Panduranga Popat began his life on a scrap of printer paper in 2010, which seems like light years ago! After the initial euphoria of the first strip titled “Kashmiriyat”, the realities of life soon made their presence felt and Popat fell into the limbo of my unfinished projects.

But 2023 & 2024 saw a revival of sorts in my creative and historical research output with circumstances forcing me to focus on what was really important for my mental peace. Popat is a reflection of my own self: a cynical creature, a perennial optimist who unfortunately comes across as a pessimist, and equipped with a powerful in-built bullshit detector.

Through Popat’s eyes I can tackle many serious issues which affect Hindu society and by corollary the Indian nation-state in a lighthearted manner. In this era of short attention spans,there is hardly anyone who will trawl through a 30 page monograph titled “Extortion by the British in Tirunelveli District”, but scores will scan through the image of a funny looking parrot and his weirdo acquaintances.

Best Wishes
Yogeshwar Shastri
http://www.jambudveep.wordpress.com