25th Feb 2011-Making a special mention regarding the sudden demise of India's greatest story teller and creator of Amar Chitra Katha Shri Anant Pai, who was reverentially called Uncle Pai, Shri Tarun Vijay, MP and national spokesperson BJP paid rich tributes to him in Raya Sabha today and asked the government to consider his name to award him Bharat Ratna .
The text of Shri Tarun Vijay's special mention in Rajya Sabha is as below-
In the sudden death of Shri Anant Pai last night the country has lost one of the greatest story tellers and children’s dearest uncle. He was the creator of Amar Chitra Katha and Editor of Tinkle, children’s popular magazine. He instilled Indian values in the minds and hearts of new generation through marvelous depiction of India’s glorious heritage and sagas of brave Indian heroes. He was the most beloved and respected uncle of millions of children world wide. He was born in Karakala, Karnataka in 1929 and lost his parents at the age of two. At a Doordarshan quiz contest when he saw children were easily answering questions regarding Greek myths but were unable to answer who was Rama’s mother or who was Shivaji he thought of starting a comic book series devoted to Indian culture. He toured extensively all over India and addressed millions of school children from Kerala to Kashmir. He was also the creator of Partha series of video documentaries which aimed to create self confidence and moral values in the hearts and minds of little kids. An entire Indian generation belonging to every religion, caste and state owe its moral upbringing and introduction to the great past of India’s culture and civilization to the success of Amar Chitra Katha and Uncle Pai’s tireless efforts to bring India back to Indians. He wrote and produced two video films, namely Ekam Sat and The Secret of Success. He wrote books on personality development for children and teenagers. He also created audio books of Amar Chitra Katha. Several Indian leaders including Smt. Indira Gandhi, Shri Rajeev Gandhi, Shri L.K. Advani, Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee deeply accepted Uncle Pai’s stories influence on them. He married Lalita ji from a great Gandhian family of Karachi. He was childless, but had a family of millions children. I request that the government should consider his name for awarding Bharat Ratna.
Shri Tarun Vijay(centre) with Shri Anant Pai and Smt. Lalita Pai
