I think there is a new AMC out on Kalpana Chawla so maybe AMC is catching up with post 20th century history. Biased, prejudiced or not, AMC was an amazing source of myth and some history as well-My favorite is Tansen and Chandrasekhar Azad and the Birbal stories. Yes, it would be great to see some AMCs about Cholas, Satavahanas, Chalukyas, Hoysalas, Cheras, Pandyas etc and south indian freedom fighters amongst others. The sources and perspective would make a lot of difference. For example, in Sri Lanka, Pandyas and Cholas are known in their history because the northern part of Sri Lanka was constantly either part of or being annexed to be part of South Indian kingdoms. And what about stories that include South Indian Muslim, Jewish and Christian communities-Chemmeen alone won't do. No comics about Salarjung dynasty(the only scion lives in Turkey now) and that fabulous collection.
For me its not just the inadequate recounting of history in comics. What about making history more interactive and accessible? Can you imagine how exciting it would be if you were a tourist in desh and whichever historical monument you went to, there were audio tours? Or even just docents/tour guides--Lal Bagh is a first rate example of how history suffers. Couldn't the city hire tour guides, give them a solid drumming in the the history and ecology of the place? People are not as uninterested as one would think. An architecture student we spoke to in Bangalore said she knew more about Hyde Park than Lalbagh and had never bothered to even ask!!!! Also teachers need to discuss why history is important - its a call to patriotism for sure, but history tells us where we are going to be-contemporary events need to be discussed in the light of past events. I have never had one teacher try to discuss the history of communal demonstrations and marches as a form of freedom of expression and the right to gather!! Grab those 6th graders and get them to write papers, not boring exams, and let them roam free. Middle class India does not know how to gaze critically at itself when it comes to the realms of history and memory(collective or individual). And those two are tied that is why we dare not write a paper on communal demonstration. So much easier just to regurgitate. 2006/2/21, Suresh Ramasubramanian <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>: > Udhay Shankar N wrote: > > Suresh Ramasubramanian wrote: [ on 08:43 PM 2/21/2006 ] > > > >> > Amar Chitra Katha does not have any propoganda? Why do you think all > >> > heros are depicted as light skinned and all the asuras as dark > >> > skinned? Ever wonder why there are an inordinately large percentage of > >> > Rajput chitra kathas? Ever wondered about the favorable depiction of > >> > sati in these books? Last year I re-read some 50-60 of these books and > >> > found the jingoism in many of them nauseating. > >> > > That, however, does not really address Thaths' point(s), does it? > > Well, to start with, Pai is from the konkan.. mangalore, udupi or > someplace similar. That's more or less south indian. > > He started out as a distributor for Phantom, Mandrake etc - the usual DC > and other comics in India. And apparently couldnt find a single indian > comic around. > > A lot of the grist to his mill has been either hindu myth (mostly > "north" centric) and Col. James Tod's "Annals and Antiquities of Rajasthan". > > Precious few south indian stories around that I can see (Kannagi, Tenali > Rama stories etc). > > Hindu myth = places where most heroes are actually described as fair > skinned, with exceptions like Arjuna and Krishna carefully noted. And > even if the central asian etc aryan migration theory doesnt get > accepted, they were on a gradual push southwards which meant that us > "darker" south indian types were either tribals, or "monkeys" > (neanderthal type throwbacks is one theory i've heard), or "rakshasas" > > The rajputs seem to be fairly equally divided between fair and dark > skinned heroes as far as I've seen. > > Sati he treats as a fact of life back then, like a whole lot of other > things. He doesnt gloss over them and nor does he glorify them, that > I've seen. And as far as I've seen his history has been quite > meticulously researched, with a wide variety of what i'd consider fair > sources. > > Porus? If you read the intro / editorial to that particular comic he > does point out that the man was a small time border chieftain, and if he > gave old Alex such a lot of trouble, the other, more powerful emperors > in india proper would have given him lots more grief. I didnt read too > much patriotism into what I remember of his telling of the story. > > Yes there's very little south indian / dark skinned etc content in > there. And ACK publication is more or less just glossy reprints of old > content these days. > > Talk to him sometime - he's still around in bombay and i'm sure he'll be > glad to listen to you, and probably convince you far better than i've done. > > -- Radhika, Y.R. Project Manager, ICSC Centering Women in Reconstruction and Governance International Center for Sustainable Cities Vancouver, BC Ph: 604-666-0061
