Jataka Tales: Tales of Misers

by Anant Pai

The 'Jataka' (Birth-cycle) tales narrate the stories related to the 'seekers of truth' - those who wish to follow the path of Buddha. Of the 550 Jatakas that form the canon, many are about both animals and humans. The stories were originally compiled in the Pali language.

Genres: Comics

32 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1977

About the author

Anant Pai popularly known as Uncle Pai, was an Indian educationalist and creator of Indian comics, in particular the Amar Chitra Katha series in 1967, along with the India Book House publishers, and which retold traditional Indian folk tales, mythological stories, and biographies of historical characters. In 1980, he launched Tinkle, a children's anthology, which was started under Rang Rekha Features, India's first comic and cartoon syndicate, that lasted till 1998, with him as the Managing Director.

Today, Amar Chitra Katha sells about three million comic books a year, in English and more than 20 Indian languages, and has sold about 100 million copies since it inception in 1967 by Anant Pai, and in 2007 was taken over by ACK Media.

Reviews

[Pranav]

The stories in this book were really funny and they teach us a valuable lesson or two as to not be greedy and overambitious and not being miserly and not even helping poor people. The part where the poodas get stuck with each other was really funny and it was good to see that Buddha taught the greedy man a lesson. Overall, this book was great and I totally recommend this book for everyone.

[Leena Sidharthan]

These stories on Misers are total fun. At times its also baffling.
Its a very nice set of stories.

[Ravi Kumar Dandapani]

nice

[Tony]

This is pretty alright. The first story is about some greedy rich man who is unfortunate to have a look alike impersonate him and give away his vast wealth. The second one is about another greedy man who won't give away a single pooda to a teleporting man even though he somehow got onto his terrace and can move around without shifting his feet. The last one is about some smart man who tricks a wealthy merchant into giving him loads of money. I think the lesson here is pretty good, except the last story is a bit sketchy when it comes to morals. 3.5^

[Krishna]

I'm not rating this particular comic, but rather my experience with the whole Amar Chitra Katha line. The mythology, culture, and history of a country made into a series of comics for children - brilliant. My childhood would have been much more drab without them.

[Idea Smith]

Only two of the stories are about actual misers; the last is a simple tale of deceit by a poor man and may have only been added on at the last minute to make up the page count. The first two stories are funny and illustrated beautifully and simply. A definite should-read for young children.

[Jyotika Varmani]

This is my most favorite comic story from childhood. It is very cute and the message is excellent. I still cherish it :)