of scientific history 255

must rest; they cannot be given up without destroying the enterprise itself. I

believe the answer must be found through a more rigorous search for an analytic

of the popular. (Chatterjee 2003)

Chatterjee sees the appeal to the popular as a rejection of academic rigour, though it must be noted that both ACK and the BJP textbooks constantly claim their own academic credentials as part of their presentation of the popular. And Chatterjee's notion of scientific history could be read as problematic from the standpoint of an epistemological analysis of historiography in which the notion of objectivity is up for

interrogation. Rather than aiming for 'scientific objectivity', I refer back to Marx's

comments in The German Ideology, which I discussed in Chapter 3, to argue that the

aim should be for an anti-ideological approach to writing history. Nonetheless, what

interests me about Chatterjee's comments is the recognition that though popular history

as it is presented by ACK or the BJP is not sound, there may yet be a possibility for a rigorous analytic of the popular. Building on this point, I would argue that this is not

possible as long as the conceptualization of the popular is located within the national; as

long as that arrangement persists, national popular education can utilize its

avuncularism to obfuscate its complicity with the state and with contemporary global

capitalism. To return to the nineteenth century definition of the avuncular pawnbroker

then I might, tongue-in-cheek, suggest that in pawning history to Uncle we should be

wary of his high rate of interest. But a popular education that can take an anti-

ideological position towards cultural nationalism can open up interesting possibilities 256 for an education 'from below;' this is the argument made by Dorfman and Mattelart some thirty-five years ago, and it remains a challenge. 257

Chapter 5: Nationalism and Hindutva in South Asian Diasporas

The previous chapters have offered an analysis of the Amar Chitra Katha series and explored its relationship to the ideology of Hindutva nationalism. In the third and fourth chapters, I articulated a concept of mythohistory with an analytic of the avuncular form of the national-popular in order to outline the contours and features of popular cultural Hindu nationalism. But in these previous chapters, my study has focused mainly on the circulation of nationalist ideology within the geographic borders of the nation. In the present chapter, I outline a theory for South Asian diasporas and begin to link the construction of 'Indian' and 'Hindu' identities in diasporic locations to the circulation of Hindutva via the Sangh Parivar and other organizations.

In the last ten or fifteen years, South Asian diasporas have become a prominent area of research in transnational and diaspora studies. That this is so is rather unsurprising given the prominence of South Asian subjects and theorists in postcolonial 258 literature and theory, a field to which diaspora studies owes a great deal.1 It can also be argued that South Asian diasporic cultural productions and modes of communication - from Bhangra and Asian Underground music, from Deepa Mehta to Gurinder Chadha, from Meera Syal to Sean Majumdar, from Hanif Kureishi to Jhumpa Lahiri - are to paraphrase Khachig Tololyan, the exemplary cultural productions of the transnational moment. But the proliferation of research on diasporic cultural production and consumption must be accompanied by an adequate theorization of the relationship of

'nation' in the context of India and South Asia, and of how 'nation' is conceived in the diasporas which are associated with that region.

Prompted by this aim, the first sections of this chapter draw out three main theoretical considerations. The first concerns the nation as the ontological basis of diaspora studies: too often, theoretical work on diaspora conceptualizes a relationship between diasporic people and 'home' as a problem of nation and origin; the concept of nation itself remains undertheorized. I argue that the relationship of nation, history and diaspora needs to be understood as a problem of epistemology rather than of ontology; or to put it another way, as a problem of learning identities rather than of locating origins.

Secondly, I discuss the term 'South Asian diasporas' which I use to refer to the complex intersections of religious diasporas like those of Hindus, Sikhs, and Muslims with national or regional ones like the Indian, Sri Lankan, Mauritian, and Caribbean

See At Home in Diaspora, eds Assayag and Benei (2003). 259 diasporas. None of these categories alone would be sufficient to describe the broad diasporic readership of ACK, which is predominantly Indian and Hindu but which stretches across the diasporas. But as I have already observed, there is a frequent slippage between the categories of ethnicity, nation, and religion in the Hindu nationalist ideology of Hindutva, and this problem is reproduced, albeit differently and with various effects, in the diasporas.

Under the organizing category of South Asian diasporas, then, it is clear that the intersection of Hindu and Indian diasporas is a particularly provocative one. Steven

Vertovec writes that though the Hindu diaspora is generally studied as a religious social formation, "'Hindu' can refer to an 'ethnic', 'cultural', or even 'political' identity among individuals who do not particularly profess a faith or engage a tradition" (13).

'Hinduism' or 'Hindu religion' are, like 'Indian,' homogenizing terms, referring to a wide and disparate set of religious and social practices. In the context of Hindutva, the

'Hinduism' that is in practice or under discussion is usually of the mainstreamed

Vaishnava brand supported by groups like the VHP. This underscores the need to consider both religion and nation in the context of diaspora as ideological, socially constructed terms. The third aim of this chapter, then, is to begin to examine some of the ways in which Hindutva ideology relates to the diasporic conceptualization of both nation and religious identity. 260

Concepts of diaspora

To frame these arguments it is necessary for me to first identify some of the

basic contours of diaspora theory and to ask how nation and popular culture are

articulated with/in it. The oft-cited etymology of the term 'diaspora' points to its origins

in the ancient Greek, meaning 'scattering of seeds.' Although the term has classically

referred to the scattering of populations of ancient Greeks and later, Jews, in the last 30

years or so, diaspora has come to be applied in a variety of ways to other 'scatterings' of

people conjoined by religion, ethnicity, nation, region and other identities. The lives,

writing, art and self-representation of these people are then interpreted as expressions of

a diasporic condition. As theorists attempt to mark out what that condition is, diaspora

has emerged as an extremely important concept and also among the most overworked of

theoretical terms, providing a lens through which to observe the layered issues of

migration, identity, community, consciousness, representation, racism, multiculturalism,

security, and citizenship.2 This has led Rogers Brubaker to suggest that the dispersion of

•a the term among the disciplines itself constitutes a kind of diaspora (Brubaker 2005: 1).

2 This list could indeed be longer, but it represents the many ways in which the term is employed and marks out the parameters of debate around it as well. As an example, Tololyan writes that the goal of the journal Diaspora is "to pursue, in texts literary and visual, canonical and vernacular, indeed in all cultural productions and throughout history, the traces of struggles over and contradictions within ideas and practices of homeland and nation." (3). 3 The terms 'transnational' and 'diasporic' are frequently interchanged in the larger body of theory and research in this area, though there are a few crucial differences between the terms. See Goldring and Krishnamurti, "Introduction" In Organizing the Transnational (2007). 261

Theorists from several disciplines have stitched together something of a shared

discourse with shared terms like 'nostalgia', 'belonging', 'nation,' ''

and 'culture,' though disciplinary approaches to such terms and their methodologies may be widely varied.

There are two main schools of thought in diaspora studies, which I will call the

'typological' and 'culturalist' models. The typological model, represented most prominently by William Safran and Robin Cohen, argues that it is necessary to find

some means through which to define their object of study because the simultaneous

specificity and vagueness of the term can otherwise leave it stretched quite thin. In a

framework proposed in the first issue of the journal Diaspora: A Journal of

Transnational Studies, Safran (1991) identifies six features with which to distinguish

modern diasporas from any other social formation, each of which concern the

relationship of the diasporic community to its homeland and their desire to return to it.

He writes that the term diaspora can be applied to "expatriate minority communities"

who share these features. In his book Global Diasporas Cohen suggests that Safran's

criteria be "tweaked" to include the likelihood of a "single traumatic event" that that he

argues is often a catalyst for a dispersal of people (23). He then elaborates on the list of

features by suggesting a general typology of diasporas. Cohen's application of the

diaspora concept to some very large social groups like 'the Chinese' or 'the Caribbean'

inadvertently illustrates how the vast cultural and social differences within such groups

can be subsumed under the term. But though this is a homogenizing move, there is also 262 an exclusivism inherent in defining a collective term this way. Indeed it seems as though in this approach diaspora functions not much differently from 'ethnicity.'

Ethnicity, moreover, is often understood as coterminous with a geographical homeland, and 'homeland' in turn slips frequently into 'nation.' Therefore, I argue that a persistent problem in this area of diaspora theory is the failure to adequately distinguish between ethnicity, homeland, and nation as social constructions which bear upon the emergence of diasporic identities.

Another problem with the formulations of Cohen and Safran is that the complexities of subjectivity and individual agency are occluded by these lists of features. In a chapter on "labour and imperial diasporas" Cohen presents both Indian and British migrants as diasporas which were prompted by a need for work and a desire to accumulate wealth. In making these two 'diasporas' essentially equal under his rubric, he attenuates the colonial relationship of power. The effect of Safran and

Cohen's approach is that in trying to define the parameters of 'diaspora', they wind up flattening and obscuring the important differences among them, and they fail to open up to a consideration of consciousness and subjectivity of the diaspora subject.4

Safran's work on diaspora is a response to the work of cultural and literary theorists like Stuart Hall, who has explained his use of the term as a "metaphor" for understanding scattered and hybrid cultural identities:

4 This is something that is taken up far more directly by cultural critics like Paul Gilroy (1992), Rey Chow (1993), and Homi Bhabha (1994). 263

[D]iaspora does not refer us to those scattered tribes whose identity can only be

secured in relation to some sacred homeland to which they must at all costs

return, even if it means pushing other people into the sea. This is the old,

imperialising, hegemonising form of'ethnicity.' (1990: 235)

With this comment, Hall anticipates and refutes any typological approach to the term, refusing to link diaspora to a based on ethnicity but instead considering how diaspora can act as a heuristic figure for a new way of thinking about ethnicity as unbounded and situated.5 This can be a useful approach since as Avtar Brah points out, "contrary to general belief, not all diasporas sustain an ideology for return"

(Brah 197). Even within diasporic formations that are organized around nation (eg.

Indian, Chinese) some people may have little investment in any real or imagined homeland, and yet feel themselves a part of a diasporic community in the place where they live.

Hall's writing on diaspora has inspired many of the 'culturalist' thinkers on diaspora, those who argue for a theory of amorphous, hybrid diaspora cultures.

Characterized in diverse ways by the work of thinkers like James Clifford, Paul Gilroy,

Arjun Appadurai and Homi Bhabha, this work replaces a primordialist notion of

5 It should be obvious here that Hall's comment is a response to the Zionist occupation of Palestinian territory, the justification for which is the right of the Jewish diaspora to a homeland. Safran's approach, emphasizing the longing for homeland, could be read as a justification for this occupation. This provides a clear illustration of the ways in which these different concepts of diaspora relate to ideas of ethnicity, nation, and borders. 264 ethnicity in diaspora with a concept of culture as constructed and agential.6 But while the typological concept of diaspora emphasizes the ethnic origins of the diasporic subject, the concept advocated by thinkers like Appadurai may overextend in the other direction, presuming too much about the diasporic subject's "hybridity", her desire to be a producer of hybrid culture, and about the hybrid's ability to destabilize the conditions of global power. Appadurai's approach to diaspora anticipates a borderless postnational world in which media reflects globalization and hybrid subjectivities abound:

"Diasporic public spheres, diverse among themselves, are the crucibles of a postnational political order" (22).7 The construction of diaspora as a condition of a globalized borderless world elides the possibility of recognizing the political in the diasporic, but favours the celebration of a postmodern culture of 'travel' in which refugees, activists, and labourers are all migrants in a shared social field.8

That field may be what Homi K Bhabha has called the "third space" of diasporic subjectivity, a site of hybrid interconnectedness which "displaces the histories that constitute it, and sets up new structures of authority, new political initiatives, which are inadequately understood through received wisdom" (Bhabha 1990:21 l).The 'cultural hybridity' approach has been taken up in particular by literary theorists who are

6 See Clifford's 1992 essay "Traveling Cultures," in Cultural Studies,(New York: Routledge, 96-117) and "Diasporas," Cultural Anthropology 9:3 (2004): 302-338. 7 Though much of the book Modernity At Large is concerned with the analysis of such formations, Appadurai uses the term 'diasporic public spheres' itself very little. 8 A significant influence on this theoretical work has been that of Deleuze and Guattari's notions of 'nomad' subjects and 'deterritorialization' (See A Thousand Plateaus, 1980), which have been taken up in the work of writers like Caren Kaplan {Questions of Travel, 1996) to point to a new, postnationalist, global diaspora subject. 265 attempting to conceptualize an aesthetics of diasporic subjectivity.9 Taking a less celebratory tact, John Hutnyk and others have drawn attention to the way in which this culturalist approach can fail to recognize the commodification of such cultural productions, and argue that hybrid cultural productions and their producers are prone to exploitation. This is obvious in application to American and European popular culture

- one need only think of the 'world music' industry - but is no less so when one thinks of the global popularity of cultural-traditional or fusion forms like , hip hop, or

Bollywood. The globalized world is enabled by the cultural productions of diasporic people. Even Appadurai admits that "In the postnational world that we see emerging, diaspora runs with, and not against, the grain of identity, movement, and reproduction"

(171). It is therefore prudent to consider that "the flourishing of diasporic theory comes in an era of free trade and globalization, an era where the virtues of fluid and border- crossing identities are endorsed not only by radical scholars, but, sometimes ever more earnestly, by the powers-that-be" (Chariandy 4).

Brubaker, Anthias and others argue that these theories of diasporic hybridity and mobility do not mesh with the reality that with issues of security, citizenship, and border control, the world is far less porous than imagined. Brubaker comments that over the past century, and more so since 9/11, "states have gained rather than lost the capacity to monitor and control the movement of people" (9). A theory of diaspora must take into

9 Safran, who appears to care little for this approach, writes that "for some postmodernists, diaspora need not connote anything negative at all; on the contrary, it may be a reflection of an "imaginary" based on a happy sort of hybridity" (2003: 438). 266 account the conditions under which people become diasporic subjects, especially in regards to labour, war, security, displacement, and technology. Diasporic subjects can live and work in more than one place, engage in politics, feel at home, interact with communities beyond their own, and articulate multiple senses of self. Diasporas not only mark out differences, but are also inhabited by differences.

The two approaches to diaspora which I have outlined above mark a rough line between structuralist and postmodern/postcolonial approaches to diaspora. Neither approach has much forbearance for the other, nor is either approach able to overcome the primacy of categories of ethnicity and nation within the broader diaspora discourse.

Ethnicity is no less an underlying principle in the work of Bhabha and Appadurai, who may seek to destabilize the centrality of the nation in conceptualizing diaspora, but are unable to dislodge ethnicity as its ontological (albeit historically contingent) basis, than it is in the work of typological theorists like Cohen and Safran. The typological model locates diaspora in the category of ethnicity, nation, or religion from which it emerges, which holds it together, and to which it longs to return. The 'culturalist' model celebrates the fusion and collision of ethnic groups, as evinced by the hyphenated cultural productions of British Asians, or Indo-Caribbeans. On these grounds, one can

It may be fair to further suggest that these distinctions map broadly onto the methodological differences between the humanities and social sciences, though by no means do I intend to suggest any agreement in the disciplines about the questions raised here. David Chariandy writes that to further develop diaspora thought, it will be necessary to "shift the discourse of diaspora beyond what may be seen as a traditional social scientific preoccupation with ontology ('what is a diaspora?') and its concomitant methodologies and biases" (9). 267 ask if diasporas from either perspective are really anything more than quasi-nationalist multi-local ethnic groups.

Thus Floya Anthias points out that both approaches deploy a "notion of ethnicity which privileges the point of 'origin' in constructing identity and " (1998:

558). In privileging origins, diaspora theorists point to a variety of social formations, including religion, language, race, and ethnicity; but most often these categories are in some way adjunctively positioned next to nation, and more problematically to "the nation-state." It is a tautological problem of diaspora that in order to talk about how the boundaries of the nation are transgressed, the nation itself is reified and obscured. Thus even in a formulation like 'African diaspora' the nation is present in the ghosts of colonialism and the spectral, elided historical reality of African nations themselves.

The language of diaspora can make it appear as if there are no borders, but borders remain.

Mythology, the 'imaginary' and the historical real

Diaspora, in many instances and across its various theoretical camps, is often conceptualized as a somewhat binary relationship between a nation and its others: either a nation of 'origin' and its scattered people, or a nation of settlement and those who have migrated to it. In neither sense is the origin itself much the focus of analysis, and this is enabled by the recourse to binary opposition which Brah writes that "may help to conceal the workings of historically specific socio-economic, political and cultural 268

circumstances that mark the terrain on which a given binary comes to assume its particular significance" (184). By making ethnicity a synecdoche for nation as the

ontological basis of diaspora, and thus rendering insignificant the connections and

histories between the two terms, the typological model of Safran and Cohen reduces

diasporic experiences however unintentionally to this 'old' form of ethnicity and its

adjunct, ethnonationalism. This gives rise to what Andreas Wimmer and Nina Glick

Schiller have called "methodological nationalism." n At the same time, the power of

nation as an ideological and social formation seems overlooked in the culturalist model,

in which nations are subsumed by new 'hybrid' ethnocultural formations and fusions.

The conceptualization of the nation in relation to diaspora remains a finicky

problem. In the preface to the first volume of Diaspora: A Journal of Transnational

Studies, Khachig Tololyan declares that the journal's primary concern is "with ways

that nations, real yet imagined communities (Anderson), are fabulated, brought into

being, made and unmade, in culture and politics, both on land people call their own and

in exile" (3). The nation is a constant though sometimes invisible presence in diaspora

theory, lurking underneath the discourse of globalization and border-transgressions.

Tololyan writes that "to affirm that diasporas are the exemplary communities of the

transnational moment is not to write the premature obituary of the nation-state" (5). He

11 This has been analyzed in the context of social scientific transnational studies by Andreas Wimmer and Nina Glick Schiller in "Methodological Nationalism, the Social Sciences, and the Study of Migration." The International Migration Review (Fall 2003, 37:3). 269 goes on to describe the context of war and of nationalist struggle as ways in which the nation is reinscribed into diaspora.

How is nation understood in this body of theory? At the most basic level, it is clear that regardless of which approach is taken, some formative category, or categories, must underpin a diaspora identity, such as but not limited to religion, ethnicity, language, or nation. Nation also becomes important when theorists talk of assimilation, alienation, and politics, since diaspora people are implicated in the nations to which they migrate as well as in the collective construction of a concept of home - a "national imaginary". Whereas in the typological framework, the desire for homeland is typically categorized as a nostalgia or mourning for a nation which has been lost or which does not yet exist, hybridity theory tends to emphasize the ways in which diasporic subjectivities, even while mourning for what has been lost, can create new and profoundly enabling kinds of identities and expressions out of their multi-locationality.

In his study of the Indian diaspora, Vijay Mishra suggests that these two kinds of nostalgic subjectivity can be understood respectively as components of diasporas of

'exclusion' and 'border.' The former is characterized by the early postcolonial writers like VS Naipaul, and the latter by hybrid cosmopolitans like Hanif Kureishi and Meera

Syal. He argues that while the old 'diasporas of exclusion' were characterized by a sort of enclave-building, new 'diasporas of the border' consist of hybrid, mobile subjectivities and expressions (422). 270

While the distinction between these forms of diaspora is potentially useful, the

implication of Mishra's "old and new" examples is that such forms are diachronic and

generational and this is somewhat problematic. This binary formulation does not take

enough into account the other social forces which could contribute considerably to

diversity within such categories, such as differential experiences of race, racism, labour,

gender, or multiculturalism. Thus, Mishra's argument appears to stand as a fairly typical literary-postmodern approach to diaspora in its emphasis on the postcolonial

nation as the ontological moment of diaspora.

Despite this, there are some useful elements of the essay. Mishra insists on

recognizing the differences within nationalisms within diasporas and avoiding the

"homogenization of all Indian diaspora in terms of the politics of disarticulation/

rearticulation" though I am not certain that he adequately demonstrates that in his study

(427). Also interesting is his use, in the title of the essay and throughout, of the term

"diasporic imaginary." Drawing on Lacan, Zizek, and Benedict Anderson, Mishra

writes that "diasporic discourse of the homeland is thus a kind of return of the

'repressed' for the nation-state itself, its pre-symbolic (imaginary) narrative, in which

one sees a more primitive theorization of the nation itself (425). Mishra applies the

term to "any ethnic enclave in a nation-state that defines itself, consciously,

unconsciously, or because of the political self-interest of a racialized nation-state, as a

group that lives in displacement" (423). The concept of "diasporic imaginary" is

instructive in what it tells us about diaspora theory and its insistence on a national(ist) 271

diaspora ontology. The term has been adopted by several diaspora theorists to point towards a collective imagining of nation.12 But in taking up the concept it is important to recognize that it points not to a conscious construction of nation, but to the nation as

a projection of desire.

An adjunct concept to diasporic imaginary is 'diaspora mythology', a term which

Mishra uses only once in this essay but productively distinguishes between the fantasy

of the diasporic imaginary and the collective agreement on its content with regard to

"homeland, ancient past, return, and so on". Diaspora mythology often circulates

around a concept of racial/cultural purity: Mishra calls this the "underside" of the

concept of homeland, but I would suggest that it is the conscious representation of

something that is always present in the unconscious of the diasporic imaginary.

Building on the ideas of the diasporic imaginary and diaspora mythology then, I

want to reintroduce the concept of mythohistory here. Key ingredients of a diaspora

mythology are memory, nostalgia and the idea of heritage or tradition. Nostalgia is by

nature mythohistorical, requiring the blending of a mythological and historical past in

order to produce a narrative of origins. In contemporary diaspora theory, the notion of a

collective nostalgia for a lost home often underpins theories of identity and social

12 Brian Keith Axel uses the term "diasporic imaginary" in a 2001 essay in a somewhat different way: "First, it is intended to foreground violence as a key means through which the features of a people are constituted. Second, it is intended to account for the creation of the diaspora, not through a definitive relation to place, but through formations of temporality, affect, and corporeality. The diasporic imaginary, then, does not act as a new kind of place of origin but indicates a process of identification generative of diasporic subjects" (Axel 412). This use of the term, though constructed and utilized differently than in Mishra's formulation, also speaks to the epistemological framework that I am trying to develop here. 272 organization. I argue that a rethinking of the ossification of concepts of home and nostalgia in contemporary analyses of diaspora is required, and the epistemological construction of home bears analysis as a component of nostalgia. To begin this analysis, the nation must be understood as an epistemological process of the present, and under the present conditions of diaspora, rather than as a static fixture in the memorialized past or a distant 'elsewhere.' Thinking of a diaspora mythology not as the collective projection of the nation not as a point of origin, but as a.process of identification with a mythohistorical image of nation can enable this shift.

But how, if we intend to problematize the primacy of nation in diaspora theory, can we deal with the problem of historical reality in relationship to the mythohistorical imaginary? What happens if we consider diaspora in a context which is critical of its relationship to nationalism and tradition, modernity and postmodernity, as ideological constructions? Avtar Brah writes that "the study of diaspora calls for a concept of diaspora in which historical and contemporary elements are understood in their diachronic relationality" (197). This would require moving beyond ethnicity/nation as ontology and instead consider how, in political and material terms, nation, home, tradition, and memory are themselves historically contingent. This requires thinking of diaspora not as an amorphously hybrid third space, but rather as a historically contingent subject-position in which 'history' is the product of ideological method, and simultaneously, the mode in which diaspora identities are represented. These are 273 questions, respectively, of subjectivity, epistemology, and representation which remain uninterrogated in diaspora theory.

Anthias writes that one of the key problems with the concept of diaspora is the under-theorization of how gender and class differences complicate notions of diaspora as social condition (570). This is also an important consideration in the analysis of the

'nation' as diasporic origin, where the nation is often rather uncritically evoked and reified (Anthias 569). How is "the nation" imagined, and how is it imagined by people at different angles to it, people located in various diasporic positions? How is the nation represented in history? How does a nationalist diaspora ideology portray differences of gender, ethnicity, or class within the natiorp. Such questions are often papered over by the more appealing homogeneity of a homeward-looking diaspora. To get to them, I argue that we must be able to think diaspora not without nation, but 'beyond nationalist frames,' to use Sumit Sarkar's words.13

In order to make diaspora a useful term, in my view, it is necessary to dislodge it from its ontological focus, and instead consider how origins are constructed and understood. Making diaspora an ontological question reifies origins but an analysis of the epistemological construction of those origins can enhance our understanding of it.

'Origin' is itself an ideological term, taking recourse to essentialism and primordialism

13 Sarkar writes: "There remains a need to make distinctions between different kinds of 'nation-state' projects, with specific contours and locations in time. Homogenisation quite often operates nowadays through homogenized rejections... .the search for internconnections must not be abandoned, but made much ore complicated and freed fromal l forms of reductionism." (2002: 3). 274

even when the broader theory in which it is invoked is trying to problematize that.

