I am quite saddened to hear about
Pranji’s demise. The character he created defined much of our childhood. Chacha
Chaudhary, Sabu, Pinki, Billoo so on became quite a rage and I recall reading
these keeping between the textbooks in schools or while doing homework…the nostalgia
of time gone by…Lotpot, Champak, Nandan, later Twinkle…the list is long. Unfortunately
for me one of the family friend convinced that these should be read in English
as it will improve English skills, and henceforth they shifted these to English.
I lost the interest, as it didn’t carry the fun that came from reading it in Hindi,
furthermore it didn’t have any exchange value (that is bartering for other
comics with kids around), as nobody wanted English comics.
What was amazing about the man was
that he created these characters when he faced stiff competition from
syndicated well established international brands like Phantom, Mandrake, Superman
so on and marketed it himself. Truly a great man. I was checking how the nation
has honoured him, and find that he was ignored. He deserved atleast a Padma award,
but I realize the manipulative political leaders and their cronies have
consistently degraded these awards as also other institutions. Pranji’s biggest
award is his readers whose childhood he cared for.
