Pao: The Anthology of Comics 1 Amitabh Kumar, Orijit Sen, Sarnath Banerjee, Vishwajyoti Ghosh & Parismita Singh Penguin India Pages: 299 Rs. 799 An anthology even greater than the sum of its parts The Pao Collective’s first anthology is a landmark for the Indian comic book industry, and offers a thoroughly engaging showcase for some of our finest talents, says Aditya Mani Jha ADITYA MANI JHA 9th Sep 2012 A panel from Hindus and Offal by Ambarish Satwik and Pia Alize Hazarika omics in India have not quite managed to reach a mass audience; that is if the name on the cover is something other than Raj Comics. We're still warming up to the idea that comics can be created specifically for an adult readership, just like their hallowed prose counterparts. Artists and writers have long bemoaned the lack of interest shown by publishers, the preconceived notions and all manner of cultural snobbery which they've had to put up with. Of course, this isn't something which is limited to this country alone, which is the reason why pathbreaking comics anthologies everywhere have tended to be indie efforts, by and large, even self-published in many cases. The Pao Anthology, published recently by bigwigs Penguin India, is hence a big fish in a very small pool. It's heartening to see Penguin throw its weight behind the Pao Collective- a group of five artists 'more or less based in Delhi', comprising of Orijit Sen, Sarnath Banerjee, Amitabh Kumar, Vishwajyoti Ghosh and Parismita Singh. The first-ever Pao anthology has contributions from all of the above, as well as several other writers and artists. The collection begins with Tattoo, written by Lakshmi Indrasimhan and illustrated by Jacob Weinstein. This is a quaint little story which feeds off the personal and social insecurities of the average Indian middle-class man. After reading the story, you might look at the phrase 'wearing your heart on your sleeve' in a completely different way. This is followed up by The Plasmoids, written by fantasy/science fiction author Samit Basu. The Plasmoids is classic science fiction, and in fact, seeks to poke a little fun at the genre itself. The artwork by Orijit Sen is sleek and stunning, with the cover image for the story reminiscent of Charles Burns' full-page sketches in Black Hole. The book loses a bit of steam with Pink, by Salil Chaturvedi and Priya Kuriyan. Pink is the story of an insurance agent who, for unexplained reasons, has transformed into a bird one fine morning. The writing here comes off as somewhat lazy, and the overall effect is a bit underwhelming, despite some lovely, expansive aerial sketches by Kuriyan. Vishwajyoti Ghosh's RSVP, however, turns it right back around, and is one of the highlights of the book. Ghosh's protagonist, Babu Ramnath Biswas is a professional raconteur, an old school storyteller who exploits the bourgeois' penchant for 'ethnic' entertainment. The story is a merciless satire not just on the decadence of the brown sahibs, but also on our collective colonial hangover. Sample this panel, which is an invitation for a Durga Puja storytelling session, "Star attraction of Maha Ashtami, Zeenut with kajrare eyes from Benares. Courtesy, Center for Ethno Studies, Pennsylvania, U.S.A. Bahadur Kahaani Co. & Babu Ramnath Biswas request the favour of Your Highness and Madam's company to Nautches at his residence, 10 P.M. on the occasion of Doorgah Poojah." Print Screen by Sanjay Ghosh and Sleepscapes by Parismita Singh are both very commendable efforts, although one gets the distinct feeling that their true colours will be revealed when their authors complete their full-length versions. (Quite a few entries here are pages from works-in-progress.) This can also be said of Hindus and Offal, the only non-fiction entry in the collection. A history of eating habits (specifically, eating offal) among Hindus in the subcontinent, it is written by vascular surgeon-turned author Ambarish Satwik, whose 2005 book of short fiction Perineum was also similarly transgressive, focusing on " the nether parts of the empire, from Robert Clive's circumcision to Jinnah's last ejaculation". Lavishly drawn by Pia Alize Hazarika, the darkly humorous illustrations are a terrific fit for Satwik's poker-faced commentary. { It’s heartening to see Penguin throw its weight behind the Pao Collective- a group of five artists ‘more or less based in Delhi’, comprising of Orijit Sen, Sarnath Banerjee, Amitabh Kumar, Vishwajyoti Ghosh and Parismita Singh he Afterlife of Ammi's Betelnut Box, written by Iram Ghufran treads what is very much familiar ground for subcontinental English language fiction; a sweeping multi-generational story about an eccentric, lonely matriarch figure, with djinns for company. What raises it well above these banal concerns is Ghufran's unusually gentle humour, and the mystical, freewheeling, painstakingly detailed illustrations by Ikroop Sandhu and Mitoo Das. Indeed, such is the duo's brilliance that in a book chock-a-block with ridiculously talented artists, theirs are the sketches you'll remember. Amitabh Kumar and Raj Comics' Helmetman in Zamzamabad features the Helmetman character previously seen in Raj Comics for the Hard-Headed, his earlier treatise on the genesis and popularity of Raj Comics superheroes like Nagraj. This is perhaps the most solemn story in the collection, reflecting upon how terrorism begets paranoia, among other things. Sarnath Banerjee's Tito Years returns to some of the author's favoured themes, like adolescence, underachieving and the influence of cultural icons. In a particularly hilarious scene, Banerjee describes the little rituals associated with the old-fashioned antenna TV sets thus, "Often fathers had to climb treacherous roofs to turn the antennae around while mothers yelled like pirates in a storm." The collection is rounded off by two longish stories, one by a much-admired veteran, and the other by a pair of rank newcomers. In Chilka, by Vidyun Sabhaney and Shohei Emura, manga meets the Mahabharata effortlessly, as one gets to see the funnier side of the grim battle between cousins. However, it is Orijit Sen's Hair Burns Like Grass which for me was the pick of the anthology. Sen weaves the legends and apocryphal tales surrounding Kabir, (the mystic poet-saint) masterfully around an old man whose memory is failing day by day. Sen is not only a first-rate writer; he is also an extraordinary visual poet. One panel, where a line from Kabir's poetry appears etched in the iron railings of a park, had me absolutely speechless. The best part (or the worst, depending upon your perspective) is that this story is an excerpt from an upcoming longer work, which on current evidence is sure to be a must-read. The Pao Anthology is easily the most significant development in Indian comics in recent years, not just for the sheer talent on display, but also for the ambition and the miscellany of styles and eccentricities incorporated. Now all its creators have to do is to come up with a worthy sequel. Please enable JavaScript to view the comments powered by Disqus. Joomla SEO powered by JoomSEF