NEW DELHI, Nov 14: The life and times of Mahatma Gandhi is now out in a vividly detailed and interesting new graphic novel.
“Gandhi: My life is My Message,” has been authored by Jason Quinn, who has previously written a graphic novel on Mother Teresa and another on Steve Jobs, the late founder of Apple.
“The book, provides an insight into Gandhi, the man and what moved him as well as the times he lived in. He has been known to be a person of great warmth and wit but how do you get a sense of him as an ordinary person as a person you can have a cup of chai with?” Quinn said at the book’s launch here today.
Quinn, who moved to India in 2012 as content head of Delhi-based Campfire Graphic Novels which has published the biography says writing a graphic novel is similar to directing a motion picture.
“I used to be an actor previoulsy and often got under the skin of the characters I played. While writing this book it has been pretty much the same for me. It must seem strange to get under the skin of Gandhi but that is what I did.
“While researching the life of the Mahatma, I became a vegetarian, wandered around in my dhothi and listened to only bhajans. I must have driven my family insane,” says Quinn.
The 212-page graphic novel on Gandhi, which follows the transformation of a shy unassuming lawyer into the leader of the country’s freedom movement has been illustrated by Delhi-based local artist Sachin Nagar.
“Mahtama Gandhi is often seen in a meditative pose or spinning his chakra. For the book to be interesting rather then being just picture after picture of talking heads, the key is to have great backgrounds and scenes much like a film,” says the author who has previously worked at Marvel Comics.
Quinn says he read up Rajmohan Gandhi’s book titled “Mohandas: A True Story of a Man, His People and an Empire.”
“I had read that book and it was a fabulous one. It was fantastic and showed him as a human being. It was a great influence on me. Rajmohan Gandhi did offer his comments on the book,” says Quinn.
The graphic novel follows the story of Mahatma Gandhi from his birth in the coastal town of Porbandar in 1869 to the moment of his assassination in January 1948.
Mahatma Gandhi, the grandson of Mahatma Gandhi was present at the launch at Gandhi Smriti here.
“I congratulate the author Jesan Quinn. His book will convey Gandhi’s life and message in an entertaining and interesting form to youth across the world. He has completed a difficult task of detailing Gandhi’s life and message in graphic form, utilising his ability and deep understanding,” Rajmohan Gandhi said. (PTI)
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