Amar Chitra Katha in India

Downloaded by [University of Defence] at 01:53 24 May 2016 Contents 5 i Sculpting a Middle Class Downloaded by [University of Defence] at 01:53 24 May 2016 ii 5 Sculpting a Middle Class Downloaded by [University of Defence] at 01:53 24 May 2016 Contents 5 iii Sculpting a Middle Class History, Masculinity and the Amar Chitra Katha in India Deepa Sreenivas Downloaded by [University of Defence] at 01:53 24 May 2016 LONDON NEW YORK NEW DELHI iv 5 Sculpting a Middle Class First published 2010 by Routledge 912–915 Tolstoy House, 15–17 Tolstoy Marg, New Delhi 110 001 Simultaneously published in the UK by Routledge 2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, OX14 4RN Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business © 2010 Deepa Sreenivas This publication has been supported by Prince Claus Fund. Typeset by Star Compugraphics Private Limited D–156, Second Floor Sector 7, Noida 201 301 Printed and bound in India by Sanat Printers 312, EPIP, Kundli Sonepat 131 028, Haryana All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or utilised in Downloaded by [University of Defence] at 01:53 24 May 2016 any form or by any electronic, mechanical or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any information storage and retrieval system without permission in writing from the publishers. British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data A catalogue record of this book is available from the British Library ISBN: 978-0-415-56310-9 Contents 5 v Contents List of Photographs vii Introduction 1 1. Comics, Scrolls, Frescos and the ‘Chitra Katha’ 43 2. History, Personality and a Pedagogy for the Present 82 3. Disciplinary Nationalism and Masculinity 111 4. The Liberalisation Years: The Theme of Merit 162 Conclusion 184 Bibliography 194 Index 204 Downloaded by [University of Defence] at 01:53 24 May 2016 vi 5 Sculpting a Middle Class Downloaded by [University of Defence] at 01:53 24 May 2016 Contents 5 vii For My Parents Downloaded by [University of Defence] at 01:53 24 May 2016 viii 5 Sculpting a Middle Class List of Photographs 2.1 Krishna on Kaliya 53 2.2 Khilji Hunting 63 2.3 Vishnu and Hayagriva 65 2.4 Dayananada: Cover image 68 2.5 Babasaheb Ambedkar: Cover image 69 2.6 Subhas Chandra Boase: Cover image 70 2.7 Dayananda’s gaze 71 2.8 A muscular Rana 75 2.9 Padmini: The ambivalent sign 78 2.10 Urvashi with companions 79 2.11 Padmini: Ideal Indian womanhood 80 2.12 Khilji’s women 81 4.1 The guru 116 4.2 Chanakya chooses Chandragupta 119 4.3 Chandragupta: The Masculine ideal 120 4.4 The king, the guru, the deity 124 4.5 The modern guru 136 4.6 Har Har Mahadeo! 148 4.7 Ya Allah! 149 4.8 Khilji’s bafflement 160 5.1 From Karna to Kalpana 179 Downloaded by [University of Defence] at 01:53 24 May 2016 Contents 5 ix Acknowledgements When I look back on the process of writing this book, I am struck by the many surprising turns it has taken. Starting out with what I thought was the fairly straightforward task of analysing a set of picture storybooks that I grew up with, I found myself making unexpected connections with the larger and complex worlds that were implicated in the making of these books, and my own cultural self. I could no longer look at the politics and history of these books as an observer; there was a simultaneous uncovering of my deepest beliefs, taken-for- granted responses and ethical perceptions. It has taken some time to bring this book to completion, and I have been lucky to have friends who have sustained this work with their help, encouragement and critical inputs. I cannot adequately express how profoundly this work has been enriched by the friendship and intellectual presence of Susie Tharu, who supervised my doctoral project. She pushed me to think about what it meant to do Cultural Studies in India and to allow the critique of a text to play out against one’s cultural practice and location. She also helped me to shed my reluctance to address the question of the visual, which I was con- vinced was rightfully the domain of those who ‘knew’ art. I began to look at billboards, film posters, and murals on city walls, with a new interest — as embroiled in the life bustling around me! My thanks to Madhava Prasad for his exhaustive comments on my chapters, adding fresh depths to the Post-Nehruvian cultural moment that I was grappling with, and also to my friend R. Srivatsan, for having done some truly insightful work on visual culture, and letting me share that excitement and verve. I can never fully acknowledge Vijaya’s support, seeing me through Downloaded by [University of Defence] at 01:53 24 May 2016 difficult