Few lovely pages

Last week I happened to visit a book store and while searching for the books on my list, I suddenly saw a heap of comics at a corner. It didn’t even look like new editions but a certain curiosity led me towards them and on the top I saw an old edition of Amar Chitra Katha. I think the story was “Rana Paratap”. I just couldn’t help picking it up and turning the the pages.

While going through the comic, I could find myself going back to my childhood when reading “Amar Chitra Katha” formed a quintessential part of my daily appetite. How the pages with colorful pictures and simple writing kept me engaged for hours on. I could recall how I was the official narrator of Indian mythological and historical tales during family gatherings, thanks to Amar Chitra Katha.

This flashback from the book store back to my childhood was simply refreshing. At the store, eventually I read at least 3-4 stories and needless to say, bought many more.  This also set a train of thought in my mind with effect to the contribution of “ACK” towards building the foundation of moral values and preservation of our heritage amongst the Gen-X.

How enlightened is today’s youngsters about our heritage? What is their source of entertainment and indulgence? They are a generation that is hooked on to the social media and gadgets. Their entertainment start and ends with X-Box and other such gadgets. Even if we forget the presence of “ACK” for a second, do these children actually have time to listen stories on India’s glorious past from their grandmothers? In fact, do they actually have their grandmothers staying with them, thanks to the concept of “nuclear family” that abounds in today’s time?

Herein a conscious effort needs to be made to rejuvenate this attraction towards knowing about our past. And the buck stops at the parents and perhaps the schools. Today’s parents are yesterday’s children and definitely everyone has invariably read “ACK” during their growing years and have imbibed a lot from it. So, what is stopping them from encouraging their children to read “ACK”. This has two distinct advantages - one, children will get to know about the past and secondly, it will develop a reading habit amongst the children.

Even schools can play a role. With an increasing trend of schools deviating from conventional means of teaching to unconventional, audiovisual and interactive ways of providing education, there is a potent scope to make “ACK” a part of curriculum. Visual in nature with simple language and photographs, the story 7 the intended message can be easily conveyed.

ACK is just an example of how simple read can effectively bring forth a willingness to learn our past. I understand that today’s children, thanks to a very tough regimen at school, may not find reading a favourite pastime. Here, technology can be used. After all today’s children / even adults react positively to technology. CDs, widgets can be an alternate to address this gap. In this context, I feel happy to see cartoon films being made on Ramayana, Mahabharata, Bheem, Ganesha etc. but the makers have to be very careful in not transcending the line between edutainment & just entertainment. A plateful of former is required.

The collection of stories, offered by ACK, has covered literally every plethora of India’s glorious past.  Topics, varying from mythological, historical figures, spiritual gurus to our entire struggle for Independence right starting from 1857 revolt, has made known the lives of lesser known or even unknown heroes.  This connects India’s today with India’s yesterday. The stories have made us proud of what was and we attempt at trying to make our present a semblance of our past. It has made us learn the values of bravery, honesty and righteousness.

In an age where computers, i-pods, high end mobiles have got the better of our life and we are simply running away from our life towards chasing ever growing needs, it makes it more important to understand our roots.

Chinese are extremely proud of their heritage. What stops us from doing the same? Only with a foundation, firmly imbibed with the values from our past, can we dream of ever becoming strong in the future.  Its time to rediscover and love our past to create our future.

Image credits -  Google images.
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