A requiem for a cartoonist (1921-2015)
One of India’s most acclaimed cartoonists Rasipuram Krishnaswamy Laxman, famous all over the country as R. K. Laxman, passed away on 26 January 2015 in Pune. For over five decades Laxman enthralled readers from all walks of life through his pocket cartoons simply titled ‘You Said It’, that appeared every single day in The Times of India, the daily where he spent a large part of his working life.
The central character in the cartoon was the ubiquitous ‘Common Man’ with his frayed coat, rubber slippers and spectacles, a few strands of graying hair and a countenance that revealed both hope and helplessness in equal measure. The common man was a hapless bystander to the march of time, a witness to political drama as it unfolded, ever remaining an epitome of patience and dignity. R. K. Laxman, who developed a penchant for art very early in life, used to illustrate the stories and novels of his elder brother the famous novelist R. K.Narayan, even as a student.
Keen to acquire more proficiency in art he applied to the famous J. J. School of Art in Mumbai (then Bombay), only to be rejected as the authorities decided that he did not possess adequate talent to qualify for admission. Though disheartened, a young Laxman vowed to pursue a career in art and after his graduation freelanced for journals like Swarajya and Blitz before landing a job in the Bombay-based daily Free Press Journal, where he struck up an enduring friendship with another budding cartoonist Bal Thackeray. The duo in a bid to widen their horizons applied for jobs in The Times of India where Laxman was selected and Thackeray proceeded to start a political outfit, the Shiv Sena.
Laxman as a gifted political cartoonist was highly inspired by the British cartoonist David Low. Even though he had to compete with several illustrious cartoonists of the time like Shankar, Abu Abraham, O. V. Vijayan, Kutty and Sudhir Dhar, he remained on top of the popularity charts for decades on end. Laxman never spared any of the leading politicians of the day and he satirically depicted their peccadilloes, shenanigans and shortcomings with sharp rapier thrusts of his pen. His cartoons featuring famous politicians like Jawaharlal Nehru, Acharya Kripalani, Morarji Desai and Indira Gandhi down to Rajiv and Sonia Gandhi and more recently, the present Prime Minister Narendra Modi, were all delightful thanks to his excellent illustrations and eye catching captions.
The cartoonist however adhered to certain principles and always had a point beyond which he would never venture. Laxman never touched on subjects like religion, caste or tradition and was always extremely cautious about the sensibilities of his readers. His durability as a chronicler of our times was largely due to his originality, his grasp of the medium and his grip over the wide political spectrum he surveyed in his oeuvres. Laxman was also famous for his other illustrations, especially his fascination for the common crow and his black and white sketches of the humble bird adorn the homes of many of his close friends. Apart from illustrating his brother’s books and articles, Laxman also did all the sketches for ‘Malgudi Days’, a teleserial directed by the late Kannada actor Shankar Nag, based on a novel written by R. K. Narayan. Although his fame as a cartoonist overshadowed his other achievements, Laxman was also a gifted writer who apart from his autobiography The Tunnel of Time, also wrote novels like The Hotel Riviera, The Messenger and also penned a short story collection The Distorted Mirror. Laxman was earlier married to the dancer and film star Kumari Kamala and later to a children’s book author also named Kamala, who remained his constant companion till his last days. A Magsaysay award winner, Laxman was also conferred the Padma Vibhushan, the second highest civilian award by the Government of India. The peerless artist though no longer with us, will continue to live on in memory through his inimitable work and as long as the Common Man remains a living symbol of the average Indian.