Origin or 'homeland' functions as an ideology, not as memory and rarely as lived

experience. Rather than reifying it as a point of origin, the construction of nation in various diasporic locations and contexts must be critiqued so that the relationship of

people to history can be better understood. It must not be assumed that nationalism is a

fact of diasporic social organization, and nationalist ideologies must be analysed for

their content and construction, asking how the nation is conceived in social and

historical context.

Crucial to the analysis of diaspora nationalism are the social constructions of

family, nation and self, and their ossified remnants in the constructions of nostalgia and

identity. In this context, "nostalgia," a term which is often invoked by diaspora

theorists to describe the relation of people to their lost origins, is an empty signifier, a

superficial celebration of nation. As I will go on to show, the Amar Chitra Katha

comics are conduits for this ideological process. The homogeneous, middle class view

of India as seen in the comics connects with the view of the burgeoning diasporic

middle class.

A central premise of my argument therefore is that there are heterogeneous

conceptualizations of nation within diasporas because the epistemological foundations

of the concepts of place inherent in 'here' and 'home' for diasporic people develop

differently and unevenly. What contributes to its construction within a specific social

context, and how a subject conceives it then are the questions that I would like to pose. 275

At the broadest level, "India," and "Canada" mean quite different things to people of different ethnicities in , Winnipeg, and Port-of-Spain. But more specifically, the ideological breadth and depth of nation in historical narrative is highly dependent on location and context, especially in regards to education. How might a schoolchild in

Manchester learning about the 1857 Indian Mutiny conceive differently of India than one learning about the 'First War of Independence' in Delhi, or than one in Toronto who learns nothing of these events whatsoever, but knows only that India is the 'land of

Hindus'? Against what familial, educational, popular cultural ground can these messages be interpreted? There may also be differences between the way that first and

second generation diasporic people, for whom a conceptualization of nation in their

own contexts might be different in depth and complexity, conceptualize "nation" or

"heritage".

These observations begin to make clear that the nation in diasporic discourse

should be approached not as an ontological certainty, but as a limited, epistemologically

contingent, reified idea of nation. The question then is not about diasporic subjectivity,

but rather about how a calcified, reified form of identity is itself highly contingent on the ways in which the putatively ontological categories of diaspora are learned, known,

experienced, or understood. 276

South Asian diasporas

Having surveyed some of the theoretical debate around diaspora, it would be useful for me to briefly introduce some of the particular issues posed by the study of diasporas from the South Asian region. As is the case with diaspora theory in general, with specific reference to migrants from the South Asian region, there have been two modes that have tended to dominate: first, an anthropological analysis that has chiefly centred around religion and social movements (Clarke, Peach and Vertovec 1990; van der Veer 1995; Vertovec 2000; Parekh, Singh and Vertovec 2003), and a second, a literary/cinematic mode which has been figured around the cultural productions and representations of its diasporas (Bahri and Vasudeva 1996; Desai 2003; Gopinath 2005;

Mishra 2007). For theorists coming out of literary studies, it is the experience of colonialism and the postcolonial condition which characterize South Asian diasporas.

This mode of thinking has been rather the most open-minded to theories of a postmodern, borderless new world in which diaspora is a metaphor for contemporary subjectivity (Appadurai 1996; Bhabha 1994). To these two broad camps, I would add a third category for those who have used the classical frameworks of sociology to analyse the immigration and labour history of South Asian diasporas, and here I would include

Avtar Brah (1996), Vijay Prashad (2000), Sandhya Shukla (2003), and some earlier researchers (Tinker 1977; Buchignani and Indra 1985).14 For the purposes of the project

14 And more recently Ali Kazimi's film Continuous Journey (2004) has brought a great deal of attention to this topic. 277

at hand, I have found this approach to be the most useful for defining my theoretical

approach.

Sandhya Shukla suggests the use of the plural term "South Asian diasporas" to refer to migrants from this region while remaining mindful of the complexity of their

identities and histories. Shukla writes that these diasporas do not share a single forced

expulsion or 'traumatic event' as do some other diasporas in Cohen's model (553).

Indeed, many of India's migrants, from the period of Caribbean indentureship to

contemporary Silicon Valley tech workers, have migrated for labour. Some however -

Muslims in India post 1947, Sikhs post-1984, fleeing Sri Lanka post 1983, have

indeed fled under traumatic and violent circumstances. But the use of the plural

'diasporas' is a useful way to point to both a common origin and the complexity of

defining that origin, as well as recognizing the different memories and issues of these

diasporas. The idea of a South Asian subjectivity is, however complexly I may render it,

nonetheless fraught. Not all South Asian diasporic people are likely to use this term,

opting instead for affiliations of nation or religion like "Muslim Canadian" or Indo-

Canadian (both of which often stand in for ethnicity). It is worth noting that among

those I interviewed, about half of the diasporic subjects referred to "South Asian" as

their ethnic identity, with the others opting for a national or regional category. It can

also be an adjunct to or an umbrella over other identities. Pnina Werbner observes about

the British case: 278

In this public display of identities in Britain, specific Pakistani or Bangladeshi

national identities are almost entirely submerged beneath the broader rubric of a

"Muslim' identity, just as an Indian identity (or Hindu and Sikh) is subsumed

under the rubric of a" South Asian' identity. Nevertheless, despite their

difference, both identities label the same group. Seen collectively, diaspora

Pakistanis and Bangladeshis project two alternative identities— South Asian and

Islamic, although different organic intellectuals from within the two

communities are actors in each of the arenas. (Werbner 899)

Critically for the present project, the concept of South Asian diasporas allows me to locate my research at the nexus of formations of 'Hindu' and 'Indian' identity, because though these categories are not identical, they both rest on an ontological concept of

India. Steven Vertovec, who researches what he calls the Hindu diaspora, writes that the slippage between 'Indian' and 'Hindu' is inevitable, since "for many, if not most

Hindus, India is a sacred space abounding with sacred places..." (3). This might indeed be inevitable if one ignores the fact that there are also sacred spaces in India corresponding to the Buddhist, Jain, Sikh, and Muslim faiths, practitioners of which are also spread throughout the world, and for whom such a slippage might not be so natural.

It is true that the physical space of India is an important part of the Hindu imaginary across national boundaries, so that Nepalese, Balinese, Fijian and Guyanese Hindus may see it as a spiritual homeland. But the concept of 'Hindu diaspora' does not adequately historicize or critique the idea of the nation of 'India' as a component of its 279 ideological structure, nor does it incorporate a recognition of the diasporic subject's location in diaspora as a critical aspect of 'Hindu' identity.

In this regard, I find it useful to consider Avtar Brah's concept of diaspora space. She writes that "My argument is that diaspora space as a conceptual category is

'inhabited', not only by those who have migrated and their descendents, but equally by those who are constructed and represented as indigenous" (209). She argues that many diasporas intersect in the geographical space of England, and that "Englishness" is also an important part of that diaspora space. Brah further proposes that

border crossings do not occur only across the dominant/dominated dichotomy,

but that, equally, there is traffic within cultural formations of the subordinated

groups, and that these journeys are not always mediated through the dominant

cultures. (209)

This latter point has inspired much research in contemporary cultural studies on the intersections of various groups in English diaspora space, such as the hiphop and reggae fused music of the Asian Underground, or in the inter-ethnic solidarities of the women's or working class labour movements.15 But while it is both important and useful to consider the kinds of solidarities which can be engaged by this proposition, it is also important to consider how the "cultural formations of the subordinated groups" include hierarchies within them; there are relations of power within diaspora spaces, particularly

15 Brah's own research on these is discussed in Cartographies of Diaspora (1996) but much has been written on these topics. 280

in regards to issues of gender and race. I want to extend Brah's concept of 'diaspora

space' a little further to also incorporate a notion of how the politics of "home" can

construct social relations very differently than the politics of the diaspora space. I argue that this concept may be more usefully deployed if it is trained not only on the point of

convergence of several diasporas at a cosmopolitan location, but also their locations of

'origin'.

For my purposes, I will describe "South Asian diasporas" as including people

who conceptualize for themselves a national, cultural, ethnic or religious identity or

'heritage' that is connected to the region or nations of South Asia. I am using the term

heritage to point at the socially constructed, ideologically suspect concepts of familial

heritage and to a concept of shared history as well as tradition and social practice.

Following Shukla, I am pluralizing diasporas to clarify that I am not intending to

homogenize the enormous number of people who associate themselves with this region

(553). Rather, following Brah, I am attempting to point to a number of intersecting

diasporic formations which find South Asia as a node. Thus, 'Indian', 'Hindu', 'Sikh',

'Bangladeshi,' 'Fijian,' and 'Indo-Caribbean' diasporas, each of which have their own

particular features and ideological formations, intersect in the diaspora space of South

Asia, "where tradition is itself continually invented even as it may be hailed as

originating in the mists of time" (Brah 208). This definition allows me to accomplish

several things. 281

First, by appealing to a broad general conceptualization of South Asia, I can acknowledge and attend to different approaches to diaspora which could include language, religion, ethnicity, nation, or culture. "South Asia" itself is a historically contingent term, and was not widely in use until the latter half of the past century. But I use it not to paper over the incredible complexity of people and cultures in this region, but rather to acknowledge that this regional conceptualization goes further than

'ethnicity', religion, or nation in pointing to the way in which migrants from this region are understood in contemporary global politics. In other words, brown people are brown people, and they all seem to have come from one place. A Bangladeshi refugee woman in India may be part of a Bangladeshi diaspora there and also have a distinct political identity distinct from an Urdu- or Punjabi-speaking, land-owning Pakistani citizen, and yet in Canada both may be read as "South Asian" or Muslim—or even misread as

"Indian".

Second then, an appeal to the notion of "South Asia" also troubles the India- centric nature of diaspora discourse around this region. India as 'nation' is itself a complex and contestable term, and I have already shown some of the ideological work involved in maintaining it. It is, however, important to recognize that "South Asia" is itself a historically contingent term, arising out of the Cold War phase of international relations in which the region had particular geopolitical significance in relation to North

America, Europe, and the USSR (Bahri and Vasudeva 3). In that sense, it is not only a new invention, but given the shifts in the world order since the 1970s when "South 282

Asia" was first widely in use, also one which retrospectively underscores its own problematic relationship with 'the West'.16

Third, the category of 'South Asian', rather than assimilating differences among migrant people from this region, could for strategic reasons also be a mode of alliance- building in 'diaspora space.' Coalitions can develop between members of these diasporas that may not exist 'at home,' like that of the Tamil, Punjabi, and East African seniors in Toronto fighting for immigrant pension rights or operating a women's drop-in centre. Another term which sometimes performs a similar function is 'Desi', a Hindi word meaning "of the land" of South Asia. This term is popularly used by young people in particular. Sunaina Maira, who has written a book entitled Desis in the

House: Indian American Youth Culture in , writes in her introduction that the term has "taken hold among many second-generation youth in the diaspora of

Indian, Pakistani, Bangladeshi, Sri Lankan or even Indo-Caribbean descent" (2). But even as the title of the book suggests, the term is most widely in use among youth of

Indian origin. 'Desi' has been an important identity around which young people have created solidarities, though its regional and linguistic specificity and its relative India- centricity render it inadequate for my purposes here. I use the term 'South Asian' to attempt to complete some of what Maira hopes that 'Desi' will do.

Bahri has an extensive essay (1998) on the construction of 'Asia' in relation to Europe in historical context, but says little on the topic of "South Asia." 283

Fourth, 'nation' in the South Asian context is fraught and contested, and there is little agreement on definitions of 'homeland.' Three of the most well known examples of ethnic nationalist diasporic movements - Hindu, Sikh, and Tamil, circulate around a putative homeland in the South Asian region. It is useful to note that each of these cases expresses a different sense of exclusivity; for the two former, it is religion that provokes the desire for a distinct homeland; for the two latter, it is also out of a need to distinguish themselves from an oppressive "majority." The ideological formation by which a Gujarati Hindu nationalist in Silicon Valley might define India (likely as a

Hindu-supremacist state) would be very different from the way in which a Sikh separatist agricultural worker in Surrey might, for example; though both ostensibly belong to an Indian diaspora, they each also occupy different positions in regards to labour, class, space, religion, and gender. The broad scope of "South Asian diasporas" allows me to trouble the notion of a fixed origin.

Having thus defined my use of the phrase "South Asian diasporas" it would be useful to consider some issues which arise in diasporic locations and contexts, and which provide some context for the present study. To begin with, it is necessary to consider the disparate social contexts of different diaspora locations. In contemporary

Canada, as well as in the US and Europe, the number of South Asian migrants continues to grow.17 A growing number of South Asian diasporic migrants are Indo-Caribbean

17 "The South Asian Community in Canada" http://www.statcan.ca/english/freepub/89-621-XIE/89-621- XIE2007006.htm 284 people from Guyana, Trinidad, and Surinam. Others may migrate from Fiji, Mauritius,

East or South Africa, or the Gulf states in what are sometimes called 'double

migrations'. The sheer complexity of differences among these people in regards to

language, cultural and social practices, family ties and traditions, makes it impossible to

put forth any homogenizing theory of diaspora. There is no shared historical sense of

nation, nor is there necessarily a shared religious tradition or language. There may be

something like a shared diasporic national imaginary, but this too is mediated by other

experiences and memories of other nations, particularly those who have experienced a

'double migration'.

What binds these people together with others in South Asian diasporas is more

complex than just nostalgia; it is also a shared ethnification - it is both imposed from

without by the 'host' society and constructed, hierarchically, from within. In making

this argument it is not my intention to reduce diaspora to the category of ethnicity, but

rather I want to point to the ways in which 'diaspora' can sometimes become a

euphemistic substitute for 'ethnicity' even in radical or postcolonial discourse. The

recourse to a homogeneous projection of ethnicity is not always a conservative move:

an idea like "India" for example when emptied of history becomes available as part of a

strategy of alliance building and self defence among various people in a host(ile)

country who find some affinity with the idea. "South Asia", for similar but broader

reasons, provides a platform from which to develop certain kinds of social/political 285 coalitions, including with other diaspora groups. Simultaneously, these overarching categories can have the effect of subsuming critical differences like caste and gender.

Solidarities

The South Asian presence in the UK, for example, is certainly one of the oldest nodes of these diasporas. Indians and Ceylonese were traveling to England for business and education from the 18th century, and this increased throughout the colonial period.

But travel was not always a matter of privilege. In the 19 century, as Avtar Brah observes, working class South Asians could very well have been working as servants in wealthy homes (192). The South Asian diasporas of the UK today have been most keenly studied not only for their attempts at cultural preservation but also for their sometimes uneasy political alliances with other racialized communities in order to confront racism, poverty and poor working conditions.18 It is well documented that through the 1980s and 1990s, South Asians in the UK actively identified as Black - a political nomenclature that at once underscored the dyadic nature of racism in the UK and produced a kind of kinship among racialized people. 'Black' as an organizing category has been replaced since the early 1990s by Asian or 'British Asian' as South

Asians attempt to articulate a more specific collective identity for both productive and exclusivist reasons. Asians in the have been intensively studied in regard to their literary and cultural output, and these cultural productions are often held

18 See van der Veer 1995, Brah 1996; Also Werbner 2004). 286 up as the archetypes of 'hybridity' - from the Hanif Kureishi writing in the mid-1980s to Salman Rushdie's cosmopolitan exile there; from the liberal pop-feminist work of

Gurinder Chadha and Deepa Mehta to the fusion sounds of the Asian underground. But as these have undergone extensive critical analysis from a variety of disciplinary perspectives, it has become clear that by no means do they herald an end to racism or any real cultural syncretism. In the post 9/11 context, and particularly since the London bombings of 2005, brown British people face racism and scrutiny at an unprecedented level.19

The issues of immigration and security are no less an issue elsewhere in Europe,

Australia, and in North America. South Asians, mainly Punjabi men, began emigrating to the West coast of North America in large numbers from the 19th century and often settling into agricultural work. Many faced racism and hostility from British colonial settlers. The 'Continuous Journey' policy of 1908 kept Asian migrants out of Canada by insisting that they arrive directly from Asia, an impossibility by sea travel at the time.

This was most famously illustrated by the Komagatu Maru incident of 1914, when that ship's passengers were refused entry into Canada on this basis.20 In the US, the Asian

Exclusion Act, part of the Johnson-Reed Acts of 1924 was no more welcoming.21 South

The 2006 controversy around Shilpa Shetty being called a "Paki" on British television's Big Brother program, and the subsequent moral outrage from the British public should not be construed as any proof of the end of racism there; rather it is an illustration that such views are alive and thriving. 20 See Ali Kazimi's film Continuous Journey (2004) as well as a book by Buchignani and Indra (1985) of the same name. Passengers received appalling treatment from the Canadian public, officials, and press. 21 See Uzma Shakir, in Organizing the Transnational, eds Goldring and Krishnamurti (2007). 287

Asian migrants to the southern US states made alliances with Mexican agricultural workers, and Punjabi-Mexican communities continue to exist today.

Interestingly, while South Asians were racialized in Canada from the beginning of their presence there, in the US, they were for a short period considered to be "white" for census purposes (Dhingra Shankar 50). While in the UK many South Asians adopted strategic alliances with Black activists, in the US the predominant, no less uneasy alliance, has been with East and South-east Asians under the broad rubric of

Asian American activism and academic research. But, as Bahri has argued, "the projection of an Asian identity based on national origin but at the same time transcending it to secure collective leverage is a highly complex manoeuvre" (31). In the American context, alliances among Asians must recognize the degree to which

'Asia' has been constructed as a broad, 'oriental' other, and so this label, like 'Black' in the UK, is as much an outcome of the dominant culture's race politics as it is a strategic and voluntary choice. Alliances with Asians and Black activists have invigorated the

South Asian social activist scene in the US as well as led to a burgeoning sub-section of

South Asian Studies among Asian American and Cultural Studies scholars. While such alliances are also strategically adopted in Canada, it is also a fact of the regional differences in population and immigration history that they shift from city to city and from urban to rural areas. Organizations like the South Asia Left Democratic Alliance,

22 Something similar happened a decade or so earlier in England, marked by the work of scholars like Chandra Talpade Mohanty. It should be acknowledged that there has also been a shift in South Asian Studies as more scholars of South Asian origin enter the field. 288

The South Asian Women's Centre, The Council of Agencies Serving South Asians, and

South Asia Network for Secularism and Democracy are all urban-based Canadian social justice groups which use "South Asia" as an organizational meeting point, though in

practice the term itself is often a site of ambiguity or contention within the group itself

and among its alliances.23 In this respect, the solidarity afforded by the organizing

category of "South Asian diasporas" falters when it is confronted with intense and

complex conflicts within it.

Exclusions

Certainly, one of the key challenges to South Asian solidarity has been the

tendency for Indian identities and politics to dominate in community-building efforts,

sometimes unintentionally. But even the concept of 'Indian community' papers over its

lacks. Within the category 'Indian,' or even 'South Asian' in Toronto and other

Canadian metropolitan centres, it would also be possible to identify a Punjabi, Gujarati,

Hindu/Urdu and Tamil linguistic dominance (Tran, Kaddatz and Allard 20). Other

language groups are much smaller and are sometimes unrecognized in broader

community organizing efforts. In terms of religion, the "Indian" diaspora is dominated

by Hindus and Sikhs (Tran, Kaddatz and Allard 23-24). In regard to both language and

religion, the relative size of groups differs between India and diasporic locations, so that

23 Sundar, "The South Asia Left Democratic Alliance: The Dilemmas of a Transnational Left" in Organizing the Transnational (2007). 289 for example, the Punjabi-speaking community of Toronto is proportionately larger in comparison to Hindi-speaking people than is the case in India and includes a number of

Indian and Pakistani Muslims.24 It must be acknowledged that though there are a large number of South Asian Muslims in Canada, some feel alienated by anti-Muslim politics in India and in the diaspora and opt to find alliances among other Muslims in the

Canadian context. Tiny communities of Indian Jains, Parsis, and Buddhists are relatively marginalized in the diaspora, as they are in India. Practitioners of these religions, like Hindus from across India, also tend to organize around community specific organizations such as temples representing regional interests (of these, Gujarati temples appear to dominate).

The predominance of "Indian" as an organizing category is reflected in the self- organization of South Asians in most Canadian urban centres, where the first community organizations included Indo-Canadian Associations and Raaga Mala societies for the arts. Immigrants from other South Asian nations, including Pakistanis,

Bangladeshis, and Sri Lankans tended to form independent community organizations where their numbers were large enough to do so. However, though many Indian- dominated cultural and social organizations have taken on the label of 'South Asian,' they have not necessarily simultaneously included people from these other

24 Some Pakistani Muslims are also Punjabi speakers, which may account in part for the higher percentage of Punjabi speakers. But my intention here is to highlight how generally speaking the demographics of South Asia and its diasporas are not proportionately similar; the reasons for this have much more to do with patterns of immigration. 290 communities. For example, some 'South Asian' organizations are reticent to include diasporic Sri Lankans, many of whom are Tamil refugees, since upwardly mobile or middle class South Asian diasporics see themselves as having little in common with their culture or experience. It could also be argued that Sri Lankan Tamils have a strong sense of national identity and belonging which they do not want to be subsumed by the South Asian label.

Gender issues vastly complicate any conceptualization of South Asian diasporas, though of course these are also quite specific to region and religion. The migration experiences of women in comparison to men are vastly different with regard to labour, wealth, family, and social exclusion, both in terms of access to services and community building but also in terms of the experience of racism. Tania Das Gupta has argued that the experiences of South Asian women in Canada must be taken within the context of the Canadian political economy (8). She writes that while most women who emigrate to Canada do so as dependents rather than as independent immigrants, some South

Asian women have also entered Canada through specific programs for domestic or agricultural workers. Otherwise, she argues, Canadian points system for immigration effectively keeps many women of colour out. Women who migrate as dependents may face a lack of financial security, or abuse; women who work, especially among farm, factory and domestic workers, face a variety of other issues specific to their gendered labour. 291

South Asian diasporic women face a number of challenges which are gender specific or which may affect some women differently than men. For example, women's bodies wear ethnicity in a way that men's do not; there have been many historical and contemporary instances of women in Europe and North America singled out for racist attacks because they were wearing a bindi, hijab, or other ethnic, cultural, or religious markings. Proficiency in the host country language may also be an issue, especially for women who work within the home or have limited education; this can be the case even if the male immigrant on whom they depend is highly educated themselves.26 For younger and second-generation diasporic women, issues around sexuality, dating, and marriage are particularly volatile, as Amita Handa discusses in her book Of Silk Saris andMini-Skirts: South Asian Girls Walk the Tightrope of Culture (2003). Identity issues, and questions of cultural knowledge appear to loom particularly large for young second-generation women. In five years of teaching in South Asian Studies at York

University, I have observed that classes relating to South Asian culture tend to draw eighty to ninety percent female students, nearly all of whom are of South Asian descent.

Though it is not unusual for courses in the Humanities to have large contingents of female students, the heightened misproportion in the case of South Asian Studies may also be reflective of the fact that many male students are pushed by families towards

25 In North America, one of the most well documented instances would be the 'Dot Busters' attacks of the late 1970s in New York. See Lessinger, 139. 26 Although of course it should also be acknowledged that some skilled and educated immigrants are not able to findwor k in their professions, or may have trouble having their credentials recognized. 292 professional degrees. It also points to a larger issue around the sexualization of women in relation to nation and national identity and tradition, (Yuval-Davis 1997; Mathew and

Prashad 2000: 522). Female students often tell me that they are encouraged by their families to learn 'culture' even in addition to professional education.

The push towards professions is reflective of an ethos of upward mobility, especially among long-settled Indian immigrant families and more recently arrived professionals, and it underscores the reality that the class experiences of diasporic people are a critical point of difference. The issues faced by the growing populations of continental and Indo-Caribbean South Asian food and agricultural workers, sex trade workers, and taxi and truck drivers, have been taken up by sector-specific labour organizations while community organizations tend to be more concerned with issues of culture, education, and access to professional jobs.27 This points to the class disparity among South Asian diasporic people in Canada, a problem that is not being adequately addressed through community activism; this is certainly no less of a problem in the US or Europe. Class disparity can also correlate to religious and national divisions. Chetan

Bhatt writes that the "religious boundaries between Hinduism and Islam in the UK can often function as metonymic class boundaries between economically successful

For example, the Toronto Coalition for Taxi Drivers addresses trade-specific issues and problems around immigration status; these remain unaddressed by groups concerned with credential recognition even though some taxi drivers are themselves credentialed immigrants. Thus the economic reality of South Asian immigrants is overlooked by professional groups. 293 fractions of east African Asian merchant communities and relatively impoverished

Pakistani and Bangladeshi communities" (2000: 564).

