Chapter-1

R.K.Narayan and R.K.Laxman: Two Modern Indian Legends

R.K. Narayan’s and R.K. Laxman’s works revolve round the persona of the

common man .The common man in all his myriad facets has been the centre of the

novels and cartoons of Narayan and Laxman respectively . The wishes , desires,

hopes, aspirations, fears, weaknesses, strengths , problems, perplexities, foibles,

beliefs of common man have been presented in the works of both the

brothers.Although the mediums They have selected are very different from each

other, their work needs to be put together to understand the common concerns,

perceptions and world view.

Cartoons and novels are two different art forms. The former is a visual( sans

the comment or caption) medium and the latter is a verbal medium. Despite the

differences in these two art forms, I have taken up the task of comparing these two

diverse fields as I found it challenging to discover newinsights into commonalities of

the two art forms, especially in the works of the two brothers, R. K. Narayan and R.

K. Laxman. It is an attempt to bring together two of the highly accomplished modern

Indian artistswhose work has won international acclaim.Growing up together in the

same social, political and cultural environment they share many ideas, values and

humanisticemotions. By putting their diverse forms together one can draw out

interesting similarities and differences, providing new interpretations.

Narayan’s novels are peopled by college boys , college teachers, school

masters, municipal members, tourist guides, taxi drivers as well as those people who

form the lower middle class of Malgudi or India. Similarly Laxman has peopled his

works with denizens who belong to various walks of life like scheming politicians,

14
rapacious bureaucrats and gossiping housewives. Both R.K.Narayan and R.K.

Laxman have given voice to the meek common man. It is to be noted that the life of a

common man has many ramifications . An ordinary man’s life branches out into

political, social, economical, cultural and domestic ramifications. This thesis will

delve and expatiate all these ramifications of an ordinary man’s life. These common

men form the back bone of any society. The depiction of common man in the works

of literature gained popularity through the rise of a bourgeiose literary form- the

novel. The novel popularized the stories of man in the street. The common man has

been the centre around which the stories of Narayan and Laxman have been wound.

The Common Man

The hero of Narayan and Laxman is the common man. The medium of the

novelist is the novel which has been described as “ a long narrative in prose detailing

the actions of fictious people”. Novelist’s medium consists of words ,story , plot and

various narrative techniques. Cartooning on the other hand is a visual form of art in

which the message is put across to the reader through a drawing and a crisp, tangy,

pertinent comment on the situation depicted. Cartoons are “explanatory- narrative

illustrations” with images and words done by hand. A cartoonist cannot take the help

of multitude of words like a novelist but he too can make an indelible impression on

the reader with deft strokes of his pencil. A novelist can explain things, create

ambience and delineate character in great detail but a cartoonist only hints at the

character and situation by providing critical insight into character by presenting drama

frozen at the tipping point. Cartoonist’s clever, tangy jibe or comment serves as a

beacon light which helps the reader in gainig insight into the mind, character of the

person caricatured or in comprehending the scenario depicted. The ambience is not

explained. We are only made to feel the ambience. Both novels and cartoons can and
15
have depicted social, political, economic and domestic matters and hence can be

comparatively studied to expatiate on the persona of common man.

The time scale of the narrative of a novel may vary from one day to a century

like James Joycee’s Ulysses or Mulk Raj Anand’s Untouchable depict the events of

one day yet the whole life of the central character and the several other characters are

spelled out in detail building up an extended social world. The past may be of a

decade or a century or anytime in between enter the novel’s temporal frame. While a

cartoon touches upon a moment sometimes it may also gain an extended narrative but

it is the novel which excels in including time and experience.A novel can delineate

character in great detail, a thorough psychological analysis can be done, the innermost

recesses of mind can be revealed, the whole soul can be laid bare.The more in- depth

is the character analysis, the greater is the identification of the reader with the

character.In a cartoon strip the character is laid bare in a flash however in detail

psychological analysis is not feasible.

The disintegration of traditional and rural world and the emergence of a new

modern life(culture) has found thematic representation in the fiction of Indian writers

writing in English. The breakdown of the large joint family and other similar Indian

themes have emerged to form recurrent patterns in Indo-Anglian fiction.

