Thread by @madraswallah

A lot of us have grown up reading @ACKComics and I also read 'Script by Kamala Chandrakant' in several volumes of Amar Chitra Katha. On Feb 9, 2025 she passed away, having made several childhoods richer with her work. Here is a thread of books scripted by her from my collection

Got this Krishna and Shishupala in 1996. A colourful story of how Krishna remains playful and calm in the face of worst adversities. He is unfazed through the abduction of Rukmini or the insults heaped upon him by Shishupala during Rajasuya. I read this a million times so far.

An early ACK I got of Kamala Chandrakant was Udayana (1996 again), based on the Sanskrit play Swapnam Vasavadattam by Bhasa. Did I understand the pain of a man trying to overcome the grief of a wife whom he thinks is dead in class 4? I think I did because she wrote it that well

I didn't read much about Uloopi even in my childhood books on Mahabharata nor did we see her in the serials. I still feel for the passionate and often one-sided love of Uloopi and the patience she displays for decades to win over the love of Arjuna

Raja Bhoja, was another ACK I got with Udayana. My earliest exposure to the story of Kalidasa and court intrigue happened with this one. The depth of words grew on me as years moved on

Draupadi is the earliest ACK I remember since my cousin had a copy and around the same time Mahabharat was also running on DD. Like I said only now do I think I understand the pathos of what was written here.

I didn't think much of the book while picking it but what a beautiful story! Later I got to know how much this story influenced other dance dramas. Krishnanattam in Guruvayur has one episode of Bana Yudhdham and Kalakshetra has Usha Parinayam based on this.

My introduction to Gaudya Vaishnavism was through this. Mother got me this when I was in class 5. Kamala Chandrakant beautifully brings the sense of ecstasy that Chaitanya feels in her work in a way even a child can sense a bit of it

Her biggest contribution was to the magnum opus of @ACKComics - 42 volume Mahabharata which she scripted along with TMP Nedungadi, Subba Rao, Yagya Sharma, Lopamudra, Mihir Lal Mitra, Sumona Roy, Mohan Swaminathan, Shubha Kandhekar and Margie Sastry. Never will this happen again

Garuda bears the responsibility to free his mother from slavery the moment he is born. His success in getting Amrita to free her is cited as a blessing by Kausalya while sending off Rama to the forest

Two other amazing works of Kamala Chandrakant. In fact Dasharatha was the first ACK I read in Hindi though I'm not sure who wrote that.

That gods also be accused of serious theft and they have to prove their innocence was an eye opener. Also narrates the story of Krishna's marriage with Jambavati and Satyabahama