 20 years old at the time, Gopalan was studying animation at the Srishti Institute of Art, Design & Technology in Bangalore.Gopalan has stated that he decided to start a webcomic on a whim, as he had noticed a lack of Indian daily life satire comics that were devoid of politics.Gopalan made the first page of "Brown Paperbag" within an hour of conceptualizing "Brown Paperbag" as a whole.