deep-art-mental-store

[deep-art-mental-store]

Amar (Digital) Chitra Katha

(Written on 19th October, 2105)

Amar Chitra Katha, as we all know (most of us, I believe), and have experienced (some of us, hopefully!), was an amazing amalgamation of comic and mythology. Almost 100 years ago, ACK was known as the voice of the grandparent...the most honest blueprint of our cultural and mythological history. They made comics...NO! not the digital ones, the printed ones, PAPER was widely used at that time, and the comic illustrations were not digitally generated, they were painted, BY HAND. However, by the 2020s, they had launched digital versions of all their comics, since children stopped reading paperbacks, and parents stopped buying. They had some sales, the digital versions were a hit for some time, but as the huge wave of child influencers flooded the internet, most kids, even toddlers, now preferred reels, shorts, tik-toks, etc. as forms of entertainment. The more mature kids preferred Coco Tv and other Youtube Channels. The world now witnessed an entire generation growing with an attention span of less than 15 seconds. When the "POCFIA Act [Prevention of Children from Internet Access Act] of 2040" was released by the Indian Government, kids were banned from the internet. ACK took this opportunity and quickly launched disposible VR Headsets installed with their new video comics, heavily inspired by anime. Parents bought these in large numbers, ACK Collections had a major hit! Some of the rich kids also started hoarding collectibles and mint edition books. By 2080, ACK figured out that this new generation of genetically excelling kids, now no longer preferred the traditional VR headsets. They wanted more! ACK's amazing team of Designers and Market Strategists came up with Hologram Stories. These were 3D stories, made compatible with the new Holphos (Holographic Phones) and Holpads. This was a great innovation, Children seemed to love these. These stories were now in 3D, children now, could interact with the characters, make friends with them, and even carry them around. This made a huge deal amongst kids, they would flaunt these all over their chats. However, ACK now faced another big issue, children didn't wanna read mythology anymore. Parents also weren't interested in the old stories and historical lineage anymore. So, to tackle this problem, ACK now started making stories based on more recent histories. They made animated movies on the cyborg generation, the CATOG pets, the almost apocalyptic meteor, the weird vacuum cleaner crisis, etc. They even made a satire on the attention span issues of 2030, and an informatory documentary on Covid as well. Kids & Parents both loved it, and ACK aced it once again. Stories, I believe will never die, the innate needs of humans to tell, listen, and grow together will remain the same no matter how and what we become. Stories transcend generations, and will always continue to mould, shape and inspire the generations to come. Amar Chitra Katha, indeed has remained "Amar" afterall.

by Looney, TimesDigital.