The tradition did not die out completely. The impact of the west has created

certain cultural problems and crises of values in all parts of India, though not at all

levels of society and as such is atheme of all India significance. Meenakshi

Mukherjee states in her bookThe Twice Born Fiction“that there are vast areas of

Indian life and living where the west has had no abiding impact, and we find some of

the Indo Anglian novelists dealing successfully with these non-urban, indigenous and

16
inward looking situations and characters”1. R.K.Narayan once pointed out in an essay

titled “ English in India” published in The Times of India that western society is based

on a “totally different conception of man-woman relationship than ours”2 and it can

easily be perceived in Indo-Anglian fiction that marital bliss is amore frequent subject

than romantic love.

There are some novelists who deal with the unchanging values of an Indian

small town and find their material in the excitement, strain and clash of the

temperaments involved in living under the same roof in a joint family. In some recent

Indo –Anglian novels, one notices a sense of nostalgia in treatment of the joint family

system. R.K.Narayan further maintains that the theme of the eternal triangle, that

perennial peg of western story tellers to hang their novels upon is useless for an

Indian writer, our social condition not providing adequate facilities for such triangles3.

Yet Meenakshi Mukherjee states that a study of recent Indo-Anglian fiction will

reveal that even in the Indian context a triangle is very much present; only, the third

side of the triangle is often provided not by an individual but by a more powerful and

less defined social force represented by the joint family. The joint family symbolizes a

deeply entrenched force of orthodoxy against which an individual may find himself

helpless. This can be read in generalized terms as the conflict between two sets of

values: supremacy of social hierarchy, and the emergence of the individual.The

former stems from Indian system of values while the latter is a cherished notion of

western culture.

Indian writer in English did not focus on rural life but on the problems of the

small town peopled by moneylenders, small town schools and colleges where the

interaction between east and west was more sharp . The cartoonist Laxman also

picked up ideas from the urban environment as is clearly seen in his works.The first
17
Indian novel in English was Rajmohan’s Wife of Bankim Chandra Chatterjee written

in 1864. It was followed by quite a few Bengali writers trying their hands in this

particular genre. Toru Dutt’s The Young Spanish Maiden in1878 saw the light of day

and Kali Krishna Lahiri’s Roshinara came out in 1881.With the new century i. e. the

twentieth century new writers came with their rare talents in novel writing : Mulk Raj

Anand(1905-2004) R. K. Narayan (1906-2001) and Raja Rao(1909-2006). They were

followed by Bhabhani Bhattacharya, (1906-1988) Manohar Malgonkar (1913-2010)

Kamla Markandya(1924-2004) . In the third generation of Indo-Anglian fiction

novelists were mainly Nayantara Sahgal (1927), Anita Desai(1937) ,Arun Joshi and

others . And in the later generation, several extremely talented writers like Salman

Rushdie, Amitav Ghosh, Arundathi Roy, Kunal Basu, Jhumpa Lahiri, Rohinton

Mistry, Pankaj Mishra,Amit Chaudhary, Kiran Desai who are writing novels of global

acclaim.

Pulakesh Ghosh in his book Feminism in R.K. Narayan’s Novels (2013)

states that in a nutshell, Indo- Anglian fiction falls in four natural divisions . The first

phase begins with the publication of Bankim Chandra Chatterjee’s novel Rajmohan’s

Wife(1864) and includes other novelists like Balkrishna.K.R.S. Iyengar in the book

Indian Writing in English remarks:

“The vicissitudes of the Bengali novels foreshadow more or less the

vicissitudes of the novel in India.The western breeze blows sometimes directly, and

more significantly, indirectly- its velocity chastened in the ample spaces of Bengal.”4

The second and third phase of Indian English fiction was influenced by

Gandhian thought. The novels of the second phase have the impact of the Second

World War. Sardar Yogendra Singh, A.S. P. Ayyar, Mrs. Kaveri Bai, A.

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Subramanayam, S. Nagarajan, Dhirendra Nath Paul are the main novelists of this

period.

