My day at The Amar Chitra Katha Studio

As I was playing my twelfth Quiz With No End on the 19th of March, I got a comment from The Amar Chitra Katha Studios that the quiz is closed now. I closed all the tabs where I was searching for answers and questions and continued with my work. I was refreshing the page every 15 minutes to check whether the winner was announced. I left office at 5.15 PM and reminded myself to check as soon as I go home. But, as I could not resist myself, I again started refreshing the page on my cellphone to check whether the winner was announced. And lo! At around 6, I saw that I had asked the more number of questions and I was announced the winner. As I scrolled down to check which book I had won, I could not believe my eyes when I saw the Golden Ticket. I did not need a Hallmark to check whether this "Gold" was authentic. I started calling literally everyone to talk about this. I was overwhelmed !! The team had asked me for my email and contact number which I shared and was waiting for their call or email.

The next day at sharp 10 AM I received a mail from Ms Sanjana Kapur congratulating me again and asking me when would it be feasible to meet them. We discussed and decided to meet on Friday, the 22nd of March at 10 AM. My day-counting started. I could not sleep on Thursday night.

The D-day arrived !!

My parents had to come with me as my husband was busy. I left home early not wanting to be late, but still, thanks to the infamous Bangalore traffic, could reach there by 10.15. 

I was welcomed by a sign at the entrance of the Studio. As I entered, I received the golden ticket and was given a warm welcome by Ms. Reena Mam and Ms. Sanjana. As I walked upstairs, I entered the research, writers and editors room. It consisted of 5 beautiful ladies. Ms. Reena Mam, Ms. Sanjana, Ms. Shalini, Ms. Aparna and Ms. Nimmy.

It was truly a dream come true for me. I had seen the room only in pictures of the Facebook page. The covers pinned up to the board with a picture of Uncle Pai. There was also a board mentioning the next titles to be released with the timeline and also a board which had the names of people who had answered the weekly quiz questions on the Facebook page. We had a small chitchat and then they showed me their work. The way they conduct the research (Must be the toughest part after seeing the books they refer - Huge ones), put them in panelised word document with a description of the picture supposed to come and the dialogue.

 I also did not know they take weekly turns in maintaining the Facebook page. The turns were also pinned up on the board. 

This is a small glimpse of the team I was talking about. The mixture of beauties and brains !! 

The next was the Art team. They were placed in the adjacent room. As soon as I entered the room, I felt like entering a comic book. The world of art is amazing. So, are the artists of the Amar Chitra Katha team. They were the ones who put scripts into pictures and make it more interesting. The artists were drawing, inking, coloring and what not. I was surprised when I got to know that coloring a page itself takes about 1 day. Getting to the right gradient and precision takes time. Each one explained to me what they specialize in and why they are called specialists needs no explanation as their work speaks for them.

As I went back to Reena Mam's room, we spoke for some more time about other things and as we were about to leave, she handed me a copy of Anant Pai. That would be the greatest gift I had ever received. 

We also met the digital team briefly. Last but not the least, Brownie !!! The resident dog. I forgot to mention him earlier. He had greeted me on the doorstep itself. Now, he was sending me off. I could not spend much time with him though. Also, the team made it a point to send me off at the doorstep which is a very wonderful gesture shown by the them.

All in all, I must say, they was the most memorable moments of my life. Love to see you again and again Amar Chitra Katha team. Special thanks to you for making me feel so special.