AN AMAR BOND

Amar Chitra Katha got Amin Jaffer, international director of Asian art at Christie8217;s, hooked to Indian art and history

Amar Chitra Katha got Amin Jaffer, international director of Asian art at Christie8217;s, hooked to Indian art and history
As a young boy growing up in Rwanda, my only connect with India were the tales my family would narrate from time to time, mostly incidents from Indian history and art. I heard about the Taj Mahal and the mighty Mughals and formed images in my mind, but sincenbsp;my parentsnbsp;too were not first-generation Indians in Rwanda, it was difficultnbsp;fornbsp;me to relate to it completely.

Then one summer, when I was about 14, I visited my aunt in Brussels. I was deeply into reading by then, but at her place, most of the books were in French, a language I did not know. My aunt, who has always been a favourite with me, and has influenced my life greatly, introduced me to the Amar Chitra Kathanbsp;series in Englishnbsp;that she had collected over the years for my cousins, and for the first time, the stories of Indian history and mythology came alive in front of my eyes. Somehow it had so much more meaning and resonance than the imaginary exploits of Batman and Superman, which I had contented myself with for so long.nbsp;

The first thing that captured my imagination was the vivid visuals, and then there were the stories themselves. I was particularly fond of the Ramayana and of course, my old friends, the Mughals. The stories of the former concretised for me all the core human values that my parents would always emphasize upon8212;lessons in loyalty, brotherhood, morality, only it was so much more exciting to find them as part of a larger scheme of things than was apparent to me at that age. As for the Mughals, their heroism captured my imagination as much as their love for beauty and I would keep staring at the rough drawings of forts and monuments that I was only vaguely familiar with earlier. In fact, I was extremely frustrated when I ran out of the books that she had in store and when I returned home after the vacation, I begged my parents to order more for me.nbsp;

In retrospect, it does become apparent now how simplistic it was and how it reinforces stereotypes, but for me it was also what accentuated my desire to study Indian history, a passion which I followed up later in life. Later, in the course of my work at Christie8217;s, I came across the works of Chitra Ganesh, another expat Indian in the US, who uses the Amar Chitra Katha as a leitmotif, assembling the homogenic elements and distilling the artworks with sexual and gender tension and racial issues. It makes you realise how, for my generation of people who grew up in the Seventies outside the country, it acted as a tie between the world that we inhabited and the world we had left behind, teasing out the idiosyncrasies of our own lives.nbsp;

Paromita Chakrabarti

Paromita Chakrabarti is Senior Associate Editor at the The Indian Express. She is a key member of the National Editorial and Opinion desk and writes on books and literature, gender discourse, workplace policies and contemporary socio-cultural trends. Professional Profile With a career spanning over 20 years, her work is characterized by a "deep culture" approach—examining how literature, gender, and social policy intersect with contemporary life. Specialization: Books and publishing, gender discourse (specifically workplace dynamics), and modern socio-cultural trends. Editorial Role: She curates the literary coverage for the paper, overseeing reviews, author profiles, and long-form features on global literary awards. Recent Notable Articles (Late 2025) Her recent writing highlights a blend of literary expertise and sharp social commentary: 1. Literary Coverage & Nobel/Booker Awards "2025 Nobel Prize in Literature | Hungarian master of apocalypse" (Oct 10, 2025): An in-depth analysis of László Krasznahorkai’s win, exploring his themes of despair and grace. "Everything you need to know about the Booker Prize 2025" (Nov 10, 2025): A comprehensive guide to the history and top contenders of the year. "Katie Kitamura's Audition turns life into a stage" (Nov 8, 2025): A review of the novel’s exploration of self-recognition and performance. 2. Gender & Workplace Policy "Karnataka’s menstrual leave policy: The problem isn’t periods. It’s that workplaces are built for men" (Oct 13, 2025): A viral opinion piece arguing that modern workplace patterns are calibrated to male biology, making women's rights feel like "concessions." "Best of Both Sides: For women’s cricket, it’s 1978, not 1983" (Nov 7, 2025): A piece on how the yardstick of men's cricket cannot accurately measure the revolution in the women's game. 3. Social Trends & Childhood Crisis "The kids are not alright: An unprecedented crisis is brewing in schools and homes" (Nov 23, 2025): Writing as the Opinions Editor, she analyzed how rising competition and digital overload are overwhelming children. 4. Author Interviews & Profiles "Fame is another kind of loneliness: Kiran Desai on her Booker-shortlisted novel" (Sept 23, 2025): An interview regarding The Loneliness of Sonia and Sunny. "Once you’ve had a rocky and unsafe childhood, you can’t trust safety: Arundhati Roy" (Aug 30, 2025): A profile on Roy’s recent reflections on personal and political violence. Signature Beats Gender Lens: She frequently critiques the "borrowed terms" on which women navigate pregnancy, menstruation, and caregiving in the corporate world. Book Reviews: Her reviews often draw parallels between literature and other media, such as comparing Richard Osman’s The Impossible Fortune to the series Only Murders in the Building (Oct 25, 2025). ... Read More