The third phase of Indian English fiction begins from independence and

onward when many writers like Mulk Raj Anand, Raja Rao, and R.K. Narayan were

highly influenced by Gandhian ideology and philosophy. After 1950s the interest of

Indian English novels moved from the public to the private sphere . The novelists

became more interested in the inner man than the outside world. They engaged

themselves in a search for the essence of human living. Bhabani Bhattacharya, Kamla

Markandya, Manohar Malgonkar, Anita Desai, Shashi Deshpande, Arun Joshi and

Nayantara Sahgal have contributed to Indian English fiction by opening up new

vistas of human nature, man-woman relationship and socio-political consciousness.

Regarding the fiction of R.K. Narayan it is pertinent to quote M. K. Naik

from his book A History of Indian English Literature (1982) “ Narayan’s fiction is

imbued with a strong ‘sense of place’. His setting ,Malgudi ,develops from novel to

novel but always possesses a genius locus which gives reality to his men and

women”.Narayan does not indulge in poetic prose like Thomas Hardy but he

certainly makes real to us the ‘ankle deep’ dust in Anderson lane and the raucous

noises in the market. Naik compares his style to that of Arnold Bennet who also

relies more on keen observation and steady accumulation of small details than on

evocative description. The local nobodies and local eccentrics are his characters and

his style habitually wears a deliberately drab air so that the thrusts of his insistent

irony are felt all the more sharply. Narayan’s fiction as Naik says “creates a credible

universe observed with an unerring but uniformly tolerant sense of human

incongruity; but gains in stature when, at its best, he is able to hitch the wagon of his

ironic action to the star of moral imagination” (166).

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 Narayan sees South India as a fundamentally conservative Hindu society

which he realistically presents in most of his novels and stories with the lower middle

class common man as his base. His characters are neither too well off not to know the

rub of financial worry, nor too indigent to be brutalized by want and hunger. The

characters are invariably common men- trying to win attention for themselves. How

do such men struggle towards maturity – such maturity as they can achieve within the

accepted religious and social framework-seems to have been Narayan’s preoccupation

enacted in asuccession of novels with different degrees of success . To quote Narayan

himself: “Iam only interested in ordinary people. If I find a character I like, I tell his

story that’s all. The larger sociological issues, politics and what not do not interest

me.”5 Modern Indian writers of the 1920-40’s era were strongly concerned about the

lowly, humble social group. Social realism was ushered in by Munshi Premchand in

Hindi and Saratchandra Chatterjee in Bengali. They dealt with everyday problems of

the rural community, and their immense popularity marks an important phase of

development of the Indian novel.Mulk Raj Anand also gave voice to the

voiceless,invisible and downtrodden people of society.

A short biography of R.K.Narayan

R.K.Narayan was born on October10,1906 in Madras.His father was a school

headmaster. His maternal grandmother turned out to be the singlemost enduring

influence of his childhood. Little Narayan was raised by this maternal grandmother

Parvati. She was popularly known in Madras as “Ammani” ( respected lady). Decades

later Narayan described her to his biographers as an extraordinary character—

‘absolutely principled’ and deserving of a book in her own right. Narayan has paid

his fictional tribute to her in his very last book Grandmother’s Tale. Narayan wrote

in his autobiographical book My Days:“Grandmotherhood was a wrong vocation for

20
her. She ought to have been a school inspectress . She had an absolute passion to

teach and and mould a young mind”(9). She made him repeat everyday a few

Sanskrit shlokas praising Saraswati.

Ranga Rao in his monograph R.K.Naryan states thatNarayan’s social activism

and , a sense of neighbourly involvement –writer as citizen- may have derived from

his mother’s side. Another influence on Narayan was his own mother Gnanambal. She

passed on to him a sense of humour and the principle of activity with a purpose . He

was also influenced by his maternal uncle-Seshachalam who was an idealist lawyer.

Later on Narayan used one word to describe grandmother , seshachalam and mother –

‘ principled’. Narayan once claimed : “To be a good writer anywhere , you must have

roots, both in religion and in family--------I have these things.”6 Narayan as a novelist

is deeply rooted in Hindu ideals and beliefs. Narayan himself recited ‘Gayatri

mantra’ – the first thing in the morning and that he himself had had personal

experience of psychic communion with the spirit of his dead wife proves beyond

doubt Narayan’s inclination to believe things as he found in Hindu scriptures. He had

firm faith in religious tenets . Narayan himself admits his inability to write novels

without Krishna, Ganesh,Hanuman, astrologers, pundits and devdasis or temple

prostitutes-7

The Hindu myths and ideals have been ever present in Narayan’s mind so that

they become themes in most of his novels. The huge mass of myths and legends that

a society accumulates through centuries becomes the common repository of the

people of the land. These myths , legends and religious and cultural heritage largely

shape our mind and imagination, behavioural pattern and general attitude to life. This

influence , so deeply registered in any person’s mind, finds unconscious expression.

