The mascot of Air India, ‘Maharajah’ was conceived in the year 1946 was the brain child of then Air India’s commercial director Bobby Kooka and was drawn by Umesh Rao, an artist working for J. Walter Thompson Ltd. Along the years, mostly in the 50’s and 60’s, a series of illustrations depicting Maharajah and his adventures around the world were created under the supervision of J. B. Cowasji.
In the eyes of the creator Maharajah is – “We call him a Maharajah for want of a better description. But his blood isn’t blue. He may look like royalty, but he isn’t royal.”