times. Sunita’s friendship has been invaluable. Shefali, now in Chicago, made me feel, in her inimitable way, that distance did not matter if I needed anything at all. I have always relied on my long time friend Manohar’s presence in my life, whether for a book or for sharing angst. Jayasree has been family to Shikha and me during those long stretches of research with no end in sight. I thank Anveshi Research Centre for Women’s studies for providing me with a stimulating intellectual atmosphere and for granting me leave during the final frantic months of wrapping up this book. x 5 Sculpting a Middle Class I would not have grasped the criticality and energy of Amar Chitra Katha (ACK) as a cultural phenomenon if Anant Pai had not graciously spared time to talk to me at length. During those free-wheeling interviews, I began to perceive small but significant connections between the cross-currents of contemporary politics and the histories that ACK aimed to teach us. I thank Amar Chitra Katha Pvt. Ltd. for permission to use visuals from their various issues. I would especially like to note my appreciation for the support extended by Samir Patil. Finally, my thanks to Sreenivas for his constant support, care and involvement with my work. Shikha watched years roll by as I worked on this project, and grew up mostly on her own with remarkable patience and self-sufficiency, occasionally invading my treasured ACKs. I hope some day she will read and enjoy this book! Downloaded by [University of Defence] at 01:53 24 May 2016 Introduction 5 1 5 Introduction Amar Chitra Katha: The Scope of the Problem In 1967 Anant Pai, a young Brahmin journalist from Bombay, launched a series of picture–storybooks for children. Titled Amar Chitra Katha (Immortal Picture Stories), the series retold Indian myths, history, classics, legends and folk tales. Pai had to face some disappointment initially since the sales did not pick up. There are inspiring accounts of him living on a shoestring budget and peddling his books. But like the heroes in his stories, he persevered, bringing out two new issues of Amar Chitra Katha (ACK) every month. By the mid-1970s, ACK had become a household name and was well on its way to making publishing history in India. Bookstalls everywhere — roadside magazine stands, regular bookshops and especially bookstalls in railway stations across the country — were flooded with these picture stories. Attractively produced on newsprint, colourfully illustrated and available at a very reasonable price, these chitrakathas soon became part and parcel of middle-class homes. Neighbourhood circulating libraries often stocked complete sets. A family could place an order with the newsagent and have it delivered every fortnight along with their daily newspaper. Indeed, ACK was often the only children’s reading material that a middle-class family would actually buy. Parents invariably took care to preserve copies and then had Downloaded by [University of Defence] at 01:53 24 May 2016 them bound into what became a sort of children’s encyclopaedia of Indian stories. It was knowledge, history, culture, national pride, recreation — all in an affordable package. Interestingly, though these books were meant for children, many of Pai’s regular readers and most enthusiastic admirers were adults. I grew up in the 1970s, an avid reader of ACK and I can say that this was one time when parental approval coincided with the child’s own enjoyment. I hated history and barely scraped through the 2 5 Sculpting a Middle Class examinations in that subject. It was ACK that taught me many ‘facts’ about India, its history and tradition while I consumed its exciting, vividly illustrated stories. It was ACK that gave me the idea of India that I took for granted as everybody’s idea of the country. Such was its authority that it was only a few years ago, and well into adulthood, that I began to have an inkling that all ‘normal’ Indian children might not, as a matter of routine information, know that Partha is another name for Arjuna. Or indeed that other Indian children might, as a matter of routine information, know all sorts of other things that I knew nothing about. In fact, ACK ‘naturalised’ a certain tradition and made that tradition available not as dead and distant but as alive and adventurous. I have long forgotten much of what my history books taught me, but the knowledge I gained from ACK stays with me. It continues, I feel, to play an important role in my taken-for-granted responses about what is ‘Indian’ and what is not, who is an honourable person and who is not, and so on.

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