To quote William Walsh: “The religious sense of Indian myth is part of Narayan’s
21
grip of reality, of his particular view of human life and his individual way of placing

and ordering human experience.”8

Narayan imbibed the spirit of Hinduism from his childhood. He had certain

fixed ideas in his mind which we see fully expressed in his novels. His belief that

moral order establishes itself , one finds vividly presented in The Maneater of

Malgudi(1961)and subsequent novels and short stories.His character Srinivas of Mr.

Sampath (1949) reflects at the great complex world around him. He starts publishing

a journal with the lofty aim of setting the world right but when he realized the

vastness of the whole picture of life and concluded that in the rush of eternity nothing

mattered Srinivas abruptly left to their fate lofty ideas that thronged his mind in the

beginning. This has roots in Hindu ethos which has shaped Srinivas’ mind and

defeated the very purpose with which he began ‘The Banner’ in high spirit. Being a

mouthpiece of R.K. Narayan it is hardly surprising that Srinivas lapsed back into his

old self with the cultural heritage weighing heavily on him.The society at large

presented in Malgudi is traditional and superstitious. The people are illiterate and

poor. They always long to have some divine help to solve their problems . As a result

even the ex-convict Raju is mistaken for a holy man by Velan and others.

Malgudi, a small town created by Narayan himself has an imprint of

traditional society. It is a microcosm of the Hindu society. In this traditional set up

we come across characters which struggle towards maturity within the accepted

religious and social framework. They believe that everything in the universe is pre-

ordained and that no amount of human efforts can ease the situation. They look upon

themselves as helpless creatures tossed this way and that way by the caprice of

fortune, but gradually gain some critical awareness.

22
 Narayan’s junior maternal uncle Venkataraman too shaped the thinking of

Narayan. He became an important source of humour for Narayan when he became a

novelist. Narayan’s formative years were in Madras in a middle-class family. The

whole city of Madras cast an early and permanent influence on Narayan. The Madras

suburb of Purasawalkam influenced Narayan so much with its ambience that it sowed

the seeds of an imaginary country in the mind of the future author. This Madras

influence made Narayan what he remained throughout his life –a Tamil man of

middle class family.

Narayan moved from Madras to Mysore in1922at the age of sixteen where he

rejoined his parents and the family . It was the second formative period of Narayan’s

life: the youthful years he spent in Mysore. While reminiscing Narayan said : “ I feel

thankful to heavens for placing me there----- the quality of life that Mysore offers is

unique.”9While studying in his father’s school Narayan formed his opinion on

education . In My Days he wrote : “Next to religion, education was the most

compulsive force in a family like ours.My outlook on education never fittedin with

the accepted code at home. I instinctly rejected both education and examinations,

with their unwarranted seriousness and esoteric suggestions”(56).

Narayan failed two years successively in the Mysore University entrance

examination. These two years of enforced freedomNarayan devoted to voracious and

planned reading. He read British literature mostly .Wordsworth, Byron, Browning and

Shakespeare were liked by Narayan. The English Romantics and a novelist who is

forgotten today Marie Corelli impacted Narayan considerably.

About Marie Corelli Narayan has written in My Days “ Marie Corelli

appealed to me the most------------her overcharged romanticism and her pungent

23
asides about English society and literary critics filled me with admiration(66).”he

even went to the extent of keeping her picture on his table but on becoming familiar

with critics and judgement his enthusiasm for this writer was later tempered. Narayan

said about the collection of books in his father’s library “A look at them in a mass and

we understood the cultural history of our country for half a century or more; the root

and branches of our cultural growth and the mixed sap coursing through them.”10

At this time Narayan read the poetry of Tagore and was swept off his feet for

he once said about Tagore’s poetry “I felt I was inducted into the secrets of Nature’s

glory”( My Days 62). Narayan waded through the books and magazines which

arrived on his father’s desk for the school library and enjoyed the weekend reading

which was full and varied. Through the journals he came to know English writers:

Conan Doyle, Wodehouse, W.W. Jacobs, Arnold Bennett and every English fiction

writer worth the name. “Through Harper’s and the Atlantic and American Mercury

we attained glimpses of the New World and its writers”(67-68).

