I remember when I was 7 or 8, and my life revolved around books, books and more books. With the occasional song and dance thrown in. Apart from the staple diet of young fiction available to a child growing up in India in the 1980s (Enid Blyton etc), I also read a lot of comic books. It was my brother who taught me how to read (at least from what I remember) and he always passed on his comics to me, with a warning to take care of them. It's another thing that we lost our entire collection of comics from childhood because he lent them to all and sundry and they never found their way back home!

So we read Asterix (our favourite and we still fight over the collection even today!), Mandrake, Phantom, Lucky Luke, Batman, Spiderman, Superman and a little later, Archie & Jughead. Then, there were the Indian comics, which not only kept us entertained but also informed and educated us. Most of my knowledge about Hindu mythology and a bit of ancient Indian history comes from the Amar Chitra Katha series! I still imagine Ganesha being fed a continuous supply of modaks while he wrote the Mahabharata as dictated to him by Ved Vyas! I loved those comics and the exciting worlds they drew me into - kings and queens and their clever ministers, princes and princesses and wily court jesters, mysterious and magical animals and birds, the forests and mountains, holy rivers etc.

And Tinkle! That monthly comic digest packed with fun and adventure. Suppandi, Shikari Shambu, Tantri the Mantri, Kaalia the Crow, Kapish the monkey, Ramu and Shamu.... I loved them all. Tinkle also had this section, in which they would illustrate and publish stories sent in by readers. Intrigued and fuelled by the idea of having my very own story published, I decided to send in one as well.

Now, it's not like the writing bug had bitten me very early on, but I used to be quite the storyteller from what I hear. So I came up with this story and now, all these years later, I can only remember that the moon played an important character in it, and had all the funny dialogues. I think I narrated it to my father and brother and my maternal grandfather. They all laughed, expect for the old man, but I'm thinking it must have been because he didn't speak or understand much else apart from Portuguese ;-)

Then I wrote the story down and, deciding to be very multi-faceted and talented, I even illustrated it myself! I did it like a comic strip with the dialogues in those bubbles, coloured it, then pestered my Dad to send it to the good uncle at Tinkle. After that, every month I would eagerly wait for Tinkle and as soon as I laid my hands on it, I would frantically thumb through the pages looking for my story. I would be disappointed for a few minutes after not finding it, but then quickly forget as I went on to read more interesting and colourful stories.

One day there was some mail addressed to me, and now that I think about it, it was not only the first ever letter I received, it was also my first and only rejection letter till now (but that's because I haven't sent any stories to anyone after that).

It was written on the yellow Post Office of India postcard, and I really wish I had saved it now. I can't remember much, but it was the sweetest rejection letter ever. The gist of it was something like this -
"Thank you for sending us your lovely story but unfortunately we will not be able to publish it. But congratulations for having such a bright imagination and having the courage to write and send it to us. We look forward to more stories from you, so don't stop writing and reading...." Signed, From your Uncle Pai.

Uncle Pai was Anant Pai, the creator of Amar Chitra Katha and Tinkle comics, and generations of Indian kids have grown up reading his wonderful interpretations and stories. His teachings went beyond the boredom and staleness of classrooms and text books, and took us into delightful and adventurous worlds. Back then, every kid my age and even the older ones knew who Uncle Pai was. He was our hero. And I was the only one who had received a letter from him (or so I thought!)

I was so happy that I carried around Uncle Pai's letter for days, showing it to everyone! I didn't even realise that my story had been rejected. When you're that young, you don't understand that it's just a sugar coated way of saying "you suck!" But what the hell, even now that I'm all grown-up and know that he sent the same reply to everyone, I still have fond memories. He had a nice way of letting you down easy, so bring on the sugar coating! I have a sweet tooth anyway ;-)

So I didn't end up sending any more stories to Uncle Pai, and I have no idea why... maybe I was just too lazy. But I did take his advice and kept writing, and also reading many, many more wonderful stories.

Uncle Pai died last week, at the age of 81. I read about it on Facebook, and all these memories came rushing back but my hand was hurting too much to write.