Class, race, and racism, therefore, are significant factors in the hierarchical organization of South Asian diasporas. The caste system, which remains a social practice in South Asia among Hindu, Sikh, and even some Christian and Muslim communities, is part of the baggage that travels with these diasporas. Though occupation-based caste is not practiced in diasporic locations to the extent that it is in parts of rural South Asia, it remains a complication in diasporic cultures, most often erupting in circumstances around marriage and other socio-religious practices. The three categories often cross over in "shadist" prejudice within South Asian diasporic communities, wherein darker skin even among South Asians is read as a signifier of lower caste or working class occupation. This is not limited to relations between South

Asians. Focusing on the migration and settlement of Indians in the US, Vijay Prashad writes that in attempting to distinguish itself from the racialized and criminalized Black communities, Indian immigrants in the US actively worked to present themselves as similar to whites with respect to education, social class and upward mobility. Indeed, at least in part because North American immigration policies have been designed to accept highly educated and trained Asian migrants (though by no means are they guaranteed commensurate work), it appears to be the case that are the

28 A glance at any 'matrimonial advertising service targeted at diasporic people can provide an illustration of that. See www.shaadi.com for examples. 29 See Prashad, The of Brown Folk (2000). 294 wealthiest and most rapidly growing ethnic group. The evidence is similar in Canada, where South Asians are said to be the most rapidly growing ethnic group (Lindsay 9).

The diaspora of the Sangh Parivar

I have so far managed to provide a short survey of some of the issues inherent in the category of South Asian diasporas, including noting the complexity of locating

"India" within it. As I discussed previously, the projection of 'India' as 'home' is fraught, but is nonetheless an important aspect of diaspora identities. The comparative size and wealth of the Indian diaspora, combined with its upwardly mobile aspirations, makes it particularly significant in regard to the construction of 'India' in the global context. One concrete method is via the circulation of diasporic capital to India in the form of investment and remittances. The BJP government in the late 1990s developed policies through which 'NRF or Non-Resident Indians could invest money with Indian banks, offering them special rights in regards to business and travel through the offer of a PIO (Person of Indian Origin) card. This move was widely recognized as a move towards a new form of transnational citizenship with the diasporic home. Indians working abroad in the Gulf states, Europe and the US have also had a significant financial impact in India. Margaret Walton-Roberts writes that "the contribution worker remittances have made to [India]'s official foreign income are very significant, exceeding foreign direct investment, external assistance, and NRI deposits combined"

(58). Such money, however, rarely comes without strings attached, and it has been 295 quite clear in the past several decades that diasporic Indians are interested and active in business and politics at home.

Prashad, van der Veer, Chetan Bhatt (2000) and many others have explored the relationship of diasporic Hindus and transnational political involvement in India and abroad. The wealthy South Asian communities of the US and the UK have been integral to the spread of Hindutva in the global context, a fact which has been acknowledged even by the Indian government. Walton-Roberts quotes a 2002 BJP government High Level Committee report which describes Hindu nationalism in the

US: "Hindutva's practices in its US sites reflect the aspirations of Hindu nationalism in

India and vice versa. Together they form an entity that reinforces each of these parts but it cannot be reduced to either of them" (qtd in Walton-Roberts 61). With this statement the committee underscores the significance of transnational engagement with

Hindutva ideology, recognizing the immense power and influence of the diaspora on

Indian politics and economy.

Peter van der Veer writes that it is "ironic that a party that derives so much of its political gain from a campaign that stigmatizes the indigenous Muslim community as

'foreign' is so interested in Indians who actually live in foreign lands" (98). That diasporic money goes to support the Hindu conceptualization of India is in my view neither ironic nor surprising because, ideologically speaking, the ideas of 'India' imagined by them are quite similar: they are smooth, undifferentiated spaces of Hindu identity, with, as I discussed in chapter 3, a mythical golden age collapsed into the 296 recent history of independence struggle to produce an invigorated and pure nation. But, as Biju Mathew and Vijay Prashad argue, "the Hindu Right does not principally garner support because of matters in the 'homeland' (as one might imagine)" (518). Rather, they argue, the "tensions of diasporic life" lead to the development of what they call in the American context "Yankee Hindutva," an analogue to the homegrown form that is located, physically and ideologically, in the diaspora space of the US, and within the complex social context that I began to sketch the outlines of in the previous section.

Mathew and Prashad identify three characteristics of Yankee Hindutva that mark it out as a different, though related, ideological construction, to Hindutva in India. First, they argue that affluent South Asian diasporic people often "demonstrate considerable guilt at being a migrant from as oppressed land that continues to suffer such poverty"

(520). This is alleviated through investments and remittances as well as through donations to charity organizations. Second, many migrants seek to "re-invent their cultural environment to preserve themselves from the onslaught" of American culture

(ibid). This is most evident in the social construction of the family and the treatment of women in South Asian diasporic communities. Women and girls are expected to maintain 'eternal' Hindu traditions on behalf of the family, and thus become symbolically linked to the successful protection of culture. Third, Mathew and Prashad write that the experience of racism within the American context of race politics, as I alluded to earlier, leads some Indian Americans to embrace a Hindu supremacist 297 concept of' Aryanism' as a balm against white-nonwhite racism and also as a means by which to differentiate themselves from other people of colour.

For these reasons, among others, the shape of Hindutva in America is somewhat different from its incarnation in India. It is however, also clear that modes of Hindu nationalism influence each other, and that their projections of 'India' and 'Hinduness' remain deeply interconnected in their teleology. Peter van der Veer writes that "there is a global production of the imagination of 'home' in media like television and cinema, which affects both migrants and those who stay behind" (96). This may be true, but it is important to recognize that the ways in which such media are constructed, experienced, and understood vary according to the contexts of location; it is not then just a matter of

'representing' home, but the process of reception and conceptualization of home from a particular locatedness that may motivate a particular ideological system. Hindutva ideology is therefore particularly insidious because of its ability to move across diaspora spaces and project a flattened image of nation, even when the content of the ideology may differ in those particular spaces.

A case in point may be the Hindu Conference of Canada or HCC, which was

"formed in 2004 as a self-proclaimed Hindu advocacy and "activist" group claiming to promote and represent the voice and interests of Hindus in Canada" (Chaudhuri 5).

This group disavows any formal affiliation with the Sangh Parivar, and do not explicitly use the discourse of Hindutva, and yet, as Aran Kumar Chaudhuri argues, "the elements of their discourse unmistakably parallel numerous tropes and elements that are 298 associated with Hindutva-style discourse" (10, n. 4). The HCC's main activities, since its inception, have been of the 'anti-defamation' sort, taking a public stand against what it perceives to be abuses and insults against Canadian Hindus. The HCC's rhetorical strategy has refigured the 'model minority' discourse by attempting to differentiate

Hindus not only from other immigrants (particularly those of Afro-Caribbean descent) but more specifically from Muslims. When eighteen South Asian Muslim men were detained in Toronto on charges of terrorism in 2006, HCC public statements decried

"Islamic terrorism" and expressed concern that Hindus, who might by mistaken by

Muslims by other Canadians by virtue of their ethnicity, might face a public backlash

(Chaudhuri 6). In related public statements, the HCC has expressed an alliance with and sympathy for Zionist Israeli Canadians, and has allied itself with the B'Nai Brith.

The positioning of the HCC against Blacks and Muslims, and in support of the Zionist

Israeli lobby largely correlates to conservative politics in white Anglo Canada. The alignment of Hindutva with Zionist ideology is neither new nor surprising, given the primordialist nationalism espoused by both, and the underlying anti-Muslim sentiment that each entails; a similar strategy has also been taken up by conservative American

Hindu groups.

Among the latter, there is no question that much work towards the global spread of Hindutva has been taken up by the VHP (Vishwa Hindu Parishad) and its various offshoots in the US and elsewhere. As I discussed in Chapter 4, the VHP aims to project a homogeneous, mainstreamed and accessible form of Hinduism that is well 299 suited for mass consumption; but its deceptive universalist avuncularity belies its anti-

Muslim Hindu nationalism. A recent report conducted by the Forum of Indian Leftists and the Campaign to Stop Funding Hate showed that a large amount of fundraising conducted in the US by the VHP was apparently being funnelled into the BJP and

Sangh Parivar supported initiatives, supporting anti-Muslim activities, and aiming to

'reconvert' Dalit Christians and Buddhists ("Foreign Exchange of Hate" 22-23, 71).

Under the guise of a humanitarian relief organization called the India Development and

Relief Fund (IDRF) millions of dollars were raised through donations by South Asian

Americans who were likely not aware of any such affiliations.

However, though the IDRF's fundraising efforts are a back door approach to gaining financial support, the VHP enjoys strong direct public ideological support in the

US and in the UK. The VHP A (the VHP's American section) is a large organization and forms the primary infrastructure of American Hindutva, a structured group "run by an older generation of petty-bourgeois and professional migrants who give the entire

Hindutva complex direction and who control its resources" (Mathew and Prashad 527).

Many commentators have observed that the VHP A exerts enormous force on Hindu public life in the US, either directly or through its affiliated groups such as the Hindu

Swayamsevak Sangh (HSS ~ a group analogous to the RSS in India), the IDRF, and the

Hindu Students' Council ("Foreign Exchange of Hate" 41). The VHPA's lengthy mandate proclaims, amongst other things, its intention to: 300

- Provide a Forum For and Represent all Hindu organizations and institutions for

Hindu interests.

- Raise Hindu Awareness through seminars, conferences, publications, media,

audio-visual aids

- Create opportunities for imbibing Hindu Values, Hindu Scriptures and Hindu

Heritage through Bal Vihars, Camps, Family Retreats and Educational

Institutions.30

These points, especially the latter, show that education and child-oriented campaigns are a priority for the VHP A and its affiliated groups.

An illustrative case is the recent intervention by two right-wing Hindu organizations in California, The Vedic Foundation and the Hindu Education

Foundation, in the revision of state public school textbooks dealing with the topic of

Hinduism.31 The two VHP A affiliated groups intervened in 2005 into the revision of the textbooks for grade 6 students on the grounds that they inaccurately represented

Hinduism. The revision process invited input from various communities, and responses were submitted by the Hindu Education Foundation (later represented by the Hindu

American Foundation) and the Vedic Foundation in addition to Jewish, Christian and

Muslim groups. The two Hindu groups made very similar kinds of criticisms, though the HEF's submission was far more detailed. Both groups objected to a variety of

30 Excerpted from http://www.vhp-america.org/whatvhpa/mission.htm (accessed August 14th, 2007). 31 This movement was no doubt inspired by the BJP NCERT textbook revisions (see Chapter 4). 301 statements in the books which were simply incorrect, including grammatical and factual errors, such as one suggesting that Hindi is written in Arabic script (California Dept. of

Education 82). Some changes responded to content like this, in a textbook from Oxford

University Press:

Page 81, second paragraph: "The Vedic peoples discriminated against the Dasa,

a group of people who spoke a different language that did not sound at all like

Sanskrit. The Brahmins sometimes made fun of the Dasa and said that they

spoke as if they had no noses. (Pinch your nose and see what you would sound

like.)

While I agree that the presentation of this idea does seem pedagogically problematic in its invitation to children to participate in mocking the Dasas, the concern of the HEF submission was in regard to the veracity of the historical description, which is elsewhere widely accepted. They also demanded other changes which have not been substantively proven or supported by recognized academics in the fields of religion and history. Suggestions were made to eliminate references to the inequality of Hindu women in ancient India; modification or elimination of references to the caste system; and all references to the Aryan Invasion theory. These changes are consistent with

Hindutva ideology and were vocally contested by secularist historians and scholars like

Romila Thapar and Michael Witzel, a Harvard professor of Sanskrit.

It was Witzel who initially began the campaign against these changes and brought the matter to the attention of the public. Witzel, Thapar, and others who fought 302 against the textbook revisions are generally seen by Hindutva supporters as anti-Hindu, communist, and biased towards 'the West'.32 Though neither Witzel nor other academics who joined to express their outrage are particularly left leaning, they were and continue to be immediately branded as 'communists' and as 'anti-Hindu'. The anti- revisions campaign was also supported by the South Asian American activist community, represented by FOSA (Friend of South Asia).

The HEF/HAF and its supporters felt strongly that their role in proposing the revisions was to defend and protect Hindu children and help them to foster a sense of tradition. The HEF also contended that there were special challenges that

Hindu students, as members of a marginal religion (in the American society)

have to face in a classroom filled with students following one or other Judeo-

Christian-Islamic (=Abrahamic) traditions. Hindu students are often ridiculed

for their beliefs, and the shoddy treatment of Hinduism (and ancient India in

general) in these textbooks is one of the biggest cause of this (HEF 4).

Although, again, most progressive academics would agree with this kind of concern, it was used as a justification for producing a revisionist Indian history devoid of acknowledgements of caste or gender inequality. Nalini Taneja suggests that the campaign was "part of the RSS' larger goal to "educate" Hindu children brought up in

These charges are also commonly made against scholars like Sumit Sarkar, and scholars of religion like Jeffrey Kripal and Wendy Doniger. The latter draw ire in particular because of their psychoanalytic approach to religion. 303 the U.S. to be "good Hindus" and to "learn the truth about Indian history and culture", and ultimately to finance their "social work" in India" (2006).

South Asia scholars' objections to the changes proposed by HEF and VF were based on a desire to maintain a critical approach to Hinduism in historical and social context, including material on the caste system and the treatment of women. A massive letter and public relations campaign ensued from both sides throughout late 2005 and early 2006, along with a series of interventions by both parties in the textbook review process. The SBE in the end approved some edits, such as deleting the passage I quoted above, but rejected many of the more controversial recommendations of the HEF/VF.

Subsequently, The HAF launched a lawsuit against the California State Board of

Education with the hope of stalling production of the revised textbooks. The controversy culminated in September 2006 with a court ruling which ostensibly left both parties able to claim a partial victory. No further intervention into the current texts was ordered, but the judge ruled that the review and intervention process had been deeply flawed.

Conclusion

I began this chapter with an exploration of concepts of diaspora and the construction of Indian and Hindu identities in South Asian diasporas. The final sections of this chapter have explored some of the contexts in which Hindutva ideology has 304 gained a foothold in South Asian diasporas. The California textbook controversy provides an illustration of the power of this ideology in diasporic contexts far removed from the geographical boundaries of India. The controversy was watched closely by left critics and scholars and also by journalists and educators in India, where there was fascination with the public power being flexed by the diasporic Hindu right so many miles away (Taneja 2006). The issue bears obvious parallels to the BJP's textbook revision campaign which I discussed in Chapter 4; not only were the substantive aims similar in the California case, but the ideological goals in regards to 'protecting and defending' Hindu children were indeed echoed. But beyond this, the California case makes clear that education and historiography are issues of importance for diasporic communities primarily because these are understood as crucial to developing a mode of representation for nation, religion, and identity.

A closely tied area of interest for diasporic Hindutva supporters, as indicated in the VHPA's mandate, is the use and development of mass media resources. In this regard, Amar Chitra Katha is an attractive medium because it offers 'educational' material in a popular cultural form. And, as I have established in the previous chapters, the education offered by the comics is consistent with a Hindutva conceptualization of

India and Hindu identity. In the next chapter, I will explore the diasporic roles of Amar

Chitra Katha and the reception of the comics among children and among vocal supporters of the Hindu right. 305

Chapter 6: Amar Chitra Katha and Diasporic Youth: education, nostalgia, and identity

The previous chapter outlined a theory of diaspora in connection with South

Asian, Indian, and Hindu identities. In this chapter, I analyse the role that Amar Chitra

Katha plays in shaping the knowledge and identities of young diasporic people.

Connecting some uniquely diasporic formations of Hindutva ideology with the kind of child-friendly avuncular nationalism that I discussed in Chapter Four, I argue in the present chapter that texts like ACK are significant to the formulation of identities in diaspora as they contribute to the constructions of 'home' and 'nation'. Here, I return to the question of the role the ACK plays in disseminating and reproducing Hindu nationalist ideologies in the context of diasporas.

The comics were an important medium for learning about 'tradition' for many

South Asian diasporic people with ties to India or to Hindu religion, and who grew up in the 1970s and 1980s. Although its importance for young people has faded somewhat 306 since the advent of video, DVD and satellite television since the late 1980s, it remains an extraordinarily important text for those growing up in this period. Here, I am particularly interested in the ACK series as it exists in the memories of some diasporic readers, and as it facilitates a kind of nostalgia that is associated with both diaspora and childhood. Though readers may not necessarily recall the texts in detail, the comics are remembered by many as being enormously influential and important tools for the acquisition of knowledge.

To develop this analysis, I draw on some of the findings of my field research in

India, the UK and Canada between 2004 and 2007. During this period I interviewed 21 people between the ages of 16 and 38, all of whom xtdAAmar Chitra Katha comics at some point in their lives. Eleven of these were people who lived in England, Canada, or the US and had spent a significant part of their lives outside of India. In my analysis of these interviews, I explore how the participants' experiences with the comics compare with the experiences of those India-located readers, and I ask how ACK, as a significant feature of the popular cultural landscape visible to these diasporic people in their youth, shapes or defines their notions of 'Indianness' and 'India.'

To begin this analysis, picking up at the end of the previous chapter, I consider how ACK seems to be taken up as part of the Sangh Parivar's strategy for media and education among diasporic South Asians. 307

Hindutva and diasporic media: the 'preservation of heritage'

In addition to textbooks and formal education, newsletters, community newspapers, and now the internet are used widely in South Asian diasporas as a means of connecting. Hindu associations commonly use resources of this kind to communicate among themselves and with other organizations. Increasingly, these are also being used for educational and for political purposes. This process can be illustrated aptly by the case of the Hindu Students Council (HSC).

Of the various organizations that are affiliated with the VHP A in some way, the

HSC has become one of the most controversial. Mathew and Prashad devote a large section of their paper to the analysis of the HSC, which currently has chapters on at least 75 American and Canadian college campuses including Carleton University,

McGill University, and the University of Toronto.1 The HSC chapters are ostensibly student-organized groups which generally promise to do something to the effect of

"practice, promote, and strive to learn about Hindu culture and ideals" (CSFH 2007: 4).

However, Mathew and Prashad write that the HSC has very close ties with the VHP A, writing that "many new HSCs are being organized and run by second-generation male or female students who may have immediate family connections in the VHP A," or that

http://www.hscnet.org/chapters.php (accessed August 14th, 2007). 308 they may be ran by an "immigrant graduate male student" with direct connections with the Hindu right (527).

A report by the Campaign to Stop Funding Hate (CSFH), titled "Lying

Religiously: The Hindu Students' Council and the Politics of Deception" in 2007 confirms the observations made by Mathew and Prashad several years earlier. The report documents the history of the HSC from its formation in 1990 to the present, noting a variety of connections not only to the VHPA but also to Sangh Parivar groups in India. The first president of the HSC, Ajay Shah, is now reportedly a senior level organizer with the VHPA. The findings of the report suggest that the "HSC was molded through the Sangh's vision to woo American youth to Hindutva" (CSFH 2007:

12). The report acknowledges that the HSC now claims to be independent of the VHPA and that it is a "tolerant and liberal" organization. But the report shows that visible ties remain between the two, and demonstrates that the HSC actually maintains the internet presence not only of the VHPA, but of the entire Sangh Parivar network internationally and in India (26). Despite the HSC's claim that it is no longer affiliated with the

VHPA, the network of sites associated with it via the Global Hindu Electronic Network

(GHEN) remain, and Ajay Shah, the former HSC founder and VHPA associate, is as of this writing still listed as the administrator for many of the sites.

The GHEN network of internet sites presents a set of examples of diaspora- based activities around the 'restoration' of traditions and 'raising awareness' of

Hinduism outside India. There are many such diasporic media expressions with varying 309 levels of material connections to India or South Asia. One of the most well-known examples of this is the immensely popular and venerated televised Ramayana serial which circulated in the in the late 1980s. Arvind Rajagopal writes about how that

Indian-made series was immensely popular among Hindus around the world, and the important role it played in perpetuating and expanding the Hindutva ideology into diasporic locations.2 Other than the GHEN or sites hosted by Hindutva-aligned groups like the Chinmaya Mission, these are not necessarily produced or consumed by people who are explicitly aware of their ideological positions. The popularity of such sites, videos, and publications like Amar Chitra Katha works in concert with the political agenda of Hindutva to project a static, homogeneous, and reified concept of India as a model of tradition, security, and knowledge. One of the most provocative aspects of this in my view is the immense weight that is placed on narratives, stories, and activities for children and youth as a mechanism for this perpetuation.

Children are in many ways constructed as the main battleground in the fight for cultural 'preservation.' Parents believe that it is important to familiarize their children with 'their' traditions, and often turn to cultural and religious organizations for support and resources. Mathew and Prashad write that the internet is an important source of information for Indian immigrants seeking to impart 'tradition' on their young (521).

Through the GHEN websites and other related Hindu Indian oriented networks, "the surfer can find primed paragraphs on "Eternal Hindu values' and on 'Hindu customs.'

2 Rajagopal, Politics After Television (2001). 310

These turn the resilience of South Asian cultural practices into a hidebound heritage..."

(521). Amar Chitra Katha is an obvious fit for these campaigns, since in fact one of the most common modes of delivery is through story: there are a number of websites offering folktales, religious stories, informative biographies and images of religious and political leaders, and offering books and other media for sale. It is important, then, given this context, to observe that, for several years, the HSC/GHEN network actively maintained a web site called Freelndia.org of which a section was devoted to Amar

Chitra Katha. Anita Mannur, in her brief review of Amar Chitra Katha in 2000 writes that:

While the current contract expired in 2000, it is significant that until then

housed the most extensive collection of ACK comics. While the

publishers of ACK were not directly connected with the website, it met their

approval and the publishers must therefore be accountable for their political

alignment with this group (the HSC/Sangh). ACK's presence on the internet has

meant that the comics can be consumed easily by youth around the world...

(33)3

Here, there is a nexus of several lines of thought that I have been attempting to draw in this chapter: one regarding the development and dissemination of Hindutva ideology as part of a Hindu nationalist project in India; another about the diasporic deployment of

3 Though the freeindia.org site appears to no longer exist, clicking on a link from the GHEN web page which reads "Amar Chitra Katha Comic Books" takes one directly to Hindukids.org, another GHEN site which appears not to carry any ACK content (Accessed May 20, 2007). 311

Hindutva as a way to imagine 'nation' within a 'diaspora space', and a third about the ways in which these ideological formations are presented as appealing and pedagogically valuable to young people.

ACK is important to the HSC and the diasporic Sangh Parivar for the same reason it is important to the Sangh in India: it provides an avuncular, popular cultural mode of delivery for an exclusivist ideology of Hindu nationalism while maintaining the appearance of a liberal, globally savvy and multiculturalism-friendly medium.

There are many of these kinds of sources and they frequently conflate religion ('Hindu') with nation ('India') with ethnicity (variations on 'Indian', 'South Asian', and more troublingly, 'Aryan'). As with the case of the HSC, Amar Chitra Katha often figures into these constructions.

One interesting web manifestation of this can be found in the work of a group called the Association of Grandparents of Indian Immigrants (AGII), based in

Pennsylvania, and headed by 'Grandpa.' Grandpa is Kanai L. Mukherjee, a professor emeritus in the sciences and a practicing 'lay' Brahmin in the North-eastern US.