In 1924 Narayan started composing short prose and poetic pieces. He took his

work very seriously and even sent them to some pulishers.Narayan’s maiden attempt

was rejected by the publisher. Narayan did not react calmly to this rejection . He was

greatly agitated and angered. He described the sense of bitter rejection as “When

Antony(the postman) gave me back my packet, I stood in the shade at the backwall of

the co-operative stores and ripped open the envelope, still hoping for a warm letter or

a cheque to fall out; but a neatly printed rejection slip was pinned to the manuscript,

which otherwise showed no sign of even been looked at”(My Days;73). He was

enraged because- the cold callous rejection slip, impersonal and mocking was too

humiliating ; it was a disgrace. Narayan lived in depression for a couple of days.

24
 By 1930 when he graduated, Narayan had made up his mind that he would be

a writer. After his brief stint as a school teacher Narayan started writing his first

novel.Regarding the development of the central character, Swami, Narayan has

written in My Days: “Day by day Swami was developing. The pure delight of

watching a novel grow can never be duplicated by any other experience. I cannot

recollect how much I wrote each day perhaps a few hundred words or a thousand.”

Narayan felt a sense of wonder and joy as he saw Swami, his first character grew up

and kept himself alive and active; the novel was episodic, but that was how it

naturally shaped itself; a series of episodes, escapades and adventures of Swami and

his companions(100).

Another development emerged in the exercise of writing the novel which he

shares with the reader when he describes “Malgudi with its little railway station swam

into view all ready-made, with a character called Swaminathan running down the

platform peering into the faces of passengers, and grimacing at a bearded face------I

regularly wrote a few pages each day”(My Days,100).This constant presence in

Narayan’s world has been his most original creation becoming synonymous with

Narayan’s name.

Narayan became a newspaper reporter for a paper published in

Chennai called The Justice but Narayan voluntarily stopped this work on the day

when he received a cable from his friend declaring that his novel had been accepted

for publication. Narayan describes his attempts to publish abroad his first novel: “I

had got used to getting back my manuscript with unfailing regularity once every six

weeks”(My Days 127). Laxman too began and continued his illustrious career with

newspaper.

25
 Swami and Friends was finally published in the October of 1935. But it was a

failure owing to which Hamilton refused to publish his next novel The Bachelor of

Arts. Consequently by the recommendations of Graham Greene The Bachelor of Arts

was published by a second publisher. The young novelist was jubilant when news

reached him that his first novel had been accepted by a publisher. He wrote to his

benefactor and friend Graham Greene,”I can hardly believe that I am in a real world

now”11

His third novel The Dark Room was published by a third publisher. It is a

sociological study of an Indian household which demonstrates the typical Indian

attitude to life where the husband is the lord and the master and a wife puts up with

the ways of a self-opinionated and callous husband. This is an unusually serious story,

verging almost on a tragic picture of a married woman. The complexities of man-

woman relationship and unhappy marital life are repeatedly seen in many novels

though Narayan mostly depicts these discords through irony and gentle humour.

Rajam, his wife passed away in 1939 and the trauma of the bereavement was

very difficult for Narayan to bear which he has dwelt upon at length in his

autobiography My Days. Left with the responsibility of a child and handle his own

psychological vaccum he struggled to get back in life. In order to gain a full

understanding of Narayan’s work , creative and non-fictional and in order to

understand the personality behind Narayan’s work one needs to have a full knowledge

of Narayan’s life during the most critical period of his life 1939-1945. The years

following his wife’s death constitute the third formative period in Narayan’s

life.These years shaped his values, spiritual, social and literary: a new kind of life and

outlook and vision. Narayan conducted psychic experiments and tried to communicate

with his dead wife. During these critical years Narayan managed to achieve a
26
philosophical understanding of life ‘right perspective’.However the catastrophe and

its aftermath- ‘a perpetual unrelenting climate of loneliness’ left a permanent mark on

his mind. Rajam’s death was the most important landmark in Narayan’s life. “since

that time Ihave lost all distinction between life and death”(Rao,Ranga 23).

