AABID Surti [1116] is a National Award winning Indian author who has earned accolades within India and abroad as a painter , author, cartoonist , journalist , playwright and screenwriter . He has written over 65 books which include short stories , novels , plays , children’s books and travelogues . Several of his books have been translated into various regional languages. He has also been writing for Hindi and Gujarati newspapers and magazines for over 40 years and has won a national award for his short story collection Teesri Aankh in 1993. Abid Surti is the creator of the famous superhero cartoon character Bahadur [1117], and Dabbujee , the weekly comic strip that appeared in Dharmyug.

The National Award-winning author Aabid Surti has won critical acclaim for multiple creative talents. Today, he is involved with the water conservation movement and other social causes in India. He earned the nickname the "Salman Rushdie of India" after his "Black Book" was published. Much before Rushdie faced a fatwa for Satanic Verses, Surti had scandalised orthodox Hindus, Muslims and Christians with Kali Kitaab, a blasphemous Hindi novel first published in 1975. In "The Black Book" the ‘‘prophet’’ Yam-Jalal preaches the gospel of untruth, is condemned and crucified. It questions the hypocrisy of organised religion. Translated into four languages (Urdu, Kannada, Gujarati and Marathi), Kali Kitaab sparked a long debate when Hindi scholar Kamleshwar first published it in the Hindi journal Sarika.

As an author his output has been prolific in Hindi and Gujrati, his oeuvre spanning fiction as well as non-fiction, travelogue as well as children’s literature. He has written around 80 books till date, which have been translated into almost every Indian language. His most famous have been Musalman (Sufi), The Golf Widow, In The Name of Rama, Kaale Gulaab, Bahattar Saal Ka Bachcha and the controversial Black Book - the supposed devil's version of the Bible. "In the Name of Rama" was inspired by the real story of a police constable who stood alone at the foot of the Babri Masjid against a swirling ocean of karsevaks during the demolition of the Babri Masjid

As a screenwriter he has been associated with directors like Raj Khosla and Raj Kapoor on film projects and as a playwright, he has penned seven plays including the gender-bending comedy 'He is Radha'.

An accomplished painter, he has held 16 exhibitions in India and abroad. In his early years, he invented an innovative technique called ‘mirror collage’ which won critical acclaim in Japan. In 1971, the Indian government commissioned a short film to showcase his creative work.

Pramod Pati's film Abid featuring Aabid Surti and his art, was hailed as an outstanding experimentation in the pixilation method. It won laurels and awards in India and abroad.

Aabid Surti is also considered the father of Indian Comic Book. As a cartoonist, he created the lovable simpleton ‘Dabbuji’. The popular cartoon strip has been one of the longest-running comic strips in India, running without a break for over 30 years. Reprints of the original series continue in various languages. Dabbuji’s fan following includes the former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee, singer Asha Bhonsle and Osho .

Aabid has also created another popular comic book character Bahadur which achieved cult status in the 1970s which is now being revived as a tv series and film. [1118] Bahadur was to be made into a film by director Anurag Kashyap starring Ajay Devgan and Tabu but the project fell through.

In 1993, the Indian government conferred a National Award upon him. He lives in a quiet suburb of Mumbai and continues to explore painting, writing and meditation.

As an Author

Aabid Surti became an author by accident. When his first love broke due to family pressure, the teenaged Aabid had no one to confide in – so he began putting his story on paper. The story was published in Gujarati in 1965 as ' Tootela Farishta ' (Fallen Angels) and proved to be an unexpected success. This led to a demand for more books, which ended as a prolific output of more than 80 books including 45 novels, 10 short story collections and 7 plays!

In 1975, his fictional version of the Devil’s Bible titled ‘The Black Book’ created a nationwide controversy, even amidst critical acclaim. It was translated into 7 languages and voted ‘The Book of the Year’ in Kannada.

The biographical novel ‘Musalman’ (Muslim) was the actual account of the author’s childhood in the poverty-ridden Dongri area of Mumbai, which was home to many underworld ganglords including Haji Mastan, Karim Lala and Dawood Ibrahim.

A collection of his short stories, titled ‘Teesri Aankh’, won the President’s Award in 1993.

With personal maturity, Aabid Surti’s writings have also become more socially conscious, reflecting the tumultuous times the country and the muslim community within it, is passing through. His last novel ‘Kathavachak’ (The Storyteller) is an unusual love story set against the backdrop of the Babri Masjid demolition in Ayodhya and the deadly riots that followed.

Aabid is also an accomplished playwright. ‘He is Radha,’ a comedy about a boy trapped in a woman’s body, has had more than 50 successful performances in India. He has also written more than half a dozen other plays, most of which have been translated onto stage in Hindi and Gujarati.

Aabid Surti also writes Urdu poetry, Hindi film scripts and children’s books.

As a Cartoonist

As a child, Aabid Surti began drawing by copying cartoons from scraps of comic pages left by British troops passing through Bombay port during the Second World War.

Though he later created many local characters for newspapers in his youth, he developed his most successful character only after his marriage – the innocent yet shrewd simpleton Dabbuji. The weekly comic strip looked at the nuances of marriage and relationships. At its peak, the weekly cartoon strip touched a circulation of more than four lakh copies and enjoyed a huge fan following which included former PM Atal Bihari Vajpayee, singer Asha Bhonsale and Osho, who often recounted Dabbuji jokes during his early Hindi discourses. It was one of the longest running Indian comic strips, enjoying an unbroken run for more than 30 years in the Hindi literary weekly “Dharmayug”. At times, the popularity of this comic character often eclipsed Aabid’s fame as a serious painter and author!

Another comic book character created by Aabid, which enjoyed a huge popularity was Bahadur. Bahadur was the son of a bandit who helped the dacoit-ridden villages to set up their own self-defence system. Bahadur is currently under negotiation for a full-length Bollywood feature film.

Other memorable characters developed by him include Inspector Azaad , Inspector Vikram and Shuja .

As a Painter

After his schooling, he joined the J. J. School of Arts and trained in Fine Arts. In 1958, He had his first solo exhibition of watercolour landscapes in Nainital. Since then, he has had had more than 15 Solo Exhibitions in many prestigious galleries in India and abroad. He is currently exploring stained glass.

Writing style

Aabid Surti is known for his great eye for detail, for continuity and for inside references. With time, his writings have become more socially conscious, reflecting his ire against the rise of Hindutva , especially after the Babri Masjid demolition. His book, "In The Name of Rama" takes an unlinching look at the political machinations within the BJP that led to the fall of the mosque.

Recent activity

In 2006, Aabid Surti started a one-man NGO "Drop Dead" to conserve water in his area. He hired a plumber and every Sunday, he would go from door to door to encourage people to allow him to fix their leaking faucets, and replace old rubber gaskets or O-rings for FREE. According to him, in his first month, he visited 1533 homes, fixed 384 leaking taps, saved 3.84 lakh liters of water. "Any one who worships water can launch this water conservation project in his/her area & it doesn't require big funding or a posh office," says Aabid.