Mukherjee, along with his wife, Bibha, his daughters, and his grandchildren, has been producing a series of videos for children since the mid 1990s. The short 'videos' - generally short narrated sequences of still images - are aimed at the children and grandchildren of immigrants:

4 Robertson, Bruce R. "A Purohit in Suburbia." The Hindu on-line, April 09, 2000 (Accessed August 5th, 2007). 312

Association of Grandparents of Indian Immigrants (AGII), a registered nonprofit

organization, is dedicated to the production of audiovisual materials for the

families of Indian Immigrants. Carefully selected stories, depicting India's

glorious past, are narrated in English with music and sound effects. This brings

to life, using modern multimedia techniques, the still pictures of the famous

Amar Chitra Katha series, yet preserving the educational values of our

productions, (http://www.agiivideo.com)

Though the website has no formal affiliation with ACK or IBH, some of the videos include an acknowledgement of the ACK artist or writer responsible for the work in question as part of the opening credits.5 The web site has been expanded since 2004, providing a greater selection of videos available for download as well as by mail order

DVD. AGII also encourages people to share the videos: "As there is no copyright of our products, we hope that all families of Indian immigrants will own a complete set and reproduce the DVDs for the future generations, to learn and enjoy"

(www.agiivideo.com). It remains to be seen what aesthetic value can be found in the still video format, and how this presentation improves upon the material experience of the books themselves: the images focus on single frames which diminishes the visual narrative of the comic, and the use of Powerpoint-style captions and text detracts from

5 Despite the acknowledgement of ACK, as of May 15, 2007, there is no acknowledgement of India Book House or any statement indicating copyright permission on the web site, http://www.agiivideo.com. In an interview with me, Mirchandani indicated that IBH was aware of the group, that rights had not been granted, and that IBH was investigating. This was unconfirmed by any other source at IBH. Interview with Mirchandani, October 15th 2004. 313 the images themselves. One cannot, as one can with a comic book, linger on and explore a particular image or consider the relationship between frames. The audio narratives, however, are generally engaging and well presented, and would likely be appealing to young children.6

The AGII group and its video projects illustrate both the extraordinary value placed upon Amar Chitra Katha as a text for teaching 'heritage' in the diaspora, and also the proximity of the series to a conservative, American style of Hinduism, which as

Prema Kurien has pointed out is closely aligned with Hindutva ideology. The catalogue reproduces many ACK titles in still video, and just as in Amar Chitra Katha catalogue itself, the AGII offerings are overwhelmingly dominated by 'Hindu' titles. In addition to ACK titles and images, some videos draw on other published sources. The catalogue makes visible the slippage between 'Indian', as the group's name suggests, and the Hindu-centric tradition that is represented in it. The AGII videos are ideologically congruent with Amar Chitra Katha though the catalogue is not identical.

The stories in the catalogue are all drawn from mainstream Hindu sources like the

Pancatantra, the Puranas, and the epics. There are no videos elucidating the teachings of any other South Asian religions. There are a few stories about the Buddha and some which are drawn from the Jatakas, but as I discussed in Chapter 2, it is a common

6 The audio tracks from the videos are also available in 'audiobook form'. But these too are sometimes taken verbatim from ACK or other texts. 7 Kurien. "Multiculturalism, Immigrant Religion, and Diasporic Nationalism: The Development of an American Hinduism." Social Problems (Aug 2004) 51:3. 362 -385. 314 feature of Hindutva-style Hinduism to subsume Buddhism within it. Most of the stories are folk or mythological tales, but a few like "The Philosophy of Death among Hindus" and "The Essence of Hinduism" provide some complex conceptual narratives.

Accompanying the videos are two modules for "distance education of Indian heritage," with a third apparently planned but not yet completed. The production of at least one of these modules was supported by the Hindutva-aligned Chinmaya Mission, which also supports its own children's resource materials. There is no question that the children's programming agenda of AGII, Chinmaya Mission and other Hindutva oriented groups are very similar in content and intent, with the express desire to educate young Hindus.9

For example, Balagokulam.org is the children's portal of the HSS and is part of the

GHEN network. The site claims to "enable Hindu children in the US to appreciate their cultural roots and learn Hindu values. This is done through games, yoga, stories, , shlokas, arts, and crafts."

The AGII is not an official member of the GHEN group of sites, and though

Mathew and Prashad name AGII in a list of organizations connected with the VHP A, it is not certain that they are referring to the same organization.10 However, it is possible to make some observations about the site which may offer some context. AGII's

8 See "Project 2 Quiz Book" at http://www.agiivideo.com/DistanceEducation.htm (accessed May 20, 2007). Swami Chinmayananda, the mission's founder, is a VHP founder and a long time ideologue of Hindutva, though the Mission itself does not publicly acknowledge these links. Swami Chinamayananda himself advocated for the Ramjanmabhoomi temple campaign. 9 The Mission has its own children's resources which include a facility for emailing a message to God ("Hello God"), and its own still-image presentations of the epics Mahabharata and Ramayana; similar projects are reproduced at Hindukids.org, a GHEN site. 10 Mathew and Prashad refer to AGII as a group "offering services to the elderly" (527). 315 domain is supported by a commercial web portal called Indolink.com. Indolink claims to offer "the best of both worlds," offering Indian diasporic people a network through which to connect to each other and to news and information from India. Predictably, a large portion of the site is devoted to matrimonials and Bollywood gossip. The linked content appears to change on a regular basis, but a search of the sites archives reveal news articles which express concern about "Jihadi terrorism," and about the treatment of Hinduism in the American academy.11 This type of content marks out an ideological position for the site's consumers that while not explicitly enunciating the discourse of

Hindutva and the VHP A, aligns itself broadly within a conservative Indian diasporic nationalism.

Indolink, the GHEN sites, and other similar websites target affluent diasporic

NRIs, who as I have already suggested have amassed some political power both in India and abroad. These 'NRF earnings are sought after by the Indian government via investment and business activities, as I discussed earlier. Throughout the US, as in

Canada, South Asians cultivate a reputation as the most affluent and successful of immigrants - a model minority - and are now developing a greater public profile.

These two concerns - the flourishing, predominantly Hindu, Indian middle class in

North America, and the concerns about the representation of nation and religion in

11 See in particular a review of the book Invading the Sacred: http://www.indolink.com/displayArticleS.php?id=071507063046 (Accessed August 14th, 2007). 12 The California textbook case and the massive diasporic support for the Sangh Parivar in India, along with the large sums of NRI remittances and investments can attest to that. 316 education - find a response in popular texts like ACK. ACK is positioned, and positions itself, as a wholesome, traditional, and empowering medium for diasporic people.

IBH has quite explicitly identified this as part of its marketing plan and ethos for the series. When I asked her what she hoped that diasporic readers would get out of the experience of reading ACK, IBH head Mirchandani responded as follows:

A connect with their roots, with their heritage, and a sense of pride which

doesn't exist. The connect first of all is not there because they have not ever

lived here [so] they can never get it, but this will at least acquaint them. It's

really the acquaintance, the connection, and eventually, even a sense of that

richness that we have, the value system which prevail today. These people like

Bobby Jindal (Indian American Republican member of Congress), or Deepak

Chopra, these [successful] Indians who are all over the world, or even say now

Anand Mahindra of the Mahindra group [an India-based conglomerate], we

asked him to speak on [about his experiences with ACK]. He's very happy to,

all of them have,13 I mean one thing is that they've all grown up so they all

know the value. So we're trying to show how all these world achievers grew up

on Amar Chitra Katha. We're not saying it's because they grew up on ACK that

they became these achievers, these super-achievers internationally, but those

who have, have also read ACK. So there is a strong value system, they are

131 was not able to confirm Mirchandani's statements regarding Jindal or Mahindra through another source. I have included her references to these figures as examples of the "global Indian" to which she refers, though I cannot corroborate whether or not they were in fact ACK readers. 317

deeply rooted to their heritage, and to their cultural heritage, that is what they

have in common. All the ones who are truly successful and truly global Indians,

you know we call them the UACK Indian". The "ACK Indian" is the truly global

Indian who has made a mark internationally, reached out to the world, extended

beyond the borders of our country, and established a presence of India in the

global market, but yet retained a very strong and intrinsic roots, retained their

roots in our cultural heritage and value systems. So now we're going to try a

new sort of marketing thing where we're going to try to push for this particular

phrase or this slogan, 'the truly global Indian is the ACK Indian.'

But they have all grown up on it, read it. And it did seem to be that unifying

factor. It does seem to be today, that without us knowing it at that time, but at

least this seems to have existed, among I'm sure several other things in India,

but this is one of the things which was like a common platform. And it did

touch many lives. You know, of that whole generation. Of, what would you say,

the 20-55 year olds of today, it seems to be the common link.

In Mirchandani's own words, ACK is presented as medium for shielding and preserving

'traditional' values even in the face of an alien foreign culture, and even despite the potential temptations of success. To attract diasporic readers, IBH has repackaged

ACK, developed a new internet site and web-based international mail-order system, and has pursued a variety of marketing opportunities in international markets. Part of this strategy is aimed not only at readers of Indian descent, but also at 'foreign' readers who 318 may have a particular interest in India - something which often takes the shape of the kind of neo-orientalism evident in European Indophile or Bollywood fan communities.14 French editions of ACK have been published by Dharma International, a France-based group devoted to Ramana Maharshi, in partnership with IBH. ACK has also been produced in several other European and Asian languages, reaching diasporic and to a lesser degree non-South Asian readers in and Indonesia, UK and

Europe, Australia, the Caribbean, and North America. Agents in several of these regions ensure distribution of the comics, usually to selected ethnic grocery and book stores, and occasionally through some on-line or mail-order method. The comics are frequently used in language-education classes, temple 'Sunday-school' classes to teach children about religion and 'culture'.

It is clear then that there is a reciprocal relationship between ACK and its diasporic readers. South Asian diasporic people use ACK as a means to teach and perpetuate the mythohistorical stories and traditions of what Prema Kurien has called

'official Hinduism' (2004:363). IBH, conversely, has recognized that diasporic readers now form one of its most important markets for the series, and the primary audience for the comics is slowly shifting from middle-class children in India to the middle class children of the diasporas.

See http://www.bollywood-forum.de/ for one example: though some members identify themselves as of Indian descent, the majority appear to be from Germany, Russia, Croatia, France, and other European nations. 319

Diasporic youth and the construction of identities

In Chapter Four, I discussed how A CK presents a counterpoint to formal education in the Indian context by presenting a conservative, Hindu nationalist view of

India through an avuncular, pop cultural medium, thus acting as a supplement to the more Nehruvian-socialist undercurrent of formal public education there. But in doing so, ACK is not counterhegemonic, but rather its vision of India paves the way for the establishment of a conservative exclusivism in national politics and public opinion. It does so by effectively sweeping differences of region, language, religion, caste, and custom under the proverbial rug, and projecting a version of India in which all these categories are flattened into a two-dimensional unity.

In South Asian diaspora, the comics play a similar ideological role, but the stakes are different. The projection of an idea of nation does not drive a national political imagination, but rather a diasporic 'imaginary' of nation. The effacement of difference in the comics has other effects: it can, by creating commonalities among

South Asians of different regions or languages, a sense of a shared historical and cultural past. It can induce 'pride' in one's association with a country that, though far away, is reputed to have a great and noble history. But there are other more insidious possibilities that the comics open up: because of their ideological consonance with

Hindu nationalism, they can provide fuel and material substance to that movement's enchantment of the young. 320

In making this argument it is not my aim to argue that reading ACK comics inevitably produces diasporic religious zealots, or even nationalists of any kind.

Sunaina Maira writes that right-wing Hindu organizations help to "fulfil the desire of second-generation youth to be "truly" Indian.. .by producing a packaged version of

Indian diasporic nationalism that has no room for non-Hindus and keeps its political truths hidden from most second-generation youth (137). Many participants in VHPA or

HSC activities, Maira writes, are themselves unaware of the ideological positions of these organizations or how as young people they are implicated within it (140). Though young people may not connect with the full political context of this ideology as it is depicted in ACK, they nonetheless readily consume the simple, colourful, and two- dimensional India portrayed in ACK, film, and television.

Rather than postulating a causal relationship between ACK and Hindu nationalism, therefore, I argue that the circulation of political/cultural ideologies through such a widely accessible cultural medium can have significant effects among its readership that could include political involvement, but certainly involve questions of education, self-expression, and the construction of identity. For young people who adopt a Hindu nationalist perspective, as well as those who do not, Amar Chitra Katha is a direct link to an authentic Hindu culture, and thus becomes, along with other trappings and visual representations of culture, an object of intense value and the cathexis of the desire for home and identity. 321

Given the established connection between Pai, Amar Chitra Katha and the

Hindu right elements of the VHP, RSS, and BJP, it would likely have been quite simple to search out interview subjects who identified themselves as Hindu nationalist and professed to have been readers of the series. But I am less interested in those who have avowed these political beliefs, and more interested in how identities and ideas about nation are formed by young people who do not have specific views about nationalism, or who may even voice a commitment to a left politics or secular nationalist way of thinking about nation and identity.

Recent ethnographies by Sunaina Maira, Bandana Purkayastha, and Amita

Handa are useful in establishing some of the core issues of identity at stake for young diasporic people in North America. The latter is one of few Canadian studies on South

Asian youth. Maira's book Desis in the House: Indian American Youth Culture in New

York City (2002) focuses on the development of a 'Desi' sub-culture in the late 1990s in

New York city and the surrounding area. The subjects of her ethnography are university students who are generally from middle class professional families. Her study explores how Desi subculture opens up new possibilities for identities and social relations particularly for women and queer South Asians. Handa's analysis in Of Silk

Saris and Mini-Skirts (2003) focuses on young South Asian women in Toronto, while

Purkayastha's Negotiating Ethnicity: Second-generation South Asian Americans

Traverse a Transnational World (2005) includes young men and women whose parents emigrated to the US between 1965 and 1985 (15). All three studies introduce subjects 322 from across the South Asian diasporas, though Indian and Hindu identities tend to dominate.

There are several common themes which arise in all three ethnographies.

Experiences and reactions to racism are raised in all three studies. Some feel that that they have never experienced overt racism, while others talk frankly about being called

'Paki' or 'Nigger' by whites and experiencing verbal and physical harassment

(Purkayastha 29). Others describe ways in which they sought to differentiate or align themselves from those of other ethnicities, in an attempt to 'fit in' or find a sense of community (Maira 65). In each study, struggles within families about social norms are a major preoccupation for these young people, who recall lying to their parents about their activities particularly in regard to parties and dating (Handa 34). The pressure to

'uphold tradition' is particularly strong on young girls, who are often told that they must represent family honour and to represent a feminine 'purity' (Maira 171; Purkayastha

101; Handa 116). Brothers, cousins, and other family members are often enlisted in policing girls' behaviour, perpetuating patriarchal attitudes and a culture of anxiety about young women. Related to this are issues of love, sexuality, and marriage. Inter­ racial, inter-religious, inter-caste, and queer partnerships present challenges for many young people and their families. While some traditionalist young people profess their intentions to marry endogamously, others struggle with hiding relationships from family members or confronting them (Maira 153). 323

Much of these issues are bound up with the construction of what it means to be

'traditional', and proximally with national or religious identity. Religion and religious practices are often associated with 'culture' and identity, even if the youth are not interested in actively participating. Purkayastha points out that many second-generation

Hindu youth choose not to worship in traditional temples, though this is less often the case for Sikh, Muslim and Buddhist youth (98). However, 'Hindu' continues to be an identity that young people organize around, even if it is not directly associated with religion. Maira for example interviews two female members of the HSC who interpret

'Hindu' as being an inclusive category which represents a variety of beliefs, though they feel less comfortable organizing around the idea of'India' (141). But the social practices of religion, which include temple attendance, prayers, are often understood by young people as 'traditional' activities. Dating, partying, and youthful rebellion are understood by many South Asian youth not simply as youthful acts of rebellion, but complexly also both against a moral code and an expression of their independence - a set of contradictions to which the framework of 'hybridity' is applied by all three researchers. Some youth seem to understand their own diasporic or transnational lives as dynamic and as fusing together the realities of their everyday lives and a traditional past associated with families and with religious/ethnic/national identities. That past is constructed out of the recollections of parents and other family members, relations from

'back home', peers, and through the pursuit of study. While South Asian youth in diasporic locations find that they learn little about South Asia in public schools, many 324 choose to pursue an interest in studying or reading on their own, traveling, or developing language skills as a way to connect to a national, religious, or ethnic identity

(Maira 145). I situate the engagement of South Asian diasporic youth with Amar Chitra

Katha in this context, as a text which represents 'tradition' and to which young readers are either directed to by relatives, or drawn to as part of their own delving into identity.

As Stuart Hall writes, cultural identity "has its histories - and histories have their real, material and symbolic effects ... [i]t is always constructed through memory, fantasy, narrative and myth" (226). The ACK texts are the material expressions of these narratives. In some ways, the material experience of the texts themselves is as important to this notion of tradition and history as is their content. Similar observations have been made by cultural studies theorists especially in regard to fan cultures, subcultures and collecting practices. But here, there is the complexity of constructing identity in diaspora.

Identities

The eleven participants in this part of my study ranged in age from 16 to 38. All of the participants had read and loved Amar Chitra Katha as children, and some retained a passion for the comics as adults. Three of the diasporic participants were 325 women, and they were among the most enthusiastic collectors I spoke with.15 As with the case of participants from India, those who had not continued to read the comics as adults were less readily able to recall specific experiences with the comics, but were able to describe to me something about their general memories of reading the comics and of learning about 'India' from them. Before discussing ACK, it would be useful for me to introduce the participants and consider how they define themselves.

All of the participants had or aspired to some level of university education. Two grad students have since gone on to faculty positions. One participant with a master's degree in international relations was working as an investment banker. Another participant, Rajeev, is a novelist, and in the final section of this chapter I will discuss his work in detail. Two worked in community-oriented organizations, and one was a producer of South Asian-focused television programs for a Canadian network.

All had either been born outside of India or had emigrated at a young age except for Hema, a 33 year old academic who had completed school in India but lived abroad since her university years. The participants reflect a variety of diasporic experiences: six participants lived in Toronto at the time of the interviews. Two were currently living in the US and one, Hema, was about to emigrate to California for work. Two people I interviewed lived in the UK, one in Manchester and one in London. Three

15 While I aimed to have a better representation of men and women in this group, it did seem as I began to identify interview subjects that more boys than girls had been active readers of these comics as children. Among the Indian interview subjects, there were six women to four men, and in total there were twelve male participants and nine female. I have not included myself here, although I have sometimes included references to my own observations as a reader and collector. 326 participants grew up in Western Canada, and one participant had been born and raised in Jakarta. Some of the participants visited India regularly, others hardly at all. Sameer, a 34 year old grad student, spent most of his childhood in Vancouver except for five years spent living in Bengal.

Reflecting the affluence of the generation of South Asians who emigrated to

Canada in the 1960s and 1970s, nearly all of the participants described themselves as being middle class, with two exceptions. Srinivas, a sixteen year old high school student, grew up in Jakarta in a community of Indian expatriates working there. He described his family as 'upper class', pointing out that in addition to twice-annual trips to India, his family has "maids, drivers, and two cars". Srinivas was aware that while in

Indonesia, this was a common arrangement for expatriate families, it nonetheless set him apart from middle-class Indonesians. Swapna is a 31 year old community activist in Toronto. She described her family to me as 'working class,' and was the only participant in the entire study to do so. Like many other immigrants who arrived in the

1970s, Swapna's parents spoke fluent English and were educated: her mother holds a

Master's degree and her father finished high school. She told me that neither of them grew up with much wealth in India, and that when they emigrated, "they went straight into factory work. When my mother wanted to go into more professional work she was discouraged by family members, as was my father. A few years later she moved into doing secretarial work, and my father stayed doing factory work." The parents of most other diasporic participants tended to be professionals. 327

As part of each interview, I asked the participants to identify their ethnicity, and then a little later, I asked them to identify their nationality. Interestingly, five of six participants who had grown up entirely in Canada identified themselves as 'South

Asian'. Participants who lived or grew up in other countries did not use this term.

Swapna identified herself as Punjabi. Jagdish, a twenty-eight year old student who was raised in the UK, identified himself as Bengali, and Sameer, who was raised in

Vancouver, identified himself as Bengali-Canadian. Although all three were born and raised outside of India, these three people reflected the regional identifications of the people I interviewed in India, of whom all but one identified themselves by their state/language group. It is worth noting that the diasporic participants spoke an average of three languages, and as many as six. In each case, at least one of these was a South

Asian 'mother tongue' language', though the participants described a range of levels of fluency. Manu, who is a professional translator of French, Spanish and Italian, indicated that he was less proficient with his mother tongue of Tamil.

Hema, who had grown up in India, and Srinivas, who frequently visits India, both identified themselves as Indian by ethnicity and by nationality. Srinivas was more ambivalent about his response to this question, explaining that

"Even though I identify as Indian, [Jakarta] is more of a home for me. India is

more of a vacation place. So I don't know what I would classify myself as; I

guess I would be Indian... I don't think of myself as being Indonesian. I guess 328

I'm just so distant from my cousins who grew up in India and behave and talk

differently."

Since Srinivas and his family continue to hold Indian citizenship, and since

"Indonesian" is understood there as more of an ethnicity than a nationality, it was more clear to him that it would not apply to him. Among the rest of the participants,

'nationality' generally described the country in which they had grown up, identifying themselves as "Canadian", "British", or "American". Sameer described himself as

"grudgingly Canadian", while Renu modified her response by indicating that she would use the hyphenated term "Indo-Canadian."

When I asked them to describe the extent to which they identify with a religious group or participate in religious activities, four participants described themselves as

"Hindu", while three more described themselves as "sort of or "nominally" Hindu.

Abhineet, whose parents married inter-faith, was raised "more Sikh than Hindu" and described attending both gurdwara and temple worship. Chandrasekhar, a twenty-eight year old investment banker in Manhattan, and Renu, who grew up in Edmonton, were the only participants who described performing or attending religious services of their own volition.

The eleven participants had varying recollections of the comics. Like the Indian participants, most of the diasporic people read ACK in English. Some, like Sameer, read the comics in an Indian language as part of language training. Manu, at 38 the oldest participant in my study, remembered being an avid ACK reader as a child but 329 recollected little about the content of the comics. Four participants indicated that they would rank ACK among their favourite children's texts. But interestingly, these participants all put ACK in first or second place in relation to classic English children's texts like those by Enid Blyton or Roald Dahl.16 The age at which the participants read the comics ranged from 5 to 13 or 14, though several participants expressed an abiding love for the comics and that they continued to return to them and read them as adults.

Some told me that they had not thought about the comics for several years. Jagdish confessed that until he had heard about my study, he had not thought about the comics much since childhood; Chandrasekhar on the other hand told me that the comics held pride of place along with his collection of American superhero comics.

Collecting

Though their memories of the comics' content were sometimes fuzzy, most of the participants had clear memories about the comics as objects. Like the readers I interviewed in India, the majority of the diasporic readers either collected the comics or availed themselves of a friend or relative's collection. Only one of the participants,

Manu, indicated that he was not an active collector of the comics, but indicated that his brother had been more active in this regard. Similarly, Srinivas indicated that his older sister was a more active collector and reader of the comics than he was. He also

16 Overall, fewer diasporic participants recalled reading Enid Blyton as children than did the Indian participants, for whom Blyton was nearly universal. 330 suggested that he was more likely than his sister to watch television as an entertainment activity. This may be a matter of age and access to a wider variety of media: at 16,

Srinivas was the youngest participant in my study. Many older participants expressed a keener interest in reading than in television as children, and ACK was generally among their favourites. Hema, who grew up in India, remembered being an avid reader of the comics:

I collected them religiously; it was the closest thing in my life to an addiction;

my parents really encouraged reading but the comic books were so popular for

all the children that I never really thought about it; everyone I knew had the

comic books.

For those who grew up outside of India, the comics were frequently associated with trips to India or with interactions with relations from there. Renu remembered: "In

India, we would always buy ACK comics in the train station. And then later when I grew up I would buy Femina and [also] ACK at the train station." The train station as a place for buying comics was also recalled by many of the Indian participants. Like me,

Renu also remembered that her grandfather in India used to mail them to her in Canada on a regular basis. Several of the participants remembered being given the comics as gifts by relatives and family friends. Sameer recalled that "my grandfather bought me the first one, then my mother got me some as presents on special occasions. Later, I saved my allowance money and bought some myself. Finally, I bought a bunch of them later on when I returned to India as a teen and as young adult." Abhineet's Hindu 331 mother is from Fiji, and so while he did not receive the comics from a source in India, he noted that "many of the Hindu-themed comics in our collection came from my mother's trip to Fiji and were purchased from a Fijian bookstore." In all these cases then, participants often associated ACK as a material object to experiences of travel and connectedness with other places.

The fact that the comics are frequently given as gifts from parents and grandparents speaks to the general perception of ACK as a popular and educational resource for children. That they are frequently given to children by adults is seen as somehow legitimating the texts themselves, particularly when they are given by grandparents who are recognized as family authorities of 'tradition.' Pramod told me that he always received the comics from adults: "The first one or few was from a family friend, then (from) my parents. Which has probably always been the case. I have probably never bought them myself, my parents always bring some back from India."

