Window Seat | Mrinal Chatterjee |
24.10.21
R. K.
Laxman@100
R. K. (Rasipuram
Krishnaswamy Iyer) Laxman, arguably
the most well-known cartoonist of India was born on this day, 24 Oct. 1921 at
Mysore. He
is best known for his creation, ‘the common man’ and for his daily cartoon
titled ‘You Said It’, which appeared in The Times of India from 1951 and
continued for over five decades. It enjoyed a cult status. So did the common
man, who featured in it. Laxman’s common man, a bald moustached man in mid-fifties,
wearing a dhoti and a cheque kurta,
who never spoke a word- was famous all over the world.
 |
| Caricature by Jayaraj Vellur |
Laxman was the youngest of six sons.
His father was a headmaster. Laxman was interested in drawing and illustration
from childhood. As he notes in his autobiography,
The Tunnel of Time: “I drew objects
that caught my eye outside the window of my room - the dry twigs, leaves and
lizard-like creatures crawling about, the servant chopping firewood and, of
course, and number of crows in various postures on the rooftops of the
buildings opposite”
Laxman's idyllic childhood was
shaken for a while when his father suffered a paralytic stroke and died around
a year later, but the elders at home bore most of the increased responsibility,
while Laxman continued with his schooling.
After high school, Laxman applied to
the J. J. School of Art, Bombay. He was refused admission as the dean of the
school felt his drawings lacked, "the kind of talent to qualify for
enrolment in our institution as a student". Laxman graduated with a
Bachelor of Arts from the University of Mysore.
While still at the Maharaja College
of Mysore, he began to illustrate his elder brother R K Narayan's stories in
The Hindu, and drew political cartoons for the local newspapers. Laxman also
drew cartoons, for the Kannada humour magazine, Koravanji.
His first full-time job was as a
political cartoonist for the The Free
Press Journal in Mumbai. Laxman later joined The Times of India, beginning a career that spanned for over fifty
years.
In his long and illustrious career,
Laxman had played with every shade of humour -- wit, satire, irony, slapstick,
buffoonery, tragicomedy, but had never hit anyone below the belt. And that made
him India's most beloved cartoonist.
Laxman was also known for his
distinctive illustrations in several books, most notably for the Malgudi stories
written by his elder brother R.K. Narayan, which was later made as a serial
directed by Shankar Nag. He also created a
popular mascot for the Asian Paints group called Gattu.
Among his published books are: Brushing Up the Years, (2008), Collected Writings (2003), Distorted Mirror (2004), Hotel Riviera (India) (1989), Laugh With Laxman (1999), Laughter Lines (2002), The Messenger
(1993), Servants of India (2000), Tunnel of Time (1998) and Vote for Laughter (2003).
He was conferred the Padma Bhusan
and the Padma Vibhusan, the second highest civilian award in India. He won
Ramon Magsaysay award for Journalism, Literature and Creative Communication
Arts in 1984. The Indian Express Group conferred B.D. Goenka Award and
Hindustan Times conferred Durga Ratan Gold Medal. He died on 26 January 2015.
Ganesh
Shankar ‘Vidyarthi’
Ganesh Shankar
“Vidyarthi” was just 40 years old when, on March 25, 1931, he was killed while
trying to rescue people during a communal riot in Kanpur, his karmabhoomi. Mahatma Gandhi had
described it as a “shaandar” (glorious) death, one he envied. “Writer, editor,
publisher, activist, elected representative, friend to young revolutionaries
and, ultimately, a man of his word – Vidyarthi represents”, as Annie Zaidi
writes “both, an ideal and a dilemma for journalists.”
Ganesh
Shankar was born on 26 October 1890 in Attarsuiya, Allahabad into a family of
limited means. His father was a school teacher.
Ganesh Shankar managed to clear
his school leaving examination. He enrolled at the Kayastha Pathshala College
but he couldn’t really afford to study further. He had to start working.
However, he adopted the suffix Vidyarthi (student) for he was determined not to
stop learning.
One of
Vidyarthi’s first writing-editing jobs was at a literary magazine, Saraswati, but his heart lay
in current affairs. He started writing for Karmyogi (founded by Pandit Sundarlal, himself a
revolutionary Ghadarite) and worked for Abhyudoya
(The Awakening, founded by Pandit Madan Mohan Malvya). It so happened that he
fell ill and had to leave for Kanpur from Allahabad on 23 September 1913. While
he was in Kanpur, a discussion with his friends led to the idea of publishing a
newspaper from Kanpur. With barely a month’s preparation Pratap was launched
as an weekly newspaper on November 9,
1913.
When
Pratap was published Mahavir Prasad Dwivedy sent a couplet in Hindi as a form
of blessings to him. It read Jisko na nija Gourab tatha nij deshka aviman
hay, woh nar nenhi nar pasu neera hay wo mrutak saman hay. (One who does not have pride of his country
and its excellence, he is not a human being. He is a beast and like a dead
body.) In subsequent times this couplet was carried below the masthead of
Pratap.
Ganesh
Shankar Vidyarthi was an activist-Journalist. He actively took part in
satyagraha and political meetings and was active in mobilizing protest marches,
coordinating protest and also in body politics. The office of Pratap became a
meeting ground of revolutionaries and freedom fighters. He
headed the Kanpur Mazdoor Sabha and contested elections as a Congress leader.
But that didn’t stop him from taking a sympathetic view of young
revolutionaries. He didn’t just shelter Bhagat Singh for a few months, allowing
him space to write in the newspaper, he also facilitated a meeting between the
young Jawaharlal Nehru and Chandrashekhar Azad.
Vidyarthi thought of
communalism as an imperialist construct and blamed the British for creating a divisive
view of India’s history. Ironically Vidyarthi died while he was
trying to rescue people from communal violence on 25 March 1931. Pratap continued even after his death but
without Vidyarthi it lost its fire and gradually faded.
Tikku
R. K. Laxman is primarily known as the creator of the Common
Man, he also created many characters that became famous and associated with
him, for example, Gattu of Asian paints, Srinivas Wagle of the Wagle ki Duniya.
Another name that often used to crop up in his drawings was Tikku.
The ‘You Said It’ pocket cartoon with an outdoor scene would
invariably have this name scrawled somewhere- on bill boards or as a name of a
shop. If you are wondering who was this Tikku- let me tell you- it was the nick
name of his only son, whose official name is Srinivas Laxman. Srinivas also
worked for a while with Times of India.
Tailpiece:
Men, Women
Women are so difficult, they always change their minds.
At 18, they want handsome men.
At 25, they want mature men.
At 30, they want successful men.
At 40, they want established men.
At 50, they want faithful men.
At 60, they want helpful men.
Men are very simple. They never
change their taste for any changing condition in their lives.
At 18, they like pretty woman.
At 25, they like pretty woman.
At 30, they like pretty woman.
At 40, they like pretty woman.
At 50, they still like pretty woman
At 60, still they like pretty woman.
Even at 70 and 80 when they can
barely move, they still like pretty woman.
(Courtesy: Social Media)
+++
Journalist turned
media academician Mrinal Chatterjee lives in Dhenkanal, Odisha. He also writes
fiction and plays.
mrinalchatterjeeiimc@gmail.com
This column is published every Sunday in Sikkim Express and www.prameyanews.com
No comments:
Post a Comment