This entire experience deeply transformed Narayan as it confronted him with

the grimest fact of life. In this struggle, with the acceptance of loss of his wife

Narayan gained a serious awareness of the most important issues of life.Rajam’s

death defines as nothing else Narayan’s emotional profile,the warmth at the core of

his personality.The self-education led to no withdrawal but to greater social

participation:working for a common good. But it was mind control above all which

occupied Naryan’s exercises in psychic training. Narayan’s attitude to creative work

changed during this crucial period. The process of self-education was any thing but

smooth.Narayan did not turn away from this world following his wife’s death.

Psychic and mental training brought him closer to the two institutions of family and

society.Ranga Rao writes that Narayan’s single minded search was aimed at

accomplishing the right psychic (mental) training which would yield, first a generally

harmonious state of mind in family and social life; second, a’long view’ of things and

third: conservation of mental energy and the cultivation of calm and rest(21).

Although inconsolably grieved , Narayan has given us comedies of first rank. Comedy

is the natural bent of Narayan’s mind as exhibited when his daughter Hema died in

1994 at the age of 58 Narayan remarked to his friend, N. Ram: “ We are all in the

queue. She has jumped the queue.”Narayan could survive that great trauma and see

light after living in that dark tunnel only because he learnt to value life, human

relationships and above all the human being. This gentle tolerant perception became

his unique characteristic.

27
 Narayan’s professionalism also helped as he continued with his literary

activities. The personality of Narayan had now acquired a fine fullness and balance.

Narayan emerged a complete writer.Narayan in his articles in The Hindu(when the

second world war was raging) wrote mostly on the difficulties of the common man—

how he had to stand in a queue morning after morning, at the ration shop, bus stand

and cloth shop unfamiliar with the devious paths of the black market and struggling

through life in his efforts at maintaining himself and his family.

Narayan established a journal Indian Thought(1940) where Narayan packed

all his ambition: to phrase our culture properly; to utilize the English language as a

medium for presenting our cultural heritage—Indian classics and philosophy from

Sanskrit and a score of other regional languages , modern writing included and to

encourage original English writing of the highest quality. Narayan defined his goal in

the journal: ‘profundity with a light touch’. Narayan’s success derived partly from the

particular background he enjoyed and the different goal he set for himself:secular,

unacademic and nondidactic. And he set out to be a realistic fiction writer in

English(Rao, Ranga 29-30)Then onwards Narayan developed his style where

imagination mingled with external reality. His personal life mingled with that of

people around him and he kept writing and publishing novels one after the other. The

individual characters became rich with components of social reality and the

experiences of people around them. In the novel like Waiting For The Mahatma

political disturbances of the 1930s and 1940s were presented through the lives of

young men and women. His popular novel The Guide was as he has said on the idea

of “ someone suffering enforced sainthood”. This novel’s idea came to him from a

real life experience but Narayan has taken the Indian concepts of sainthood,

renunciation and self realization within the modern world to a highly dramatic

28
conflict.The Guide has become one of modern India’s enigmatic and symbolic novel

and has brought Narayan lot of fame. By now Narayan was able to make sufficient

money to live well which however did not change the man who had valued even half

a rupee in his life.The earlier economic struggle whereNarayan had conducted himself

with Gandhian austerity had toughened him and gave him an inner strength, great self

confidence, gentle wit which he shared with his cartoonist brother Laxman. Laxman

had also illustrated several of his works like Malgudi Days and Gods, Demons and

Others- their joint venture shows shared aesthetic ideas, methods and world view.

The Vendor of Sweets is a novel based upon the cultural clash that takes place

when people travel from India especially the younger people to America. In this novel

Narayan brought in many cultural changes that had become obvious in India reaching

even a small town like Malgudi.

Narayan grew old gracefully. He had accepted life; old age and death were just

stages in the journey. He mused on death. Anthony Spaeth of the Time magazine

reported, Narayan said: “ I don’t believe that death really is death; it is a continuation

of personality in a different medium.What we lose is the physical structure, but there

is something else that keeps the physical structure moving and thinking and acting.