Parents and children who did not have regular contact with India seemed to have little trouble accessing the comics in diasporic locations through religious organizations and community stores. Swapna purchased the comics from local Indian shops. Jagdish recalls that his mother purchased the comics at the mandir; Sameer remembered using them as part of lessons in the local VHP-run temple. Abhineet told me that a key source of ACK comics was his local Sikh community:

Our parents used to buy them from the local Gurdwara when we used to go on

Sundays. Akali Singh Temple (which was the second biggest temple in 332

Vancouver after the Ross Street Temple when I was growing up) used to have a

table in the langar hall where we would purchase them along with other books

about Sikh Martyrs.

The ACK comics that Abhineet accessed in this way were particularly those about the

Sikh gurus. But in temple and gurdwara, ACK is presented as an authentic text, connected to India and associated deeply with religious learning. I argue that this further establishes ACK as a significant text to diasporic readers by imbuing it with a textual power that is generally not ascribed to comics. Abhineet said that he thought of the comics as "religious texts", meaning "that they were texts about religious figures and hence as a kid I thought whatever was written about them should be respected and believed." The idea of having reverence for the comics as religious texts was frequently raised by the readers I spoke with. Many readers in and out of India continue to refer to the comics as authoritative sources for knowledge particularly about Hindu religious topics, since they are clearly far more accessible to lay Hindus not trained in classical

Sanskrit.

It is no doubt for this reason that families assist children in building their collections. Like many children who grew up reading ACK in India, Hema's family turned her comics into bound books to protect them from the elements: "I still have all my bound collections which I think my parents are keeping for their grandchildren."

Sameer told me that when he was a child, the comics "always felt very ephemeral to me. I held on to them but it was like, oh, these are comics, they are just going to go 333 away." But his mother now guards his collection carefully at the family home and is reticent to let him take them out; he too presumed that it was being preserved for a future generation of readers.

Some diasporic readers were meticulous ACK collectors, and their collections were similar in size to those of Indian readers that I spoke with, averaging around 25 comics but with some collectors, like Swapna, possessing fifty or more. Pramod's siblings also read and collected ACK comics, and so their family collection was large and "collectively owned." He told me that he was still aware as an adult of the condition of the collection:

They are not organized well but they are in a convenient location ... as a kid I

just felt that it was "my stuff," but now as an adult I think of it as a

collection.. .and it's not lying on the floor or anything... I have a number where

I don't have the first or last page, they just fell off along with the covers.

Like many collectors, Pramod kept records about his collection, recording which comics he possessed and which he desired:

My cousin and I made a checklist one time... the first one I had was a Rama

one, and the back had a list of 300 titles. My cousin and I were in India -he's

from here too - and we sat there and just checked off which ones we wanted,

and we probably checked off 150 titles, and we didn't know what any of them

meant, probably, we just checked them off based on the way they sounded, like

if you get Tanaji you also have to get Balaji, because it rhymes... 334

For Renu, her collection of comics represents a connection with her family in India and in Canada:

You know my Dad, for my 30th birthday, he sent all my old comics [from

Edmonton] to my new Toronto address, and it was so symbolic for me ... and if

I ever lost one of my comics, I would always ask my cousins in India to send me

those ones back or when I went there I would look for them.

Materially, the comics are deeply significant to many ACK readers, representing diasporic connections with family members, presenting souvenirs of trips to India and mementos of far-away relations, especially grandparents. They also, as I will discuss later, represent something about the nostalgia for childhood. Though not all readers kept their collections as adults, these feelings were mentioned by several of the participants even if they could remember little about the content of the comics. Here I recall Walter Benjamin, who writes that "ownership is the most intimate relationship one can have to objects. Not that they come alive in him; it is he who lives in them"

(67).

Learning about India

Among those that did remember the comics vividly, or who continue to revisit them as adults, many indicated that the comics were an important component in their experiences of learning about Indian history and Hindu religion. Like the readers in 335

India with whom I met, Hema, who grew up in Assam but now lives in the US, remembers ACK as an important part of her education: "Now that I think about it, obviously I had Indian history in school, but my knowledge of Indian history came from

ACK primarily." Srinivas attended American-curriculum schools in Jakarta, where he received some formal study on India and South Asia, and his mother taught him about

Hindu traditions at home. He too recalls the comics as an important source of knowledge, suggesting that the medium made the content more attractive:

I really enjoyed all those stories and I liked the way that they were presented,

and most of all they were comics, which interested me the most. But yeah, I

learned a lot more about Indian tradition, like with the Mahabharata and

Ramayana ones, I learned a lot more about the myths from those [comics] than

from what my mom told me... my mom used to tell us Ramayana and

Mahabharata but I think this engrained them in my brain much more. ... I don't

think I would have read normal books [on these topics].

Srinivas's comment points to the slippage between what constitutes knowledge of

Indian history or 'tradition', and what constitutes knowledge of Hinduism as 'the'

Indian religion. Another factor here is that many readers expressed a greater fondness for mythological and religious stories over historical ones, and it is the former that most people seem to remember vividly. Of these, the most popular comics across the entire study were those associated with the epics Ramayana and Mahabharata, with a close second being those narratives attributed to the Puranas. As I have discussed in earlier 336 chapters, the visual and narrative continuity between mythological and historical comics, particularly in regard to the epics, is sufficiently strong that it caused confusion for some readers. Sameer said that he felt that he did not see historical and mythological narratives "as being separate, I saw them as part of the same big story."

Abhineet also had to negotiate between the historical reality of the lives of the Sikh

Gurus as told in ACK, and the mythological elements of the Hindu-based comics:

I think there was a strange balancing act taking place. I knew that the comics

about the Sikh Gurus needed to be handled and read with a certain degree of

reverence -1 could enjoy the battles and the action scenes but there were

serious/explicit messages about martyrdom and death that were important to

understand. I couldn't just switch off and read them as 'comic books'. So these

historicals I took very literally. I had this same balancing of reverence and

enjoyment when I read the Hindu comics as well. I took entirely what was

written in both genres as the truth partly because I didn't know any better and

partly because I saw them both as religious texts that should be believed.

While it seemed that for readers in the Indian context it was easier to discern between kinds of narratives, for diasporic readers this was often more challenging since many did not have access to other broad sources of cultural knowledge; formal education and the lack of representation of India and South Asia in schooling was frequently raised.

Other than Hema and Srinivas who were educated outside of Europe and North

America, only Swapna and Abhineet recalled studying India briefly in high school. 337

Most others reported that they had never had any formal study about India. A somewhat parallel problem might be the development of religious knowledge among these young people. Many of the participants told me that they read the comics as part of a religious education mandated by parents or religious leaders, even though they may have subsequently developed an interest in them on their own. In India, the readers I spoke with had generally sought out the comics on their own or with friends.

Diasporic readers then, were reading ACK in the 1970s and 1980s in a context in which little other means of education about India or about Hindu or Sikh religion were available in any formal or popular medium. While Indian children were supplementing their formal education in Indian history and their institutionalized and family-based learning in religion, for diasporic children, ACK often represented a large part of the image of India that they held in mind. For Chandrasekhar, reading ACK made him imagine that India was "the centre of the world!" This image, needless to say, does not necessarily reflect the historical and material realities of India, which even middle class children in India are likely to have different experiences of. Srinivas recalled the impression of India that he had from reading ACK:

I remember it as being a beautiful place, really nice, full of wealth. Obviously

where all these kings and emperors ruled there was an abundance of wealth and

happy people, and except for one or two conflicts which you had to have

because of the stories, there was a lot of peace, I'd say, other than the occasional

war. And also with all those animals, with the elephants and so on, it also 338

reminds you of the nature of India and of the rich heritage of that whole

continent.

Jagdish's recollection of ACK's India was similar, though in his view, it only appeared as a frame for stories about religion: "Since India was only the backdrop to religious stories I remember it depicted as ancient, pastoral, and idyllic. And always sunny!"

This idyllic India is in many ways similar to the kind of mythic past described by readers in India. But a key difference for diaspora readers may be the hope, or fantasy, that a far-away India may retain some sense of such a past. In her study, Maira writes that "while some second-generation youth idealized India as a mythical place of origin, for others the nostalgia projected onto India as the embodiment of authentic culture was disrupted by the realities of cultural change apparent on their visits there" (116). This is true not only in regards to the social practices and norms that are the focus of Maira's study, but also in regards to the conceptualization of history itself.

For Renu, the image of India and her fascination with it was a result of its idyllic projection of history: "It's interesting because it's not now. It's a historical time, a magical period, a once-upon-a-time, and I always imagine [that it's] the creation of a magical fantasy land..." She adds however that she has not found that mythical India on her visits there: "even when you go to the [old palaces as depicted rnACK] now, it's so cool to go there but it's not what it was, it's just an old empty castle with a bunch of tourists who came to see it... so that time is totally gone, that land of milk and honey."

Here Renu's somewhat wistful comment evokes this second-generation nostalgia for 339 this unreachable past, but simultaneously acknowledges that the material reality of India represents something far more in keeping with the contemporary conditions of development and globalization.

Renu's experience points to a clash between the ACICs illustrations of India in its historical past and India in its material present. It also prompts some observations about the nature of context and the development of a situated knowledge of place in the context of diaspora. While readers in India were sometimes able to compare and evaluate the stories of the comics against what they heard from other sources in schools and communities, the extent of the resources to which diasporic readers had access was generally far more limited. Some diasporic readers expressed that they did not have any broader context in which to read ACK as children and that their comprehension of what they were reading was affected by this, sometimes with serious results. Abhineet said:

If I had my children read them, I would have to discuss certain themes with

them. I remember that as a child, my perception of Muslims became very

skewed based upon the fact that I was taking the antagonist relationship with

Sikhism portrayed in the comics as the truth. I wouldn't recommend them as an

exclusive way of learning about Indian history.

Though many readers in India also emphasized that it was important for children to read these comics with some sort of supervision, it seemed more critical for the diasporic readers. Pramod felt that he had been fortunate to have access to other sources of information: 340

In our parents' case, they would give these things to us but it was never the case

that you could learn about Indian culture only through these things. They were

never my sole source of acculturation. They were always being juxtaposed or

contrasted with what my parents told me, what I saw elsewhere, in the different

communities that we circulated through, and in the larger world

Abhineet and Pramod present different experiences with the comics in relation to the accumulation of 'cultural capital' and the development of a greater critical context. For

Sameer, reading ACK comics prompted him towards further independent study about

India: "I think it was a useful intro in some ways to some elements of Indian history, if only to force me later on to revisit and reconsider the stories that I had read."

Renu identifies family as a source for developing knowledge, and also points out that her training in classical dance gave her an environment in which to make sense of what she learned in the comics. Though she has not pursued formal study of South Asia, she feels that ACK has deepened her knowledge and experience of Hinduism:

And I really appreciate it because of the kind of strength it's given me in my

life. ... I know a lot about Hinduism which I learned through my Mom and my

Dad, definitely... also because I'm a dancer, and just because of the form of

dance, like when you do Odissi, or folk dance, there are so many religious

figures... you always tell a story, and a lot of these are from Hindu mythology...

and I also took classical singing... 341

Sameer and Renu have both found ways to develop and interrogate the kinds of knowledge that they have acquired from reading ACK. While not all diasporic readers of the comics may further their interests in this way, they were definitely not alone among the people I interviewed.

Negotiating otherness

Some diasporic readers felt that they lacked a broader context from which to learn about India, but it is also important to consider the cultural context in which many of them did read the comics. Unlike Indian children growing up in the 1970s and

1980s, diasporic children who grew up outside of India generally had greater access to television to a wider variety of children's texts like Judy Blume, 'Choose Your Own

Adventure' books, and so on. It may also be that unlike middle-class Indian school children who typically must attend school six days a week in addition to evening and weekend tutoring sessions, children in North America and Europe had comparatively more free time. With the exception of Srinivas, whose reading practices more closely mirrored Indian students in this respect, and Hema, nearly all of the diasporic readers I interviewed read and collected other comics as children. These comics included a wide variety of texts from Asterix and Archie comics which were also popular in India, to the superhero comics of Marvel and DC which did not have a readership in India in this period. It is worth noting then that these readers may have a different aesthetic or 342 critical approach to comics as a genre than might the Indian readers; Pramod commented that there were some ACK comics he just could not read since

"aesthetically, they just don't launch from the page."

Another significant difference between the experiences of ACK readers in India and those in the diaspora is that of racialization and racism. Here too, ACK plays a role.

Renu told me this story, which tells of an early initiation into the paradoxes of multiculturalism:

So I remember that my Grade One teacher requested that people bring in

different books, so I brought in the Ramayana, the ACK version of the

Ramayana. And we had to sit in a circle and I gave it to her because she was

reviewing all the books, and she looked at it and flipped through it, and closed it,

and said this is really nice book, but I can't read it out loud, because the word

God is here ... In Grade Two, I brought a sari to class to show the class how to

tie a sari and that was my show and tell and everyone was excited about that. So

that was acceptable but my comic book wasn't.

Renu also remembers wondering where she fit into the world of ACK as it represented caste and skin colour to her. Renu describes herself as being the most dark-skinned person in her family:

I used to wonder, because I'm so dark [complexioned], why are all the

Rakshasas dark and all the gods are white? I used to wonder, does that mean

I'm a ? ... so I would be like hello, this is not right.... My mom is a 343

horrible shadist and I was always her ugliest child because I was so dark, and

she would always say if only I were more fair, so like even just growing up

looking at that image, like what do the Rakshasas represent? Like the evil ones,

who wanted to destroy [things] were always dark, but the good ones, like Maya

who built the three cities, or like Vibhushan, Ravana's brother, they were all fair

too. So it was like this good and evil white and dark thing, so that confused me

a lot... and even in India, everyone's not hardcore white like that, but it's

interesting because even if you go to Orissa or you go to the south and you look

at the murthis, they are much darker than in Punjab, because everyone there is

like white ....

Renu struggled to reconcile her experience of her own skin colour and her own observations of India with both her mother's projection of a fair-skinned Indian population and ACICs mythical world of good and evil. While these issues were also raised by readers growing up in India, Renu's location as a South Asian diasporic context raises some additional questions. To consider these two anecdotes together, I suggest that Renu's observations of the realities of skin colour and ethnicity in India are likely also associated with her experience of 'otherness' in the Canadian context, where she is 'brown' outside the home and 'dark' within it. The visual spectrum of ACK served to perpetuate her anxieties about skin colour by reinforcing the light/dark racism of Canadian culture alongside the racism of the Indian context. 344

Swapna's recollections of caste in the comics also points towards this contextual difference. She was one of the few people I spoke with in India and in the diaspora who had strong memories of reading and learning about caste through Amar Chitra Katha.

Swapna, whose family are Brahmins from North-west India, recalls being outraged by the depiction of caste oppression in Tiruppan and Kanakadasa (v. 186), a comic telling the stories of two Bhakti saints:

The idea that someone could not have access to a place [a caste Hindu temple in

each case] because of their birth was deeply traumatizing. I'm sure that

something of the racism I experienced in Canada might have contributed to that.

At that time, there was a lot of tension because racism was more overt; physical

or verbal violence was always a possibility. Those are really sad comics.

Swapna's experience suggest that her interpretation of caste from a diasporic location allowed her to read a politics of race into the comics which reflected her own experience and the experiences of those around her, even though caste per se was less a day-to-day reality in Toronto than it would have been in India.

Nostalgia and innocence

Faced with experiences of racism, alienation, and difference, it is not surprising that many diasporic youth feel a desire to "return" to an idyllic mythical past: 345

"Home" becomes a magic installation, a multimedia production, and we, both

creators and creatures of that production, run through a hall of mirrors projecting

and losing a fatuous authenticity, proclaiming an ascribed difference. (Bannerji

1995:185)

If this experience is complex and confusing for a first generation of diasporic people, it is acutely so for their children. Maira writes that among second-generation South Asian youth there is a yearning to return to the homeland of their parents:

There is indeed a collective memory, but it is a recreated popular memory based

on a myth of pure origins - a yearning to recover a presumed missing link - that

is historical, cultural, and personal. What this language of return indicates is that

cultural recovery is most charged at moments when the naturalized basis of

ethnicity or tradition is in perceived doubt, when the trope of return expresses a

sort of collective mourning for a seemingly lost culture... (113)

But as Maira's words here imply, this longing is not only spatial but is also chrono- historical in nature: there is a wish to return not only to they fabled ancestral home, but also to the mythical past that exemplifies it. A CK provides an entry into that past not only as an educational text, but as a text of fantasy. Straddling a line between education and entertainment, fiction, myth, and historical fact, and presented in a medium that many diasporic children would associate with other stories of the fantastic, A CK can reinforce the ideological messages of conservative diasporic Hindu nationalism. But it can also play a surprising role as a means of escape and shelter from the 'real'. The 346 visual and narrative vocabulary of ACK stays with its readers and sometimes inspires new and sometimes subversive appropriations.

Rajeev Balasubramanyam is a novelist of Indian descent who has grown up in and now lives in the UK. Balasubramanyam identifies as British or British Asian, but

India and Indianness has been an important theme in his writing. In his early 30s, he is one of the first generation of ACK readers. Balasubramanyam remembers buying ACK comics on frequent trips to Bangalore, a city to which he continues to return to as an adult to visit family. He returns to the comics from time to time through his writing practice, and acknowledges them as an important part of his childhood:

To return to images/ideas of India, I suppose inside me there is a shadow self

who might have grown up in India, patched together with stories about my

parents and the rest of my family I heard as a child, stories that I had to attach

my narrative to [in order] to make sense of myself, and also childhood memories

of India etc. When you are younger you can romanticise this stuff, extract reality

from it, but when you're older you realise reality is everywhere, and this is why

I don't read ACK much now, though when I think about them I smile and

hesitate to dismiss them as .

Balasubramanyam's first novel, In Beautiful Disguises, was written in his early 20s and published to critical acclaim in 2000. The novel tells the story of a "fifteen-seventeen year old girl, significantly, without a name" who runs away from an arranged marriage and a lower-middle class life in south India and eventually winds up working as a 347 servant in the North Indian home of rich, westernized elites. The book jacket describes the character as something of a 'Holly Golightly', and indeed the protagonist is obsessed with Audrey Hepburn in Breakfast at Tiffany 's-a trope which itself bespeaks a certain kind of diasporic imaginary. Balasubramanyam describes the protagonist as something of a dreamer who thinks "in terms of metaphor and poetry." Though ACK comics are never directly mentioned in the narrative, Balasubramanyam tells me that

ACK was an important part of the imagination that sparked the novel:

So I think that ACK represent to me that dreamworld I lived in as a child which

was unassailable so long as I was inside it, but can't be sustained in adult life,

and that, I suppose, is what In Beautiful Disguises is about.

Balasubramanyam chose to set the novel in India, even though India was known to him mainly through his visits to family there, and through the comics. In correspondence with me, he acknowledges that a lack of familiarity, of situated knowledge, in regard to

India as a material, historical place, presented some problems for him in writing:

This, of course, led to the weaknesses in the novel. It also meant that there was a

certain element of nostalgia that crept, subliminally, into the narrative, and this

is where it gets difficult, because nostalgia, and satire, which is, in my opinion a

form used when you find it hard to locate yourself within an environment, tend

to be reactionary. ACK were ABSOLUTELY critical to constructing this sense

of nostalgia. 348

Balasubramanyam writes that ACK comics were important to his knowledge about

India, but also to his mythic vocabulary. The cover features part of a panel from an

ACK comic called "The Pandavas in Hiding". The story, from the Mahabharata,

concerns the five Pandava princes in exile with their shared wife, Draupadi. To conceal

their identities, they adopt a variety of disguises. This story forms an underlying theme

in the novel itself, as the unnamed protagonist leaves her life behind to live in 'exile' in

an unknown city. Elsewhere in the novel, other myths like that of the sun-god

figure into the narrative. Balasubramanyam writes that

I layered the narrative with stories from Hindu mythology because a) I love

these stories and b) they were appropriate to the character ... there are elements

of nostalgia, a sense of loss (of innocence), so the mythology, seen through the

prism of ACK, made sense. All this led to me choosing the ACK image for the

cover, which, I feel, would make sense to anyone who viewed ACK in the same

way I do, which is in terms of poetic memory.

This comment offers some keen insight into the role of ACK in the imagination of

diasporic youth and the construction of identity. Though many readers, as adults, are

conscious of the ideological problems and fissures posed by the comics, there is

nonetheless the prevailing sense the ACK images stock the imagination. The notion of

'poetic memory' here is instructive. Readers who return to ACK not as a projection of a

literal, historically situated epistemology of India, but rather recognize its imagery as

part of what lines the 'diasporic imaginary' in the psychoanalytic sense of the term may 349 be able to find or recuperate meaning from the texts that a literal reading of them may not unearth.

Artists like Chitra Ganesh and David Dasarath Kalal have found ways of exploring the remnants of these images in the imaginations of second-generation South

Asians. A lovely example of this can be found in an image on a 2002 flyer for a queer

South Asian-Indo Caribbean DJ night in Toronto. The image reorganizes frames from

Malavika (v. 103/569) in order to produce a new narrative in which a polyamorous sexual relationship is suggested. The use of the ACK images on the flyer was intended to play on the memory of these comics in the minds of potential party-goers. The DJ, who is son of an Indo-Caribbean Hindu priest and is a gay man, told me that he had grown up with and loved these comics as a child. Here, the moral codes of the comics are subverted in favour of a radically different re-imagination of India as a queer diasporic space in which, to evoke Gayatri Gopinath, it is possible to "recuperate those desires, practices and subjectivities that are rendered impossible and unimaginable within conventional diasporic and nationalist imaginaries" (Gopinath 11). It also refigures the vocabulary of the childhood imagination as an arsenal of subversion for second-generation South Asians who are challenging the Hindutva of the diasporic community.

Karline McLain discusses Chitra Ganesh's comics manipulations in her dissertation (331). Ganesh reworks/revises ACK panels, "raising queer issues, feminist critiques, and making more subtle commentaries upon life in the diaspora." 350

Conclusion

This chapter began with a consideration of media and diasporic Hindutva. In the latter part of this chapter, I have shown how ACK is valued and implicated within these constructions. As an avuncular children's text, ACK is well suited to the 'cultural preservation' projects of the diasporic Hindu right. The comments of the readers I have interviewed show a range of experiences and feelings about ACK, but there are some implications about the value and importance of ACK on constructing a sense of diasporic self in the diaspora. Although few of the readers talked about identity in a direct sense, there does seem to be a few generalities that can be extrapolated. First, the visual world of ACK stood in for a real material experience of India. Second, not all readers had access to multiple sources of knowledge about India, and so ACK frequently stood as their primary source of information. Thirdly, the diasporic context of reading also had a bearing on the experience and interpretation of the texts and their depictions of Hindu religious and social life. The ability to visualize and claim knowledge about

India was important to their sense of being 'Indian', even if India was not understood as a homeland. In this way, ethnicity, history, nationality and identity become complexly intermingled with each other, while categories like 'Indian' and 'Hindu' are emptied of their inner plurality. I have shown how the construction of home in the 'diasporic imaginary' is not a problem of ontology, but one of epistemology. The media through 351 which images and ideas of nation and religion are acquired constitute an important area of analysis, and this is how I have tried to approach the comics. This analysis then connects to the previous arguments I have made about the nature and content of the comics as mythohistorical and avuncular, considering their implications not only in

India but in South Asian diasporas a means to prepare the ground of Hindutva. 352

Conclusion: Teaching and Learning with Amur Chitra Katha

In the introduction to this dissertation, I outlined four main objectives for my research. By way of conclusion, it seems prudent to revisit this framework. The first goal that I identified was to provide an analysis of the uses and drawbacks of the comic book medium for the circulation of nationalist ideologies. In Chapter Two, I examined the ways in which ACK articulates concepts of caste, gender, class, and religious differences together with a homogeneous, artificially 'unified' concept of India in which

Hinduism appears normalized. Here, I read ACK in the context of the historical emergence of a popular visual culture in South Asia, and also in light of the growing body of theory around comics in general as a popular visual genre. In this chapter, I began to show how myth and history as categories of story and as ideological concepts prove to be an important issue in the analysis of ACK from the earliest stage. In the second chapter of this dissertation, I examined how Anant Pai's insistence on historical 353 accuracy sometimes exists in tension with an aim to maintain a traditional religious interpretation of events.

I developed this argument further in Chapter Three, where I suggested that the mythohistorical ideology of nation that underpins Hindutva also seems to underwrite the ACK conceptualization of India as a nation. In this chapter, I addressed the second objective of my dissertation, which was to explore how ACK resonates with Hindu nationalist ideology in constructing a story of origins. In developing the concept of the mythohistorical in this context, my intention was to show how Hindutva ideology aims to blur distinctions between the historical and the mythological so that while foundational myths are understood as itihasa, or historical, a simultaneous process leads certain historical personages to become mythologized. This ideological process constructs an ontology of India as a nation which is timeless, homogeneous, unified, and in need of defence against the threat of the difference represented by Muslims.

