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Granny's tales for remote-happy kids, brought to you by Amar Chitra Katha

Literate kids in India of '60s through '80s had had their first intimate taste of Indian folklore, history, mythology, culture and value systems through Amar Chitra Katha classic comic books. Perhaps, the late '90s kids will get their's Sunday noon.

Only, they will have to tune in to Indian behemoth Doordarshan's national TV network on August 9.

Keeping with the tele-times, Bombay-based India Book House, owner of the Amar Chitra Katha brand, has tied up with United Studios to produce a TV serial based on the famous comic strips.

The serial with flesh-and-blood characters (unlike animation films) will air every Sunday at noon time. Each episode will feature a separate tale. Amar Chitra Katha has so far built up an impressive catalogue of 436 titles.

The books-to-TV transition, IBH sources said, was necessary because children in today's nuclear families no longer have the privilege of listening from grandparents stories that are part of Indian cultural heritage. In a sense, TV has crept into the role of grandparents and friends all rolled into one.

IBH has also entered into an agreement with Phoenix Global Solutions (India)-- a multinational company in the field of communications -- to produce Amar Chitra Kathas (stories) on CD-ROM, digital video disks and animated films.

Amar Chita Katha has also launched a website (http://www.freeindia.com) featuring its best titles. The site is likely to be upgraded with music and dialogues shortly.