DESI SPOTTING: LAT profiles India's top cartoonist

Some 3.5 million readers see R.K. Laxman's cartoons on the pages of Times of India every day. Even after 60 years of work, he still adheres to his daily deadlines and works in silence from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. before he dispatches his creativity to the TOI's courier at 2 p.m. Laxman is India's premier cartoonist, whose caricatures and sketches still represent India and the Indian life - from corrupt politicians to Common Man, his representation of an average Indian - reports Henry Chu of the L.A. Times, writing from Pune:

Now 84, Laxman still sits down at his desk every morning to create the cartoons that skewer the country's leaders, and sometimes the led. He continues to offer up his take on the absurdities and quiddities of life in the world's most populous democracy, though some say the sharp eye and wit have dimmed. His single-panel cartoon, "You Said It," runs six days a week, featuring one of the country's most recognized signatures, with its Zorro-like slash through the "x."

India's ruling elites, who have promised much but delivered little, have been Laxman's target, but he doesn't leave aside his fellow ordinary Indians.

He once remarked that crows, which have fascinated him throughout his life, lined up to jump into a puddle with more order and discipline than seen in any Indian bus queue. One of his cartoons took aim at the propensity for public urination among many Indian men, with an observer expressing surprise that India had any problem with depleting water tables.

The emerging technology such as the Internet is a challenge to Laxman, but he doesn't care. His critics comment on his themes as "stuck in time." But his old themes are still relevant in modern India.

Laxman's targets -- the sclerotic bureaucracy, the lack of visible progress, the tragedy of unfulfilled potential -- are still issues here, but no longer the whole story. His characters complain about potholes in the roads just as they did decades ago. (To be fair, many Indian roads remain atrocious.)

At 84, Laxman is still going strong. Though he was turned down by an art school once, he now practices his own principles.

"If I don't do it, I won't survive," he declared in an interview at his home here in western India. "It's a habit."

See an LAT gallery of five classic Laxman cartoons. More on him in his Wikipedia profile. Incidentally, one of Laxman's brothers was the late, great novelist, R.K. Narayan.

Have a thought on Laxman's work? Please post your comments below.

Comments

[Kirit Desai]

It was about the time that America gets acquainted with an Indian legend when he is alive. One can't stop drawing comparison of RK to Charles Schulz as they was much in common with them.

They both were premier artists of latter half of 20th century and dominated their respective fields a continent apart, during the same era. Laxman went on to mimic India's new political venture after independence & Schulz took the Peanut brigade to American people. It would be better if Laxman had such introduction a quarter century ago, but it is never too late.

Well, both really don't need any real intro. as volumes of funny sketches speak for themselves. Two quiet giants not too far apart in showing their humility!

Kirit

[Varun Jain]

Very good website. I liked it very much.