But if such an ideology is embedded within the texts of ACK, it is also necessary to understand how the relationships between the texts and their readers enables its communication. My third aim for this dissertation was to show how ideas of Indian history are learned through ACK, and how such ideologically situated knowledge contributes to the formation of Indian national and diasporic identities. Building on the idea of ideology as an epistemological process which I discussed in Chapter Three,

Chapter Four posited an argument about popular education as an adjunct to formal educational structures. Here, using the metaphor of the uncle as an adjunct to the father 354 in patriarchal structures of power, I argued that popular education is avuncular: that is, that it hides its paternalist power behind the appearance of friendliness, accessibility, and attractiveness to children.

Finally, a goal of this dissertation was to explore how^CX's imagined India is a projection of nostalgic desire. There are three senses in which I use this word: there is the nostalgic longing of Hindu nationalists for a mythohistorical, lost golden age; the well-theorized nostalgia of diasporic people for homeland that seems idyllic in memory; and among adults, a nostalgia for the innocence of childhood. I argue that these forms of nostalgia are distinct but interrelated. For readers of ACK growing up in India and in the diaspora, ACK embodies both the nostalgia for nation and the nostalgia for childhood. In the final chapters of this dissertation, I worked through an argument against the primacy of the concept of nation in conventional theories of diaspora, arguing that questions about the constructedness of the concept of nation must be addressed. I argued that the ACK comics, in concert with some other popular cultural forms, shape an image of India as a mythohistorical, fantastical and nostalgic place, and thereby nourish the Hindutva fantasy of cultural nationalism. This provides some explanation for the rise of support for Hindutva in South Asian diasporas.

In Chapter Six, bringing together the lines of argument I have reviewed above, I argue that the flattening of myth and history into each other produces a text which is both comforting and confusing to diasporic readers. Without access to historical knowledge by other means, ACK ceases to act as a supplement to cultural knowledge 355 and is read as an authentic and authoritative source. The comics form and the ideological underpinnings of the texts suit the series to this purpose. The process of learning and teaching with Amar Chitra Katha is one that requires an anti-ideological perspective, and an understanding of the social and political context in which they are being presented, and in which they are read: I have attempted to underscore this throughout the dissertation.

As this brief review of my objectives has outlined, at the core of this dissertation is a meditation on the relationships between teaching and learning, ideology, popular culture and identity. In the introduction I reflected on my own memories of reading

Amar Chitra Katha as a child. In this conclusion, I want to take a moment to reflect on my experiences with the comics as an adult and teacher. In North America, ACK comics have frequently been used as a teaching text in universities, often for the purpose of teaching about Hindu religion, and sometimes also as an object of analysis in regard to religion and media.1 In my own teaching practice, I used a selection of ACK comics on two occasions in a South Asian Studies course in a lesson on visual culture and the representation of nationhood.2 On each of these occasions, I brought a selection of around forty comics to class, and asked the students in the class to read and analyse a

1 A brief internet search will turn up several such university syllabi; I noted courses on media and South Asian religion at the University of Pennsylvania, the University of Washington and the University of Virginia; religious studies courses at the University of San Diego, Emory University, and Washington & Lee University in the US. 2 For the sake of anonymity I am not identifying the course or the students by name. 356 comic in small groups. I provided a list of questions to spark analysis and discussion, asking students consider the use of colour, the depiction of gender and class roles, and the students' own comprehension of the narrative. We then returned to the larger group to share the students' observations. Here, I want to describe some of the observations made by the first of these groups, which I met with in 2006.

There were about thirty students, most of whom were enrolled at the second- year level, and nearly all of whom were of South Asian descent. Some of the students were second-generation immigrants, while others had recently settled in Canada. A few of the students were of Indo-Caribbean origin. Some were already familiar with the

ACK series to varying degrees, while others had not encountered it before; this marks out a generational difference: South Asian Canadians a decade or so older are far more familiar with the comics, as my research for this project indicated.

I provided a large selection of comics representing religious, historical, and literary tales and shared them in small groups so that students had the opportunity to read them in some detail. In this class, mythological stories proved to be the most popular, but among the historicals, students were particularly struck by two titles,

Gandhi: The Early Days (v.414/660) and Jawarhalal Nehru: The Early Days

(v.43 6/700). All of the students had some previous knowledge of the significance of

Gandhi and Nehru as political figures, but there were a variety of responses to the comics. One student who had completed his secondary education in India but had never read ACK commented that what he learned from these narratives supplemented what he 357 had learned in school about these men. Another group of students, however, expressed frustration with the foreshortened narratives and noted that they found it difficult to even identify Gandhi in the images due to his western-style of dress. The majority of members of that group had been educated in Canada or the Middle East; these students felt quite strongly that the narratives were incomplete. The contrast in these points of view is rather striking. To those who had a strong familiarity with Gandhi and Nehru within their historical context, the comics' narratives provided some previously unavailable 'colour' to knowledge they already had. For those who were somewhat less confident, the students felt that the narratives misrepresented these figures as overly westernized, and that they did not adequately illustrate their contributions to history.

Other key comments reflected the ability of readers to distinguish between differences of caste, religion, myth and history in the texts. Students noted that the tribal Gonds, illustrated by artist Ram Waeerkar in Rani Durgavati (v. 104/606), are depicted as extremely dark-skinned and are shown wearing horned helmets and dressed only in loincloths. They observed that there is a strong visual similarity between the

Gonds and the Asuras, the demonic figures against whom the Hindu gods fight in the

Souren Roy illustrated Tales ofDurga (v. 176/514) and in other mythological titles drawn from the Puranas. The depiction of both 'tribal' and 'low caste' people in a visually similar manner to the Asuras seems to be a common feature of the work of

3 As I discussed in Chapter Three, the comic both visually and narratively focuses on Nehru's youth in which he is fascinated by the English and by the European intellectual tradition. 358 several of the ACK artists. While special features like facial expression, body posture gave clues as to which characters were 'evil' or understood to be enemies, the students found this similarity striking as it seemed to produce a kind of confusion between the mythological and historical stories. The Gonds are heroes in Rani Durgavati, while the

Asuras are depicted as enemies; but both stories feature bloody battle scenes in which the dark-skinned characters are defeated. The students questioned the ability of young readers to appropriately decode these messages.

One student reflected that it may be easy to forget that children are "very receptive" to messages they receive in media, and that the visual similarities between

'tribal' people and villains could be dangerous if uncritically absorbed by younger or less savvy readers. Most of the students in the group agreed that while they found the stories and pedagogical method of the comics to be both entertaining and informative, they thought it very important to engage children with the comics only with active supervision. The group felt that it would be necessary to have a knowledgeable adult available to help children decode these kinds of problematic messages, and to reinforce their learning with other texts and information. Otherwise, they may encounter a text which can be confusing to some children, particularly to those who are lacking another context in which to learn about these subjects. This is particularly the case for diasporic children, since while some have access to a wide array of community sources of knowledge, few have opportunities for formal learning about India. 359

The observations of these students are instructive in their illumination of a critical disjuncture in how these comics are read and understood in South Asia and

South Asian diasporas, and also in the kinds of reading practices that ACK requires.

These opinions were shared by many of those I interviewed. Rajeev Balasubramanyam, the novelist, told me that ACK could be a useful method of learning about India

"providing it's supplemented by reading adult books. Comics transform fact into story, which is an aid to memory and takes it to the most micro level possible." Some of the readers I interviewed were enthusiastic about using the comics for teaching younger relations and other children, while others expressed concern about this. Nagalamba and

Susan disagreed about the usefulness of the comics as educational texts:

Nagalamba: these should be made a part of education, not only from the point of

view of teaching or learning the language element, but also for giving a right

view about Indian culture, nation, and history.

Susan: I would disagree with you there, because whose Indian culture are you

talking about?

It is this question as articulated by Susan that has underwritten this dissertation throughout. There is indeed an 'Indian' culture that is produced by the comics; it is similar in its images and vocabulary to the 'India' of Hindutva ideology. ButACK's readership, in India and in South Asian diasporas, are reading, thinking, critiquing and creating cultures of their own. 360

In the preceding pages I have offered a critical analysis of the comics' role in conceptualizing nation and identity in ideological terms. But I have also identified some of the ways in which ACK has engendered a strong affective response among its readers. It is important for me therefore to pause and reflect on my own ambivalent relationship to the comics as a reader and as a teacher. My feelings are echoed by

Hema, who told me:

I'm still divided about children reading them. On the one hand, they were such a

part of my childhood and I think they enriched my childhood, and I think you

have to give children a lot of credit; and why not just let them read them as good

stories; but on the other hand, I'm completely undecided about that...

Hema's uncertainty arises because she struggles between her awareness of the Hindu orientation of the comics and her childhood love for them. I share her sense of nostalgia for the comics as a part of my own childhood, and as a representation of an

India that I have never known - indeed that is impossible to experience. But the comics' ease in participating in and contributing to the rise of Hindutva ideology around the world continues to make me uneasy. The comics are clearly an important part of learning and developing a cultural, religious, and national identity for many children.

But for precisely that reason, they are also very valuable to the proponents of the Hindu right. 361

Appendix A: Tables and Figures

Table V.Amar Chitra Katha by narrative category

Original series New 'deluxe' (436 titles) editions (238 titles)l Folktales: 73 52

Historical: 160 92

Literary: 36 19

Religious/mythological 181 81

Uncategorized/unknown 21 0 (some out of print comics) Total 471* 244*

* Some titles have been counted in more than one category

I have counted Madhavacharya and Valmiki, both of which were re-released under the number 579 in the deluxe series; including recently issued new titles, that brings the number as of 2007 to 238. 362

Table 2: Amur Chitra Katha title list by religion

Old series (436) New series(/238) Buddhist 33 29

Christian2 4 0

Hindu 324 184

Jain 10 7

Muslim 29 18

Parsi 1 2

Sikh 15 7

Dalit3 3 1

Jewish4 1 0

More than one religion 5 2 prominent

Uncategorized/unknown 17 0

Other5 1

Total 443* 250*

* Some titles counted more than once

2 This does not include the Jesus Christ special issue. Most characters depicted are French. 3 Two of the three are depicted as Buddhist converts. 4 Albert Einstein (v. 284). 5 Megasthenes (v. 384/ 722). 363

Table 3: The "March to Freedom" advertisement, 'Also Read' section: List of titles shown in the printed advertisement

188 Babhasaheb Ambedkar 136 Rabindranath Tagore 156 Bagha Jatin 216 Rani Abakka 293 Beni Madho 260 234 Bhagat Singh 51 Rani ofJhansi 142 Chandra Shekhar Azad 262 Rash Behari Bose 344 Chittaranjan Das 166 Rani ofKittur 120 Dayananda *354 Sea Route to India 325 Jagdish Chandra Bose 303 Senapati Bapat *358 Jallianwalla Bagh 77 Subhas Chandra Bose 206 Jayaprakash Narayan 275 304 Dr. Kotnis 286 Thanedar Hasan Askari** *364 Khudiram Bose 187 Tipu Sultan** 311 Kunwar Singh 309 Veer Savarkar 271 Lalbahadur Shastri 108 Vidyasagar 219 Lokamanya Tilak 146 Vivekananda 334 Mangal Pande 213 Velu Thampi 227 Vaswani 306 Yellapragada Subbarow

* starred titles had not been released at the time the ad was run in 1986. ** The only two Muslims in the list are respectively a king and a policeman (See Chapter 3) 364

Figure 1: Krishna v.l 1/501, cover circa 1981, from my childhood collection

All images from Amar Chitra Katha and Tinkle on this and following pages are reproduced with permission of ACK-Media/Amar Chitra Katha Pvt. Ltd. 365

Figure 2: Tinkle front cover, March 5th, 1993

NO. 269 Rs. 7

THE FORTNIGHTLY FOR CHILDREN FROM THE HOUSE OF TINKLE AMAR CHITRA KATH/

THE DETECTIVES

"ASSsAIf

INDIA ADVENTURE 366

Figure 3: "deluxe edition" cover of Rani ofJhansi v. 51/539, bought in Gerrard Street, Toronto 367

Figure 4: chitrakatha style illustration of a scene from the Gita-Govindam, showing sequential action

From Vatsyayan, Jaw Gita-Govinda: A Dated Sixteenth Century Gita-Govinda from Mewar. New Delhi: National Museum, 1979. 368

ure 5: Sample inside page from Krishna and , v. 112/516, p. 17

KRISHNA & RUKMINI M&WWMfU- AT WE m-ACE— tyjf | AM LET US RUKMINI, VOUR CHARIOT J L SHISHUWLA IS HAS ARRIVED. ARE H THE EMPEROR YH£S?fS? VOU READY? Ej AND HIS MEN ^^IE' SHAVE FLOODED!^ TOE tfcine uir. _^^\^MANY ALLIES, THIS SHOUL&~~ — HELP YOU PLAN YOUR STBATEOn

mxDMrmieD By HE/? mios, mm/w IEFT /=ae THE WBNB

i&4i

>l U "

1; 369

Figure 6: example of Raja Ravi Varma's art: image of Saraswati

Image accessed from ravi.varma.lithos.googlepages.com 370

Figure 7: An example of calendar art style: image of goddess Durga, attributed to artist Yogendra Rastogi

Reproduced in The Hindu Online, Friday, July 15, 2005. http://www.hinduonnet.com/thehindu/fr/2005/07/15/stories/2005071501550300.htrn 371

Figure 8: Hitopadesha: Choice of Friends (v.91/556). Illustrations provide an example of the different style in which some folktales are depicted in the series, in comparison to mythological and historical stories shown in this appendix

\...t>CATie.RED SOME filcE ON THE .. AND HID HIMSELF IN THE HOLLOW \OF A TREE.

A LrrTLe^L^mz.THe y&tg, OF- mt not i SUSPECT BWBOHS AMP MIS FtOCH HAPPFHEP .,, A TRAP. HOW PfE 7P /y.y F&ST. 1 THOSE ©KAINS —. p v COH& HERE? 30KIDQ VOU f O KINS, LET ] «E THOSE J OS FEAST OH / ©RAINS? /V THEM- \

* FOR STORW SEE PA&E 14- 372 fig 9: From Rani Durgavati, v. 104/606, p. 12. Note the interior and exterior views and use of skin colour

.*.»«>*•• %,- «»• %+ i\.«jnw»* SAhlGRAM SHAH PEAR DAUGHTER , WELCOME IF THEIR HAPPINE5J WAS WAITING rTO GARHA. FROM HOW ON f ANP WELL-BEING IMPATIENTLY PALPAT SHALL RULE THE fl 5HALL EVER BE TO RECEIVE WITH BV ^V CONCERN THEM nmepom vou H/5/y , PE.*iy PEOPLE ARE / \ FATHER. A

\KV&&' LATER, A SON WAS ~BORN~\ VTHREE VEARe PASSED. Blk yfrnsffie-HAPPS! YOUMG COUPLE. \ \NARAVAN WAS NOW A 373

fig 10: Sati and Shiva, v.l 11/550, p.6. Note muscular male bodies and facial detail

omar chit ra katha 374

fig 11: Harischandra v.17/577 p. 20. Depiction of caste difference

BUTmR/SGtimtom mo m cwcf. WE m/ mw.0 B£ CMER &aw mo TAP/V 375

fig 12: Guru Tegh Bahadur v.114/694, p. 28

amor chitra katha tr am$e mm BNWOU&S TURN

rr~ i •ww*1 « -•» - "| 376 fig. 13: Dayananda v. 120/624 p. 27 — holding back a horse and cart with his hands

< it <• ,' /* I 377

fig 14: Rama lifts the magical bow at Sita's swayamvara Rama, v.15/ 504. p. 19

WM& EACH ONE OF US HAS FAILED. SURELY WE CAN LIFT THIS BOW TOGFTHER! 378

fig 15: A party at Motilal Nehru's house with English guests. Jawarhalal Nehru (v.436/700) p. 10

meraM. mramtetP or SUCH cxm&$M. « ***««»«* TW^TP BM*WF*«P' emmr* ovt,ane a*

TtotmoNDt. a&e&/frwmi0mt,

KZOi

irl'i (1*8- ***}'

Bt HOURS is INK wtw , Mnm-cut in ^ummmi

'it* rFlRS? HOUSE TO

TOOJ mm 379

fig 16: depiction of nationalist leaders. Jawarhalal Nehru v.436/700, p. 20

Mfttn- {** Mstbo

W^'$¥*f&$W%iw£# 380

fig 17: Mahatma Gandhi: The Early Days v. 414/650 cover M*l*t»* Q*hJk «w«»n»is'

A.mar Chitra Katha: the Glorious Heritage of India 381

Fig. 18: Gandhi and Anglicization. From Mahatma Gandhi: The Early Days, p. 11

mMTt&mf* ai FvE BEEN in (INS r-j« TrtEnrv miNuitS. mis lit 3UST WON'T SET 11 SELF 382 fig 19: Uncle Pai, India's Walt Disney

"Uncle i'M "Pal Pinpr' "Pai Chacha j "Disney of India' "Ama r Chitra Chacha"

Posted at amarchitrakatha.com (Accessed May, 2007) Appendix B: List of Amur Chitra Katha titles by original number n/a = not applicable as title has not yet been re-released * = issue date not provided; or print copy of edition unavailable n.e = new edition - redesigned cover, retouched colour prints (2004 -)

Old Title New Writers Artists Origi Date of re- Category Religion Title Title No rial released No Issue issue Date 11 Krishna 501 Anant Pai Ram Waeerkar; 1970 2004/06 Myth Hindu cover Yusuf Bangalorewalla 12 Shakuntala 530 Dolat H. Doongaji KP Shankar 1970 2004/01 Myth Hindu and AK Lavangia OJ 13 The Pandava 626 BR Bhagawat Subhash Tendle 1970 2002/07 Myth Hindu u> Princes 14 Savitri 511 Anant Pai Ram Waeerkar 1970 2001 Myth Hindu 15 Rama 504 Anant Pai Pratap Mulick 1970 2002 Myth Hindu 16 Nala Damayanti 507 Abid Surti Souren Roy 1971 2001/05 Myth Hindu 17 Harishchandra 577 Anant Pai Pratap Mulick 1971 2001/07; Myth Hindu 2004/06 ne 18 The Sons of Rama 503 Anant Pai Pratap Mulick 1971 2002/02 Myth Hindu 19 Hanuman 502 Anant Pai Ram Waeerkar 1971 2002/02" Myth Hindu 20 Mahabharata 582 BR Bhagawat Subhash Tendle 1971 2004/06 Myth Hindu 21 Chanakya 508 Yagya Sharma Ram Waeerker 1971 2001/12 historical Hindu 22 Buddha 510 SK Ramachandra Souren Roy 1971 * historical Buddhist Rao myth_ 23 Shivaji 564 BR Bhagawat Pratap Mulick 1971 1999/07 historical Hindu 24 Rana Pratap 563 YagyajSharma Pratap Mulick 1971 2000/08 historical Hindu - 25 Prithviraj Chauhan 604" Yagya Sharma PB Kavadi 1971 2000/08 History Hindu 26 Kama 531 Kamala ram waeerkar 1972 2001/12 Myth Hindu Chandrakant 27 Kacha and 661 Kamala Souren Roy 1972 1999/07 Myth Hindu Devayani Chandrakant Old j Title New Writers Artists , Origi Date of re- Category • Religion Title I Title No nal released No Issue issue Date 28 | Vikramaditya 568 AP Singh HS Chavan 1972 2001/07 historical Hindu 29 I Shiva and Parvati 506 Kamala Ram Waeerker 1972 1995 Myth Hindu Chandrakant 30 | Vasavadatta 674 Talim Pratap Mulick 1972 2000/06 literature Hindu/ I Buddhist 31 I Sudama 532 Kamala Prabhakar 1972 2001/09 Myth Hindu Chandrakant Khanolkar 32 j Gum Gobind Singh 588 Mala Dayal (Singh) Ram Waeerkar 1972 2001/06 historical/ Sikh I religious 33 ! Harsha 627 Yagya Sharma and Madhu Powle 1972 2001/06 historical/ Hindu Anand Prakash literary Singh 0© 34 | Bheeshma 534 Kamala LD Pednekar 1972 2001/12 Myth Hindu i Chandrakant 35 I Abhimanyu 533 Kamala Pratap Mulick 1972 2001/12 Myth Hindu Chandrakant 36 i Mirabai 535 Kamala Yusuf Lien 1972 2003/10 historical Hindu Chandrakant 37 Ashoka 536 Meena Talim Ram Waeerkar 1973 1994 historical Hindu 38 Prahlad 537 Kamala Souren Roy 1973 2002/04 Myth Hindu Chandrakant 39 - The 540 GL Chandiramani Jeffrey Fowler 1973 2002/08 Folktale Hindu , Jac/ca/ and 77?e I War Drum 40 Tanaji 682 Meena Talim VB Halbe 1973 2001/08 History Hindu 41 Chhatrasal n/a HK Devsare Pratap Mulick 1973 n/a historical Hindu 42 Parashurama n/a Kamala Madhu Powle 1973 n/a Myth Hindu Chandrakant 43 Banda Bahadur 734 KjTushwant Singh Ram Waeerkar 1973 2004/06 History Sikh 44 Padmini 605 Yagya Sharma Ram Waeerkar 1973 2003 Folktale Hindu 45 Jataka Tales - 543 Meena Talim Jeffrey Fowler 1973 * ^ Folktale Buddhist I I Monkey Stories 1 Old i Title New Writers Artists Origi Date of re- Category ' Religion Title S Title No : nal released No • | Issue issue I Date 46 Valmiki 579 Mali Prabhakar 1973 lit/ myth Hindu Khanolkar 47 Guru Nanak 590 GS Mansukhani Devender (also 1973 2004/04 history/ Sikh and Naniki cover) religious Mansukhani 48 Tarabai n/a Kamala Ram Waeerkar 1973 I n/a History Hindu Chandrakant 49 Ranjit Singh ___ Rahul Singh Devender 1973 History Sikh 50 Ram Shastri 698 Kamala VB Khalap 1974 1999/10 History Hindu Chandrakant 51 RaniofJhansi 539 Mala Singh Hema Joshi 1974 1999/08 historical Hindu

52 Uloopi 629 Kamala SS Havaldar 2003/04 Myth Hindu 00 Chandrakant 53 Say"/' Rao I 729 BR Bhagawat _V|]Halde3IZZ 1974 j * History Hindu 54 ChandBibi 685 f oni Patel Ram Waeerkar 1974 [2002707 history/ Muslim myth 55 Kabir 623 Dolly Rizvi Omesh Burande 1974 2003 literature Muslim/ Hindu 56 SherShah jn/a PjOllyJRJzyi _____ HS Chavan 197/L n/a History Muslim^ 57 Drona 565 Kamala PB Kavadi 1974 "2001/12" Myth Hindu CJhandjakant _____ 58 Surya J566 Maya Baise ____ JRam Waeerkar 2001/08 Myth Hindu 59 Urvashi 612" kamala Pratap Mulick "1974" 2003/04;"" Myth Hindu C; handlakant 2004/08n.e 60 656 Padmashri P Souren Roy 1974" "2063/1T Tiistory/bi Hindu NarasJmJiayya 61 Ghatoikacha 592 Laksh m i Seshad r^ Umesh Burande 1974'' "1995" Myth Hindu 62 Tulsidas 551 Suresh Chandra "VB Khalap" ~1974~T 2662/05" "lit/ " """ Hindu historical .__ Sharma | Sukanya n/a 1974 n/a history Hindu Shantajyer "•staff_J Z, ~" _g_ 64 Durgadas jn/a RamiesllSinha^ VB Halbe n/a Historical Hindu 65 Aniruddtia - A Tale 663 Kamala Pr_ajtapjy1ulick JJ974 J 20J31/09 Myth Hindu Old Title New Writers Artists j Origl Date of re- Category Religion Title Title No | nal released No Issue issue • Date From The Chandrakant Bhagawat Purana 66 Zarathustra n/a Bachi Karkaria Ram Waeerkar 1974 n/a Myth Parsi 67 The Lord of Lanka 541 Anant Pai Pulak Biswas 1974 2000/09 Myth Hindu 68 Tukaram n/a Kamala Prabhakar 1974 n/a Chandrakant Khanolkar 69 n/a Kamala Ram Waeerkar 1974 n/a Myth Hindu Chandrakant 70 Vasantasena 657 Kamala GR Naik 1974 2001/06 Myth Hindu Chandrakant 71 Indra and Shachi 567 Lakshmi Seshadri MN Nangare 1974 20oT Myth" Hindu 72 Draupadi 542 Kamala Pratap Mulick 1974 2000/08 Myth Hindu 00 Chandrakant 0\ 73 Subhadra n/a Kamala Mr Fernandes 1974 | n/a Myth? |Hindu Chandrakant and staff 74 Ahilyabai Holkar n/a Meena Ranade PB Kavadi 1975 ; n/a History ! Hindu 75 Tansen 552 Dolly Rizvi Yusaf Lien 1975 2000/02 Historical i Muslim 76 Sundari n/a Gurudial Singh Devender 1975 n/a Literature Sikh Phul 77 Subhas Chandra 544 Yagya Sharma and HS Chavan and 1975 2002/06; Historical Hindu Bose Haridas Shetty Sailo 2004/04 Chakravarty

~78 Shridatta n/a Lakshmi Seshadri VB Halbe 1975 n/a Folktale Hindu 79 Jataka Tales - 555 Editorial team Jeffrey Fowler 1975 *~~ Folktale Buddhist Deer Stories 80 Vishwamitra 599 Kamala Ram Waeerkar 1975 2003/11 Myth Hindu J3hand£akant 81 The Syamantaka 591 kamala HS Chavan 1975 2002/63 Myth Hindu Gem Chandrakant "82" Mahavira ""594 Rishabadas Ranka Pratap Mulick 1975 I * Jain 83 Vikramaditya's 598" Kamaia Nana Wagh T975"T20b3" Myth Hindu 387 1 3 3 3 3 1 = 3 =3 3 ; 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 1 3 1 T3 T3 T3 en "o T3 T3 T3 T3 T7 T3 •O T3 .C •o •o T3 •o CO I C c C 3 C C C C c C C Cj C -* c C C c ! C' X X X 2»x X X X X X X X X CO X X X X -^

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Title Title No l nal released i No ; l Issue issue i 1 i Date 102 | Nagananda n/a Subba Rao MN Nangare 1976 n/a Literature Hindu 103 I Malavika 569 kamlesh Pandey PB Kavadi 1976 2001/06 Literature Hindu 104 ! Rani Durgavati 606 Kamala Ram Waeerkar 1976 2000/08 History Hindu | Chandrakant 105 | Dasharatha 570 | Kamala MN Nangare 1976 2002/02 Myth Hindu Chandrakant 106 Rana Sanga 630 Rajendra Sanjay Ram Waeerkar 1976 2002/04 History Hindu 107 Pradyumna n/a Kamala Mayur (staff and 1976 n/a Myth Hindu Chandrakant Chandane) 108 Vidyasagar 632 Debashis Mukherji Souren Roy 1976 1999/09 History Hindu 109 i Tachcholi Othenan n/a Kamala Mohan Das 1976 n/a Folktale Hindu Chandrakant 00 110 ! Sultana Razia 725 Editorial Team Ram Waeerkar 1976 2004706rte History Muslim 00 111 Sati and Shiva 550 Kamala PB Kavadi 1976 2001/10 Myth Hindu Chandrakant 112 | Krishna and 516 j Kamala Pratap Mulick 1976 2002/03 Myth Hindu I Rukmini 1 Chandrakant 113 I RajaBhoja 596 j Kamala GR Naik 1995 2003/11 historical/ Hindu Chandrakant Lit 114 GuruTegh 694 Ram Krishna Ranjana 1976 2001/06 Historical Sikh Bahadur Sudhakar 115 Pareekshit n/a BR Bhagawat CM Vitankar 1976 n/a Hindu 116 Kadambari n/a { Kamala Fernandes 1976 n/a Literature Hindu | Chandrakant and ?

