As a fitting tribute to commemorate the birth centenary of Jehangir Ratanji Dadabhoy Tata, the doyen of Indian civil aviation, Amar Chitra Katha, India’s favourite comic book series is coming out with a book replete with illustrations. The 32-page book on Tata will be launched by the minister of state for civil aviation independent charge, Praful Patel on July 29 in a function organised by Air India. The book called, J.R.D. Tata will be Amar Chitra Katha’s first regular title after a span of twelve years. 

The book illustrates Tata’s family background, his childhood days in Paris and Bombay, and takes a humourous look at the pioneer’s childhood pranks. It narrates how the renowned industrialist took his first flight from Karachi to Mumbai via Ahmedabad. It tells the story of how he led the Tata empire at the young age of 34. The book traces Tata’s fascination for flying which eventually led him to start the civil aviation industry in India. The team at Amar Chitra Katha conducted an intensive research on Tata’s life to write the script. 

Associate editor of Amar Chitra Katha, Margie Sastry said, "The research was conducted for six to eight months and verified the facts. We used the visual references to corroborate the facts from books and archives." Ms Sastry said, the story and art work on his life was done more than 10 years ago. "But the Amar Chitra Katha team decided to publish his biography only few months ago. After collecting the facts, we weaved the story into the comic format with illustrations to match the content. We used simple language and visuals to catch the interest of our target age group," she added.

Uncle Pai, the editor of Amar Chitra Katha told The Asian Age, "We are planning to come out with 25,000 copies of this book. It will be sold for Rs 30. We decided to publish a book on Tata’s life to place before the teenager, role models whom they can emulate."