RK Laxman: He depicted the common Indian

Born in Mysore on October 24, 1921, Rasipuram Krishnaswami Laxman was the youngest of seven siblings one of whom was RK Narayan, the renowned novelist. Laxman’s father was a school headmaster and his mother a homemaker. At an early age Laxman developed an affinity for drawing and was fascinated by the illustrations in magazines such as The Strand, Punch, Bystander and Wide World. At a young age, he began drawing on his own – on the floors, walls and doors of the house. His school teacher praising his drawing of a peepul leaf marked the beginning of his journey as an artist.

Student days

Laxman joined the University of Mysore. During his time at the Maharaja’s College, he often illustrated stories by his novelist brother which were published in The Hindu newspaper. Subsequently, he turned to creating satirical and political cartoons for other local newspapers. During his college years, Laxman worked as a freelance artist and drew cartoons for the Swarajya magazine. He also worked on an animated film based on the mythological character Narada. His first break was with RK Karanjia’s weekly publication titled Blitz. In 1947, he began drawing cartoons for The Free Press Journal in Bombay alongside Bal Thackeray, who too was a cartoonist before he turned to politics and founded the Shiv Sena. In 1951 he joined The Times of India group.

Career

Laxman initially worked on illustrations for the Illustrated Weekly of India, a weekly newsmagazine and also made comic strips for a children’s magazine. Soon, thanks to his strong grasp of politics, Laxman’s cartoons began appearing on the front page of the newspaper and his reputation as a cartoonist escalated. He eventually became the paper’s chief political cartoonist. It was during this time that he came up with the idea to start the strip You Said It, which would feature the ubiquitous Common Man as the central character.

He passed away in Pune on January 26, 2015 at the age of 93 in the wake of a series of strokes he had been suffering from since 2010.

Awards and Achievements

Laxman won several awards, including the Padma Bhushan in 1973; the Ramon Magsaysay Award, the Asian equivalent of the Nobel Prize, in 1984 and a Lifetime Achievement Award for Journalism by CNN IBN TV18 in 2008. The University of Marathwada, the University of Delhi and his alma mater — the University of Mysore conferred on him honorary Doctor of Literature degrees. In 2005, he was honoured with the Padma Vibhushan for his works.

Legacy

Laxman wrote and published short stories, essays and travel articles, some of which were compiled in a book titled The Distorted Mirror, published in 2003. Other collections of his cartoons were published in The Best of Laxman and Laugh with Laxman by Penguin Books India. His comic strip You Said It served as the basis for a television comedy series titled RK Laxman Ki Duniya. In 2011, the Symbiosis International University named a chair at its Pune campus in Laxman’s honour.

Interesting facts

1. During his childhood, Laxman was influenced by the work of renowned British cartoonist Sir David Low whose work occasionally appeared in The Hindu. For a long time, he misread Low’s signature as cow.

2. Apart from being a cartoonist, Laxman had also published novels such as The Hotel Riviera in the year 1988 and The Messenger in 1993 as well as an autobiography, The Tunnel of Time in 1998.

3. Laxman was the captain of his local Rough and Tough and Jolly cricket team. In his autobiography, he said he inspired the stories Dodu the Money Maker and The Regal Cricket Club, which were written by RK Narayan.

4. Laxman had applied to the JJ School of Art in Mumbai. He was denied admission. The school’s dean wrote him that his drawings lacked “the kind of talent to qualify for enrolment in our institution”.

5. Young Laxman had a comedic streak from a young age. This can be traced to the times he drew caricatures of his father at home and of his teachers in school, much to the amusement of his siblings and peers.

Sources: Britannica, The Tunnel of Time (his autobiography), thefamouspeople.com