_ „_ ed[torialJeam 117 | Dhruva and Shailaja Ram Waeerkar 1976™ "2002/04 Myth Hindu i Ganguly/Malati 1 Shinoy 118 KingKusha-A j Kamala Souren Roy "1976 2001/08 Folktale Buddhist Buddhist Tale 1 Chandrakant 119 Raja Raja Chola 727 1 Sita Anantharaman Varnam 1976 n/a History^ JHindu 120 Dayananda "624~~ 1 Onkar Nath HSChavan 1976" "1998 History Hindu Old ' Title New Writers Artists Origi Date of re- Category Religion Title Title No nal released No Issue issue . Date Sharma 121 Veer Dhaval n/a Malati Deshpande Pratap Mulick 1977 n/a Folktale Jain?

122 Ancestors of Rama 572 Kamala Ram Waeerkar 1977 2002/02 Myth Hindu Chandrakant 123 Ekanath n/a Subhas L Desai VB Halbe 1977 n/a History Hindu 124 Satwant Kaur n/a Dr Sukpal Singh HS Chavan and 1977 n/a Folktale Sikh Ranjana 125 Udayana 621 Kamala HS Chavan 1977 2000/03 myth/ Hindu Chandrakant literature 126 Jataka Tales - 554 Lakshmi Lai Ashok Dongre 1977 * Folktale Buddhist Elephant Stories 00 127 The Gita 505 Anant Pai Pratap Mujjck 1977 I 2003/10 Myth Hindu 128 Veer Hammir 692 Rajendra Sanjay MN Nangare 1977 i * History Hindu 129 Malati and n/a Kamala Pratap Mulick 1977 n/a ?lit Hindu Madhava Chandrakant 130 Garuda 547 Kamala CMVitankar 1977 Myth Hindu Chandrakant 131 Birbal The Wise 545 Anant Pai Ram Waeerkar 1977 I2002710 historical/ Muslim/ folktale Hindu 133 Tales of Maryada 633 Kamala VBHalbe 1977 2000/11 folktale Hindu Rama Chandrakant 134 Babur n/a Toni Patel Ram Waeerkar 1977" n/a i Muslim 135 Choudurani 659 Debrani Mitra Squren Roy 2001/01 literature ! Hindu 136 Rabindranath 548 Kalyanaksha Souren Roy 1977 1999/08 Lit/ Hindu Tagore Bannerjee historical 137 Soordas 613 Pushpa Bharati 1977 2002/05 history/ lit Hindu 138 Panchatantra - The 562 Shymala Kutty Ashok Dongre 1977 2002/04"" lolktale" Hindu Brahmin and The I Goat 139 ! Prince Hritadhwaja n/a Kamala MN Nangare 1977 n/a Hindu? Chandrakant Old Title New i Writers i Origi Date of re- Category Religion Title Title No . nal released No Issue issue Date 140 | Humayan n/a Coomi Chinoy Pratap Mulick 1977 n/a history Muslim 141 i Prabhavati n/a Kamala HS Chavan 1977 n/a historical Hindu Chandrakant 142 J Chandra Shekhar 686 Shail Tiwari HS Chavan 1977 history Hindu \ Azad 143 A Bag of Gold 607 Shanti Devi VB Halbe 1977 2002/02 folktale Muslim/ I Coins Motichandra Hindu 144 j Purandara Dasa n/a VAShenai MN Nangare 1977 n/a history Hindu 145 | Bhanumati n/a Kamala HS Chavan and 1977 n/a ? Hindu? Chandrakant ana 146 I Vivekananda 517 Anant Pai Souren Roy/ T 1977 | 2002/06 historical Hindu Kesava Roy 147 Krishna and 518 Kamala Pratap Mulick 1977 2002/03 myth Hindu o Jarasandha Chandrakant 148 I NoorJahan 701 Laila Mahajan Ram Waeerkar 1977 2000764 history Muslim 149 j Elephanta 519 Snakuntaia CM Vitanker 2001/03 historical Hindu Jagannathan 150 Tales of 520 ] Onkar Nath PB Kavadi 1977 2662/64 myth Hindu Sharma 151 Krishnadeva Raya 636 Subba Rao IIO^ZZZZ 1978" loo37oT iiterature Hindu 152 Birbal The Witty 557 Kamala Ram Waeerkar 1978 "2002/04" historical/ Muslim/ Chandrakant folktale JHindu 153 Madhavcharya 579 Dr BNK Sharma HS Chavan ._.„. " n"~" Hindu 154 Chandragupta 634 Subba Rao 1999/03 Hindu Ram Waeerkar "1978' History Maurya 2004/04 155 Jnaneshwar 723 SS Apte JH^S^avaF7Z 1978T History Hindu 156 Bagha Jatin 724 Shanta Patil and Souren Roy 1978' History Hindu Subba Rao 157 Manonmani n/a Lalitha Raghupati Varnam _ 1978 n/a Hindu 158 Angulimala 521 Subba Rao Pratap Mujick 166l768 Myth Juddhist 159 The Tiger and The 622 CR Sharma and Ashok Dongre 1978" 2662/62 "folktaieT Hindu \ Woodpecker j Kamala literature Old , Title New Writers Artists Origi Date of re- Category Religion Title ; Title No nal released No ! Issue issue Date Chandrakant 160 Tales of Vishnu 512 Subba Rao HS Chavan 1977 april 2002 Myth Hindu 161 Amrapali and 635 Subba Rao HS Chavan and 1978 2001/08 myth// Buddhist Upagupta Ranjana folktale 162 Yayati 637 Subba Rao Souren Roy 1978 * Myth Hindu 163 Panchatantra - 560 Kamala Ram Waeerkar 1978 2001/09 Folktale Hindu How The Jackal Chandrakant Ate The Elephant 164 Tales of Shiva 549 Subba Rao CM. Vitanker 1978 2001/10 Myth Hindu 165 Shalivahana 638 Jagjit Uppal Ram Waeerkar 1978 2001/07 Historical/ Hindu literature 166 | The Rani of Kittur n/a Rajalakshmi HS Chavan and 1978 n/a history/ Hindu Raghavan Dilip Kadam folktale 167 I Krishna and 522 Kamala MN Nangare 1978 2002/03 Myth Hindu Narakasura Chandrakant 168 The Magic Grove 677 Kamala Ram Waeerkar 1978 2001/07 folktale/ Jain Chandrakant literature 169 Lachit Barphukan 684 Dhrubanda Das Souren Roy 1978 1999/03 History Hindu and Subba Rao 170 Indra and Vritra n/a Subba Rao CM Vitankar 1978 n/a Myth"™" Hindu - 171" Amar Singh Rathor 681 Kamlesh Pandey Pratap Mulick 19 78 1999/01 History Sikh 172 Krishna and The 639 Kamala VB Halbe 1978 2000/02 Myth Hindu False Vasudeva Chandrakant 173 Kochunni n/a Radha Mohandas 1978 n/a Folktale? Hindu Menon 174 | Tales of 703 Subba Rao Ranjana B and 1978 2004701 myth Hindu \ Yudhishtira staff 175 Hah Singh Nalwa n/a Jagjit Uppal VB Halbe 1978 n/a history Sikh 176 Tales of Durga 514 Subba Rao Souren Roy 1978 Oct 2001 Myth Hindu ill ; Krishna and 589 Kamala Ram Waeerkar 1978 1994;" Myth Hindu I Shishupala ___ Chandrakant 2001/09 178 I Raman of Tenali Kamala Ram Waeerker 1978"" "2002/07"'" Historical Hindu Old Title New Writers Artists Origi Date of re- Category Religion Title Title No nat released No Issue issue Date | ! Chandrakant ! 179 | Paurava and 640 Subba Rao Souren Roy 1978 n/a folktale/ Hindu ! Alexander myth 180 Indra and Shibi 524 Anant Pai? HS Chavan/Dilip 1978 2001/07 Myth Hindu Kadam 181 Guru Hargobind n/a GS Mansukhani Devender 1979 n/a History Sikh 182 The Battle For n/a Lt Col. MG Ram Waeerkar 1979 n/a History multi Shrinagar Abhyankar 183 Rana Khumbha 676 Jagjit Uppal HS Chavan and 1979 2002/04 History Hindu Dilip Kadam 184 and Uttanka - 652 Kamala Ram Waeerkar 1979 2004/01 Myth Hindu Tales From The Chandrakant Mahabharata to 185 Hiiopadesha - How 620 editorial team Ashok Dongre 1979 2002/02 Folktale Hindu Friends Are Parted 186 firuppan and n/a Subba Rao S Nageswara 1979 n/a History Hindu | I Kanakadasa Rao 187 ! Tipu Sultan n/a Subba Rao GR Naik 1979 n/a History Muslim 188 | Babasaheb "611 " SS Rege Dilip Kadam 1979 1999/09 history— Dalit I Ambedkar bio 189 | fhugsen n/a ^Ra.mejjyyiudjiolkar Ram Waeerkar 1979 nla Folktale Hindu 190 | Kannappa n/a TD Rosario __CM_Vitan_kar T979 n/a Historical Hindu 191 I The King In A n/a editorial team Pradeep Sathe 1979 n/a Folktale? ? " Parrot's Body 192 Ranadhira n/a Subba Rao Pradeep Sathe 1979 n/a Historical Hindu ? 193 Kapala Kundala 720 Debrani Mitra Souren Roy; 1979 2004/06 ne" literature Hindu cover Pratap Mulick 194 | GopalandThe 641 Gayatri Madan Dutt Ram Waeerkar 1979~ "2002/62 folktale Hindu I Cowherd 195 Jataka Tales - 553 Kamala Chandrakant 1979 2002/02 folktale Buddhist Old : Title New Writers Artists Origi Date of re- Category Religion Title Title No nal released No i Issue issue I Date Jackal Stories Chandrakant Rane 196 Hothal n/a Bharati Vyas Dilip Kadam 1979 n/a folktale Hindu 197 The Rainbow n/a Swapna Datta and CM Vitankar 1979 n/a folktale Hindu Prince Subba Rao 198 Tales of Arjuna 525 lopamudra (Kamala CM Vitankar 1979 2001/12 myth Hindu Chandrakant?) 199 1 Chandralalat 719 Kamala Ram Waeerkar 1979 * folktale Hindu 1 Chandrakant 200 ; Akbar 603 Toni Patel Souren Roy 1979 2003/11 history/ Muslim bio 201 and 702 Subba Rao PB Kavadi 1979 2004/01 myth Hindu Other Tales From The Upanishads 202 Kalidasa 600 Yagya Sharma Dilip Kadam 1979 ! 2003/09 literature Hindu 203 Jayadratha 653 Subba Rao Ram Waeerkar 1979 T2004/01 myth Hindu 204 Shah Jahan 642 Coomi Chinoy Souren Roy 1979 2002/07 history Muslim 205 Ratnavali 643 Subba Rao Pratap Mulick 1980 2001/06 literature Hindu Jayaprakash 693 Pushpa Bharati CM Vitankar 1980 1999/07 history Hindu Narayan 207 Mahiravana j526[ Meera Ugra Ram Waeerkar 1980 1999/07 myth Hindu 208 Jayadeva n/a Hah P Vaswani Souren Roy '"'T980 literature Hindu 2()g 644 Gandhari Gayatri madan Dutt Dilip Kadam ____1980_ 2004/01 myth Hindu 210 Birbal The Clever 558 Meera Ugra Ram Waeerkar 2000/07 historical/ Muslim/ ___. folktale^ Hindu The Celestial 711 Toni Patel Dilip Kadam 1980 2002/12 myth Jain JjyeqWace J212 \. Ba^avesl™/ara^ SubJbaRaq GRNaik l98¥ history Hindu "213 IVeluThampi n/a Radha Nair Ml Mohan Das 1980 n/a ?historica Hindu I 214 Bheema and Lopamudra MN Nangare 1980 1994; myth Hindu Hanuman (Kamala 2002/03 Chandrakant) Old i Title New Writers Artists Origi Date of re- Category Religion Title : Title No nal released No Issue issue i Date 215 I Panna and Hadi 687 Meera Ugra and Dilip Kadam 1980 1999/04 historical/ Hindu/ Rani Dinanath Dube Lit Muslim 216 Rani Abbakka n/a Subba Rao MK Basha 1980 n/a historical Hindu 217 Sukhu and Dukhu n/a Swapna Dutta Dilip Kadam 1980 n/a folktale Hindu 218 Jataka Tales - The 574 Meera Ugra Ram Waeerkar 1980 2002/01 folktale Buddhist Magic Chant 219 Lokmanya Tilak 645 Indu J Tilak Dilip Kadam 1980 2001/05 history Hindu 220 , Kumbhakarana 528 Subba Rao and Ram Waeerkar 1980 2002/05 myth Hindu Nandini Das 221 658 Kamala Souren Roy 1980 2001/07 history Muslim Chandrakant 222 j Samarth Ramdas n/a SS Apte and Dilip Kadam 1980 n/a history Hindu Gayatri Madan Datt 4^ 223 1 Baladitya and 717 Kamlesh Pandey Dilip Kadam 1980 * myth Hindu \ Yashodharma I 224 1 Jataka Tales- 619 Lopamudra Ashok Dongre 1980 2001/12 folktale Buddhist ' I Nandivishala (Kamala Chandrakant)^ ! 225 Tales of Sai Baba 601 Shobha Ganguly CM Vitanker T98CT 2001707" historical Hindu 226 Raman The 581 Subba Rao Ram Waeerkar 1980 2003/09 Folklore Hindu Matchless Wit 227 Sadhu Vaswani n/a Hari P Vaswani Dilip Kadam 1980 n/a historical Hindu 228 Birbal To The 618 Meera ligra Ram Waeerkar 1980 2604/01 historical/ Muslim/ Rescue folktale Hindu 229 ShankarDev n/a SS Apte and Souren Roy 1980 n/a Hindu Gayatri Madan Datt 230 Hemu n/a Jagjit Uppal Dilip Kadam 1980 n/a history Hindu/ Muslim 231 : Bahubali 683 Subba Rao Dilip Kadam 1980 * history Jain 232 i Dara Shukoh and n/a Coomi Chinoy Ram Waeerkar 1980 n/a history Muslim Aurangzeb 233 Panchatantra - The 585 Kamala Pradeep Sathe 1981 2001/10 folktale Hindu Old i Title New Writers Artists Origi Date of re- Category Religion Title .' Title No nal released No . Issue issue Date 1 Dullard and Other Chandrakant I Stories 234 Bhagat Singh 608 Rajinder Singh Raj Dilip Kadam 1981 2002/06 history— Hindu/ and Subba Rao bio Sikh 235 1 The Adventures of 716 Shanti Dilip Kadam 1981 2002 Lit/ myth Jain Agad Datta Motichandra 236 Bahman Shah n/a Meera Ugra Dilip Kadam n/a history Muslim 237 Gopal The Jester 584 Urmila Sinha Souren Roy 1981 1999/06 folktale Hindu 238 Friends and Foes - 609 Luis M Fernandes M Mohandas 1981 2002/02 Folklore Hindu ; Animal Tales From The Mahabharata 239 Hakka and Bukka n/a Subba Rao K Chandranath 1981 n/a history Hindu £ 240 Sahasramalla n/a Luis M Fernandes Ram Waeerkar 1981 n/a folktale Jain °> 241 Balban n/a Coomi Chinoy Dilip Kadam 1981 n/a history Muslim 242 Panchatantra - 561 Luis M. Fernandes M. Mohandas 1981 2001/04 folktale Hindu Crows and Owls 243 715 Chakravarti S Nageswara 1981 * historical Hindu Anantachar Rao 244 The Pandavas In 593 Subba Rao Ram Waeerkar 1981 2001/04 myth Hindu I Hiding 245 | Tyagaraj n/a Dr G Krishnamurthi GR Naik 1981 n/a historical Hindu 246 I Jataka Tales - The 575 Subba Rao Chandrakant D. 1981 2002/01 folktale Buddhist ! Giant and The Rane | Dwarf 247 Jataka Tales - 586 Luis Fernandes Dilip Kadam 1981 2002/10 folktale Buddhist I Stores of Wisdom 248 Bidhi Chand n/a Rajinder Singh Raj Ram Waeerkar 1981 n/a history Sikh and "editorial team" 249 ! The Learned 662 Gayatri Madan Datt Anuradha 1981 2003/06 folktale Hindu \ Pandit - Tales Told Vaidhya By Sri Ramakrishna Old Title New | Writers Artists Origi Date of re- Category Religion Title Title No ! nal released No Issue issue i Date 251 Adventures of | 651 Luis Fernandes Souren Roy 1981 2002/02 folktale Hindu Baddu and Chhotu and Rupa Gupta 252 Karttikeya 529 j Pradip CM Vitankar 2004/04 ne myth Hindu Bhattacharya and 1976 Meera Ugra 253 The Golden 670 Luis M Fernandes Pratap Mulick 1982 2004/01 folktale Hindu Mongoose 254 Hanuman To The 513 Luis M. Fernandes Ram Waeerkar 1982 2004/04 ne myth Hindu Rescue 255 Mystery of The n/a Subba Rao and Dr Ram Waeerkar 1982 n/a ? ? Missing Gifts Chandrashekhar Kumar 256 \ Sakhi Sarwar n/a j Gayatri Madan Datt Dilip Kadam 1982 n/a folktales Hindu/ 0\ Muslim 257 I The Queen's 714 Luis M Fernandes Souren Roy 1982 2002 folktale Buddhist Necklace and GR Kamath 258 The Secret of The n/a Subba Rao Dilip Kadam 1982 n/a ? Talking Bird 259 The Miraculous n/a Luis M Fernandes Ram Waeerkar 1982 j n/a ? Hindu? , Conch 260 | Sri Ramakrishna 595 Gayatri Madan Dutt Souren Roy 1982 I 1995; literature Hindu 2003/10 713 Indira Ram Waeerkar 1982 folktale """ Hindu Disciples Anantakrishnan and Pratibha NG 262 I Rash Behari Bose | 721 Prof Satyavrata Souren Roy 1982 history/ Hindu Ghosh and Luis M bio Fernandes 263 J The Prince and n/a Luis M Fernandes Ram Waeerkar 1982 I n/a I 77?e Magician 264 ;Jataka Tales-The 617 Meera Ugra MN Nangare 1982 2001/12 folktale Buddhist \ Hidden Treasure Old Title New ! Writers ! Artists 1 Origi Date of re- Category : Religion Title Title No i [ nal released i No : Issue issue Date 265 ! Echchama The n/a Luis M Fernandes | MN Nangare j 1982 n/a ? Hindu Brave and RS Ramarao 266 Manduka - The n/a Luis M Fernandes MN Nangare j 1982 n/a ? Hindu Lucky Astrologer I 267 The'Pandl'a^nd 646 Gayatri Madan Dutt Pratap Mulick 1982 2002/02 folktale Hindu The Milkmaid and Other Tales Told By Ramakrishna 268 Tales of Shivaji 597 Subba Rao Dilip Kadam 1982 * history Hindu 269 Jataka Tales - The 576 Subba Rao Chandrakant D. 1982 2000/07 folktale Buddhist Mouse Merchant Rane 270 The Tiger-Eater 707 Subba Rao Ram Waeerkar 1982 2001/09 folktale Hindu and Other Stories 271 Lai Bahadur 647 ! Vibha Ghai Dilip Kadam 1982 1997/10 history Hindu Shastri 272 Andher Nagari n/a Meera Ugra, Luis Dilip Kadam | 1982 n/a Literature Hindu? Fernandes, and ? SudjhaNjleswar The Churning of 538 Toni Patel Dilip Kadem '. 1982 myth Hindu

The Ocean __._„ 274 Kesari The Flying Kamala Dilip Kadem ! 1982 "2000/06" Lit/ myth Jain Thief Chandrakant _____ 27b Subramania 708 jKai'vi ~ Dilip Kadam j 1982 2001/09 folktale/ Hindu Bharati ; Gopalakrishnan & history I Luis M Fernandes 276 Animal Tales From n/a Luis M Fernandes i Ram Waeerkar 1983 n/a Folklore ? Arunachal Pradesh 277 Jataka tales - 616 Luis M Fernandes | Ram Waeerkar 1983 2002/01 folktale Buddhist Tales of Misers 278 ! Bimbisara 688 H Atmaram | Ram Waeerkar 1983 * historical Hindu/ Buddhist 279 i Jataka Tales - Bird I 573 Kamala \ Ashok Dongre 1983 2001/10 folktale Buddhist Old Title New Writers Artists Origi Date of re- Category Religion Title Title No nal released No Issue issue Date 1 Stories Chandrakant ! 280 Kumanan n/a H Atmaram and Dilip Kadam 1983 n/a ? Hindu Nadodi 281 Shunashepa n/a H Atmaram Dilip Kadam 1983 n/a Myth Hindu 282 The Taming of n/a BS Kurkal Dilip Kadam 1983 n/a historical Hindu Gulla ? 283 Jagannatha of Puri 709 Gayatri Madan Dutt Souren Roy 1983 2003/12 myth/ Hindu legend 284 Albert Einstein n/a Venugopal Souren Roy 1983 n/a historical Jewish 285 Joymati n/a Bandita Phukan Souren Roy 1983 n/a history Hindu and Subba Rao 286 | Thanedar Hasan n/a Gaur Ram Waeerkar 1983 n/a history Muslim Askari 00 287 ; The Pious Cat and n/a Toni Patel Ram Waeerkar 1983 n/a Folklore ? Other Tales 288 j Bikal The Terrible - 667 Meera Ugra and Dilip Kadam 1983 2002/02 Folk tale Hindu \ Folktales From Luis M Femandes \ Madhya Pradesh 289 The Elusive Kaka n/a BS Kurkal Ram Waeerkar T983 n/a ? '"f"~ " ' 290 Ramana Maharshi 628 Gayatri Madan Dutt GR Naik 1983 ~2b04/08~ historical/ Hindu bio 291 I The Prophecy n/a Kamala Ram Waeerkar 1983 n/a ""?""" "" ? ~" Chandrakant 292 | Chokhamela n/a Kamala Dilip Kadam 1983 " n/a historical Dalit "• Chandrakant 293 | BeniMadho n/a Rajanikant Verma Ram Waeerkar 1983 n/a historical Hindu iJGIimpses of 1857) and Meera Ugra 294 | Durgesh Nandini n/a Debrani Mitra and Souren Roy "T983" n/a literary Hindu Meera Ugra 295 Guru Arjan n/a Rajinder Singh Raj Dilip Kadam rT983~ n/a history 296 Mahamati n/a Meera Ugra Dilip Kadam 1983" n/a historical Hindu Prannath Old Title New Writers Artists Origi Date of re- Category Religion Title , Title No nal released No j Issue issue i Date 297 | The Lost Prince n/a Appaswami (?) and Dilip Kadam 1983 n/a folktale Buddhist Subba Rao 298 Damaji Pant and n/a Meera Ugra Dilip Kadam 1983 n/a historical Hindu Narahari 299 The Silent Teacher n/a Subba Rao Souren Roy 1983 n/a ? ? 300 The Historic City of 696 Luis M Fernandes Arvind Mandrekar 1983 2000/02 historical multi Delhi 301 689 Luis M Fernandes Ram Waeerkar 1984 2004/01 myth Hindu 302 Dhola and Maru n/a Gayatri Madan Datt Dilip Kadam 1984 n/a folktale Hindu 303 Senapati Bapat n/a Gayatri Madan Datt GR Naik 1984 n/a historical Hindu 304 Dr. Kotnis n/a Padmini Rao Souren Roy 1984 n/a history Hindu? Banerjee 305 Ravana Humbled 610 A Saraswati Ram Waeerkar 1984 2003 Myth Hindu ^o 306 Yellapragada n/a R Anand Souren Roy 1984 n/a Historical Hindu Subbarow 307 The Bridegroom's n/a Subba Rao Ashok Dongre 1984 n/a ? ? Ring 308 andhaka 712 Gayatri Madan Datt Ram Waeerkar 1984 2004/66 Myth Hindu 309 Veer Savarkar 678 Subba Rao Ram Waeerkar 1984 1998/12 History Hindu 310 I The True n/a Subba Rao Dilip Kadam 1984 n/a Folktales Buddhist j | Conqueror and I Other Buddhist i Tales 311 | Kunwar Singh n/a Rajender Sanjay Souren Roy 1984 n/a Historical Hindu? (Glimpses of 1857) andIjSubba Rao 312 ; Tales of Balarama 654 Meera Ugra Ram Waeerkar 1984 2001/097ZI Myth Hindu 313 , Shantala' n/a Gayatri Madan Datt Souren Roy 1984 n/a Historical Jain ? ______••££j£fiaj. •_--• 668" Gayatri Madan Dutt Dilip Kadam 1984" 2001/08 Buddhist Buddhist Tales

315 The Golden Sand n/a Dr Kashiraj Dilip Kadam 1984 n/a Upadhuaya New Writers Origi Date of re- Category Religion Title No nal released Issue issue Date n/a Editorial Team w Ram Waeerkar | 1984 n/a myth Hindu material from Lalita Kodikal n/a Subba Rao Souren Roy 1984 n/a historical Hindu The Cowherd of 671 Subba Rao Dilip Kadam 1984 * folktale Buddhist Alawi 319 Ashvini Kumars - 669 DrWGangal Dilip Kadam 1984 * myth Hindu Tales From The Vedas (Orig. Ashwins To The Rescue) 320 Chandrapeeda \ n/a Gayatri Madan Datt Dilip Kadam 1984 n/a ?history ?Hindu o 321 The Green Demon ! n/a kamala Ram Waeerkar 1984 n/a o Chandrakant 322 \Shrenik-Jain Tales 730 Dilip Kadam 1984 * folktale Jain 323 | Samudra Gupta 648 Kamala Souren Roy 1984 2001/06 history Hindu Chandrakant 324 I Nahusha 695 Gayatr[Madan Dutt Ram Waeerkar 1984 myth Hindu ____ * 325 Jagdish Chandra GR Kamathand " Souren Roy 1985 history Hindu Bose J-uis Fernandes ~326~ Tales, of Avyaiyaar n/a Gayatr[ Madan Datt GRNajk 1985 n/a ?history ?Hindu 1 327 Tapati n/a gayatri Madan Datt IDilipJKadam — 1985 n/a ?Hindu j ^328 Rajbala_ n/a GjyatrTP^ ^3...1 Souren Roy 1985 n/a 329" Mahabharata I n/a Kamala Dilip Kadam 1985 n/a myth Hindu Veda Chandrakant and

TMP Nedungad^ _ „.„„ 30 yjdyut Chora n/a Luis M Fernandes Ram Waeerkar n/a ?folktale I Hindu 331 Mahabharata 2 n/a Kamala Dilip Kadam "T1985 n/a myth Hindu Chandrakant and TMP Nedungadi 332 ; Birbal The Genius \ 587 Dev Nadkarni Ram Waeerkar | 1985 2002/07 historical/ Muslim/ folktale Hindu 401

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372 Panchatantra - The 583 Shobha Rao VBHalbe 1987 2001/09 folktale Hindu Greedy Mother-ln- Law 372 n/a ! 1987 n/a history HinduA Destiny^ 373 Mahabharata 23 - n/a Sumona Roy Dilip Kadam Hi 987" n/a myth Hindu Duryodhana Humbled gy 374 Hamsavali n/a Lakshmi Lai Ram Waeerkar 1g n/a literary JHindu 375 Mahabharata 24 n/a Sumona Roy Dilip Kadam 1987 n/a myth Hindu Old Title New Writers Artists ! Origi Date of re- Category Religion Tit!* Title No j nal released No • Issue . issue : Date 376 Lila and Chanesar n/a Kamala Ram Waeerkar | 1987 n/a history Hindu Chandrakant 377 Mahabharata 25 n/a Sumona Roy Dilip Kadam | 1987 n/a myth Hindu 378 Shringabhuja n/a lakshmi Lai Ram Waeerkar I 1987 n/a folktale Hindu 379 Mahabharata 26 n/a Sumona Roy Dilip Kadam 1987 n/a myth Hindu 380 Padmavati n/a Kamala Dilip Kadam 1987 | n/a Myth? Hindu Chandrakant 381 Mahabharata 27 n/a Sumona Roy Dilip Kadam 1987 n/a Myth [Hindu 382 Ghanshyam Das 733 Yagya Sharma ramanand 1987 historical I Hindu Biria Bhagat 383 Mahabharata 28 n/a Mohan Dilip Kadam 1987 I n/a Myth Hindu Swaminathan o 384 Megasthenes 722 Shubha Khandekar Ram Waeerkar 1987 history other 385 Mahabharata 29 n/a Mohan Dilip Kadam 1987 n/a Myth Hindu Swaminathan 386 Fa Hien 680 Shubha Khandekar Ram Waeerkar 1987 | 1999/01 history Buddhist 387 Mahabharata 30 n/a Mohan Dilip Kadam 1987 I n/a Myth Hindu Swaminathan 388 Sundarasena n/a Lakshmi Lai Pratap Mulick 1987 n/a folktale Hindu 389 Mahabharata 31 n/a Shubha Khandekar Ram Waeerkar 1987 n/a Myth Hindu 390 Hiuen Tsang 691 Shubha Khandekar Ram Waeerkar 1987 history Buddhist 391 Mahabharata 32 n/a Shubha Khandekar Dilip Kadam 1987 n/a 'Myth Hindu 392 Tales From The 649 Dev Nadkami Souren Roy 1987 2001/04 Myth Hindu Upanishads 393 Mahabharata 33 n/a Shubha Khandekar Dilip Kadam "T 1987 ! n/a Myth Hindu 394 Pulakeshi n/a Gayatri Madan Datt Souren Roy 1987 * n/a historical Hindu 395 Mahabharata 34 n/a Shubha Khandekar Dilip Kadam 1987 n/a MythI I Hindu 396 Ellora Caves -The 731 H Atmaram Ramanand 1988 * historical ! Hindu Glory of The Bhagat Rashtrakootas 397 Mahabharata 35 n/a staff pilipJKadam ! 1988 n/a Hindu Old Title New Writers Artists j Origi Date of re- Category Religion Title Title No ; nal released No , Issue issue : Date 398 Chennamma of n/a Gayatri Madan Datt Souren Roy 1988 n/a historic Hindu Keladi 399 Mahabharata 36 n/a Margie Sastry Dilip Kadam 1988 n/a Myth Hindu 400 The Deadly Feast - 665 Yagya Sharma Ram Waeerkar 1988 2000/01 folktale Buddhist A Jataka Tale 401 Ajatashatru 660 Subba Rao ? * historical Hindu 402 Mahabharata 37 n/a Margie Sastry Dilip Kadam 1988 n/a Myth Hindu 403 Narayana Guru n/a Gayatri Madan Datt Ramanand , 1988 n/a historical Hindu Bhagat 404 Mahabharata 38 n/a Margie Sastry Dilip Kadam | 1988 n/a Myth Hindu

405 Prince Jivaka n/a Gayatri Madan Datt Souren Roy | 1988 n/a historical/ Buddhist/ -p- © folktale Jain 406 Mahabharata 39 n/a Margie Sastry Dilip Kadam 1988 n/a Myth Hindu 407 Kohinoor n/a GV Kamat and Souren Roy 1988 n/a historic multi | Gayatri Madan datt 408 Mahabharata 40 n/a Margie Sastry Dilip Kadam 1988 n/a Myth Hindu 409 Mahabharata 41 n/a Margie Sastry Dilip Kadam 1988 n/a Myth Hindu 410 Kanwal and Kehar n/a Lakshmi Kumari Souren Roy ! 1988 n/a _____ Chundawat 411 Mahabharata 42 n/a Margie Sastry Dilip Kadam ! 1988 n/a Myth Hindu The Celestial Reunion 412 Roopmati n/a Jagjit Uppal W 1988 n/a historical Hindu/ Sahasrabudhe ? Muslim -gg- 413 Bhagawat Purana n/a Margie Sastry Dilip Kadam 19 n/a Hindu 1- Krishna Darling Myth ofGokul 414 Mahatma Gandhi - "650" Gayatri Madan Souren Roy I 1989 2002/06 Hindu The Early Days Dutt; revised by history Prof. CN Patel 415 Bhagawat Purana n/a Margie Sastry Dilip Kadam | 1989 n/a Myth Hindu Old Title New Writers Artists I Origi Date of re­ Category J Religion Title j Title No nal released No j Issue issue Date i 2 416 j Mahatma Gandhi n/a Gayatri Madan Datt Souren Roy Hindu \ 2: The Father of 1 The Nation 417 i Bhagawat Purana n/a Margie Sastry Dilip Kadam Hindu I 3 418 | The French n/a Gayatri Madan Datt Souren Roy Christian Revolution 419 Bhagawat Purana n/a Margie Sastry Dilip Kadam Hindu 4 420 The Inimitable 580 Margie Sastry Ram Waeerkar ! Birbal o4^ 421 1 Bhagawat Purana n/a Margie Sastry Dilip Kadam ON 1 5 422 ! Louis Pasteur n/a Margie Sastry Dilip Kadam 423 Bhagawat Purana n/a Margie Sastry Dilip Kadam 6 424 77?e C/ei/er Dancer n/a Jagjit Ujspal Madhu^PqwIe 425 Bhagawat Purana n/a Margie Sastry Dilip Kadam 7 426 Jafa/ra Ta/es - True 614 Margie Sastry WHalbeT Friends _____ 427 Bhagawat Purana n/a Margie Sastry Dilip Kadam _8__ 428 5 Napoleon n/a H Atmaram Souren Roy | Bonaparte 429 ' Bhagawat Purana n/a Margie Sastry Dilip Kadam 1 9 430 [ An Exciting Find n/a Yagya Sharma Yusuf Bangalqrewalla 431 i Jataka Tales - 615 Margie Sastry CD Rane Stories of Courage Old Title New Writers Artists Origi Date of re- Category Religion Title Title No nal released No Issue issue Date 432 Indus Valley n/a Yagya Sharma Ramanand * n/a Historical Hindu- Adventure Bhagat Vedic 433 The Quick-Wltted 602 Margie Sastry Ram Waeerkar 1991 1997/02 Historical/ Muslim/ Birbal folktale Hindu 434 The Chosen n/a Margie Sastry Souren Roy 1991 n/a ? ? Bridegroom 435 Pierre and Marie n/a Margie Sastry Souren Roy 1991 n/a Historical Christian Curie 436 700 Margie Sastry Yusuf 1991 1999/11 History Hindu Bangalorewalla * Swami 679 * * History Hindu Pranavananda -&> Swami 732 Margie Sastry Dilip Kadam 2004 Historical Hindu -j Chinmayananda JRD Tata - The 735 Margie Sastry Souren Roy 2004 history/ Parsi Quiet Conqueror bio Kalpana Chawla 736 Margie Sastry 2005 History Hindu Jamsetji Tata -The 737 Yagya Sharma * History parsi Man Who Saw Tomorrow

Special ed tions, buiripe r editions, and ccElection s f he Story of The 10 History Hindu Freedom Struggle Stories of Krishna 1001 i Myth Hindu Stories of Birbal 1002 Historical/ Muslim/ folktale Hindu Stories From The 1003 Folktales Buddhist Jatakas Stories From The 1004 Folktales Hindu Panchatantra Stories of Rama 1005 Myth Hindu Old j Title New • Writers , Artists Origi Date of re- Category Religion Title ! Title No ! nal : released No ' I Issue , issue i • Date ! Tales of Humour 1006 | folktales More Stories From 1007 Folktale Buddhist The Jatakas Stories of Shiva 1008 Myth Hindu Devotees of Vishnu 1009 I Myth Hindu Heroes From The 1010 Myth Hindu Mahabharata Great Sanskrit 1011 Literature Hindu Plays Great Indian 1012 History Muslim/ Emperors Hindu | Vishnu The 1013 | Myth Hindu o Saviour 00 Ranas of Mewar 1014 History Hindu Tales From The 1015 Folktales Hindu Hitopadesha Ramayana 10001 Myth Hindu Das Avatar 10002 Myth Hindu Jesus Christ 10003 History/ Christian myth Tales From The 10004 Folktales Hindu Panchatantra - - - — Tales From The 10005 Folktales Buddhist"" Jatakas Tales From 10006 "Myth""" Hindu Hanuman Tales of Birbal 10007 History/f Hindu/ olktales Muslim More Tales of 10008 Folktales Hindu/ Birbal Muslim

Tales of Krishna 10009 „ „.„... , _ ._ ~ _„ myth Hindu \ Great Plays of 10010 literature Hindu Old , Title New . Writers Artists Origi Date of re- Category Religion Title j Title No : nal released i No J i Issue • issue 1 ; Date i Kalidasa |i I \ Great Sanskrit 10011 S literature Hindu I Plays 1 Great Indian 10012 history Emperors Vishnu The 10013 myth Hindu Saviour ; Ranas of Mewar 10014 . : : : ::: ; : ::: history Hindu | Tales From The 10015 | folktales Hindu Hitopadesha Matchless Wits- 10016 folktales Hindu Tenali Raman and o Gopal v© More Tales Form 10017 folktales Buddhist The Jatakas Adventures of 10018 myth Hindu , Krishna \ Tales of The 10019 myth Hindu Mother Goddess - -- - Vishnu To The 10020 myth Hindu Rescue \ More Tales From 10021 folktales Hindu The Panchatantra Buddhist Tales 10022 folktales Buddhist \ More Buddhist 10023 folktales Buddhist Tales 1 The Sons of Shiva 10024 myth Hindu Tales Told By Sri 10025 folktales Hindu Ramakrishna Further Tales From 10026 I folktale Buddhist The Jatakas The Sons of The 10027 myth Hindu Old Title New i Writers Artists '• Origi Date of re- Category Religion Title Title No • nal released No ; Issue issue i Date Pandavas Bengali Classics 10028 I literature Hindu The Three Gurus 10029 I Hindu Funny Folktales 10030 folktales Yet More Tales 10031 folktales Buddhist From The Jatakas The Great Hindi 10032 historical Hindu Poets Shivaji- The Great 10033 I historical Hindu Maratha

4^ O Appendix C: Interviews, dates, and locations

a) Key informant interviews

Name Occupation Date or Interview 1 .ucation of Inter* ie\s 1. Anant Pai Editor of Amar Chitra October 14th, 2004 Mumbai Katha series

2. Padmini Publisher, India Book October 15th, 2004 Mumbai Mirchandani House

3. Rajeev Novelist ^ugustll^ctober via email, several Balasubramanyam* 14th, 2006 communications

*I have also included Rajeev in the table below, as he completed the interview questions I prepared for the ACK readers as well as participating in an more extended interview with me. Appendix C b) Anonymous interviews with ACK readers (all names are pseudonymous except where indicated by *)

Nil mi- Intervie Interview 1. 2. 3. grew up 4. 7. self- 8. self- 11.self- wdate location age occupation currently identified identified identified resides "ethnic "religious "nation- group" group" ality"

Abhineet Feb. Via email 26 Television Vancouver Vancouver South More Sikh Canadian 23rd. producer/ Asian of than 2006 editor Fijian/ Hindu, but Indian a mixture Origin Akaash Oct. Bangalore 27 student/ Kalicut Bangalore Malayan Hindu Indian researcher 2004 Chandra Feb. Via email 28 Investment Reading, PA New York Indian- Hindu American -shekar 20th. Banker American 2006

Deb- Sept. Bangalore 29 grad student Calcutta Bangalore Bengali No Indian/ ashish 23rd, Bengali 2004 Hema Mar. Toronto 33 Professor Indian - Toronto/ Indian "A little bit Indian 28th, Assam California Hindu" 2006

Jagdish July Via email 28 Student London, UK London, Bengali Hindu, British 20tfi, UK "kind of 2007 Madhavi Oct. Bangalore 24 grad student Bangalore Bangalore Hindu Indian 4th, 2004 Niiim- Intervie Interview 1. 2. 3. grew up 4. 7. self- 8. self- 11. self- wdate location age occupation currently identified identified identified resides "ethnic "religious "nation­ group" group"' ality" Manu Mar. Via email 38 Conference Hamilton/ Toronto South Atheist Canadian/ ~nd Interpreter Toronto Asian from South 2006 Hindu Asian Family Nagalam Sept. Bangalore 24 Grad Shikaripura, Bangalore Hindu, Indian ba 30th, student Karnataka Lingayat/ 2004 Shaiva

Nandini Sept. Bangalore 26 Grad Assam Bangalore Assamese Hindu Indian 30*, student 2004

Nirad Sept. Bangalore 24 Grad Ahmed- Bangalore Gujarati No Indian 4^ i—* ootid student abad; boarding 2004 schools around India Pramod Aug. Toronto 34 Grad Toronto Toronto South Hindu 4th, Student Asian/ 2006 Indian Aug. Via email 31 Novelist UK UK No Sort of "Brit" 13* Hindu 2006 If ! Renu Mar. Toronto 30 Community Edmonton Toronto South Spiritual Canadian «nd Activist Asian 2006 Sameer May Toronto 34 Grad Calcutta, Toronto South Nominally "Grudging 6th, Student Vancouver Asian/ Hindu -ly 2006 Bengali- Canadian" Canadian Nairn- Intervie Interview 1. 2. 3. grew up 4. 7. self- 8. self- 11. self- wdate location age occupation currently identified identified identified resides '"'ethnic ''religious "nation­ group" group" ality"

Srinivas Dec Jakarta 16 Student Jakarta Jakarta/ Indian Hindu Indian 12th, US 2004 Susan Sept. Bangalore 24 Grad Kochin Bangalore Syrian Indian 30th, student Christian 2004 Swapna July Toronto 31 Community Toronto Toronto Punjabi Hindu Canadian ~rd Activist 2007 Tanushri Oct. Bangalore 32 Media Re­ Andhra Bangalore Indian Hindu Indian 1st, searcher Pradesh 2004 Venugop Sept. Bangalore 24 Researcher Siddhipet, Bangalore Hindu, Indian al 29th, Telengana from an 2004 OBC comm Vijaya- Oct. Bangalore 25 Librarian Bangalore Bangalore Kannada Hindu Indian lakshmi 7,h, 2004 415

Appendix D: Interview questions

This is the standardized list of questions which framed each interview I conducted with ACK readers. I also asked follow-up or clarifying questions as I conducted the interviews, either in person, or by email. Each interviewee was asked to sign an informed consent form and/or indicate their consent in writing before the interview proceeded.

"The Route to Your Roots": History, nationalism, and comics in India and South Asian Diasporas

Researcher: Sailaja Krishnamurti, PhD Candidate, York University, Toronto [email protected]

Interviewee (your name will be kept confidential): You can attach your answers on a separate page or document

A: PERSONAL INFORMATION (will not be used to identify you): 1. How old are you? Your gender? 2. What is your occupation? 3. Where did you grow up? 4. Where do you live now? 5. What language(s) do you speak and/or read? 6. What language(s) do your parents/family speak? 7. Would you identify yourself as part of an ethnic group? if so, which? 8. Would you identify yourself as part of any religion or religious group? if so, which? 9. Do you and/or your family regularly participate in any religious service or group? (If yes, please name) 10. How would you describe your childhood in terms of economic class (ie. middle class, working class, etc.)? 416

11. Do you identify with a particular nationality (ie. Indian, British, Canadian)? 12. If you grew up somewhere other than India: a. When was the last time you went to India? b. How often have you been to India? c. Would you ever consider living in India? Why or why not? d. If you can read/speak an Indian language, how did you learn it?

B: EDUCATION 13. In what language were you primarily educated? 14. how far have you pursued your education (degree level)? 15. If you have post-secondary or post-graduate education, in what subjects? 16. Have you ever attended a religious school or other private school, either as part of or in addition to your day-to-day schooling?

C: READING AMAR CHITRA KATHA 17. At what age(s) did you read Amar Chitra Katha comics? 18. Did you collect the comics? if yes, where did you get the comics from? (friends, relatives, local shops, etc.) 19. Which kinds of ACK comics did you most prefer (religion/mythology, folktales, history), and why? 20. Which were your favourite ACK comics, characters, or personages? 21. Have your feelings about ACK changed since your childhood, and if so, how? 22. In your view, was/is ACK useful as a means for learning about India? Why or why not? 23. How would you describe, in your own words, India as it is depicted in Amar Chitra Katha ? 24. I'd like to you think for a minute about the various Amar Chitra Katha comics that you remember the best. What can you recollect about the ways in which they depicted: a. Gender roles and sexuality? b.caste and/or race? c. violence? d.communalism? 417

D: OTHER CHILDREN'S LITERATURE 25. Did you read any other Indian children's magazines or literature( ie. Chandamama, Tinkle)? 26. Did you collect any other comics and if so, which comics did you collect? 27. Did you read other children's books in English? If so, which ones? 28. What was your favourite children's text as a child?

E: HISTORY AND POLITICS

29. In your own opinion, what makes India a "nation"? (characteristics, institutions, structures, people, etc)

30. How would you describe your knowledge of Indian history? 31. Have you studied Indian history in an institutional setting (including primary schooling)? If so, at what level(s)? 32. How would you describe your knowledge of contemporary Indian politics? 33. Have you studied Indian politics in an institutional setting? If so, at what level(s)? 34. Do you follow Indian politics and current events, and if yes, through what media/sources?

35. What do you think are the most prominent political issues in India? 36. What do you think are the biggest social problems in India? 37. Are you involved with any political group(ie. political party, NGO, etc)? 418

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