It’s like casting off your old clothes and getting new ones”(My Days 24).

In May 2001, Narayan was hospitalized. He died on 14 May,2001 at the age of 94,

being old and full of days.

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 History of Cartooning

A cartoon is a creation which brings together visual art through sketching and

comment in the same frame. Cartoon is often regarded as non serious meant only to

provoke laughter it can also be serious business. A talented artist can make it a

“deadly potion”12 as has been seen in the last 200 years. Caricature and distorted

images do not become cartoons. There is a high level of intelligence that goes into the

making of a good cartoon.In the words of Rita Khanduri , “ Cartoons are forms that

silently instill wisdom, hit foibles and on the whole elevate character. As a visual

reaction to events cartoons have the ability to reflect as well as shape public opinion.

They are complex images with layers of sub-textual meaning. The bundling of

caricature,prose, topical content and a dash of humour makes the cartoon a medium of

news with a character all its own.”13

The forms of cartoon and caricature came into vogue in the 1590s with the

works of Italian brothers Annibale and Agostini Carrcci14 . Comic and satirical art in

its verbal form can be traced back to ancient times. The question who drew the first

cartoon is not an easy one to answer as comic and satirical art can be traced back to

ancient times. It is generally believed by historians of cartoons that John Leech whose

drawing on July15,1843 published in the Punch is the first cartoonist of the modern

period.15 Punch was launched on Saturday July 17,1841. This cartoon with the caption

‘Cartoon No. 1: Substance and Shadow’ is considered to be an important point in the

history of cartooning.Benjamin Franklin, the well-known American political thinker

was both, a practising politician and a writer of insight into the affairs of his time. His

cartoon with the caption “ Join or Die” published in a Philadelphia based newspaper

Pennsylvania Gazette on May 9, 1754 is believed to be the first of its kind in

America. This cartoon depicts the early American colonies as a snake divided into
30
eight segments. During Franklin’s era there was a myth that a severed snake would

come back to life if the pieces were put together before sunset16.Cartooning like other

cultural art forms that took roots has distinct history in every place. In England one

finds another talented cartoonist ,William Hogarth who brought new dimension to this

art for he looked at the street life and the life of the common men.This art was made

into a powerful voice of the public when cartoons were used to question actions of

powerful political or financial authorities.Political leader,capitalists, factory owners

and other figures in social and political life were targeted by cartoonists.

William Hogarth who is credited with being the father of British caricature

took lively interest in the street life of London and the streetsare peopled by common

men so cartooning originated copying real life. Cartooning is a corollary of the very

high art of painting and both are related to human figure. A painter draws the picture

of a model ( a human being) and Cartooning also caricatures real men. It is a drawing

but with exaggerated strokes. The cartoons made by a single person over a span of

time or made by different individuals over the same period of time can become a

social document.Cartoons can narrate the history of an era similar to another public

visual form of art like photography but there are notable differences between the art of

photography and cartooning.Cartooning is interpretation of a situation while

photography is representation of a situation or a person. A photo can be ambiguous

but there is no scope for ambiguity in cartoons. A cartoon has to say something but a

photograph may not necessarily say something. A photograph can evoke a mood but a

cartoon may or may not evoke a mood. A cartoon is not a real image like a

photograph. It is drawn by the simple strokes of a brush or a pencil. A photograph is

sans the comment so the cartoon has an added advantage of an intelligent comment

which can bring out the essentials of a character or a depicted situation. A photograph

31
needs the presence of a model but a cartoon doesn’t. Caricature is possible in the art

of cartooning but not in a photograph.

The novel is a picture of real life and manners and of the times in which it is

written. The recurrent stress on plausibility, the natural, the ordinary and the

contemporary contribute to the idea of the novel as a realist form. Stendhal, in his

novel The Red and the Black made striking use of the traditional realist metaphor of

the mirror:“ Why, my good Sir, a novel is a mirror journeying down the high road.

Sometimes it reflects to your view the azure blue of heaven sometimes the mire in the

puddles on the road below”(64)

If we study the novels of Charles Dickens there is a democratic emphasis on

humble workers, charwomen, tramps, beggars, criminals, children and people without

any privileges. Such writers are the leaders or harbingers of change in social thinking

and imagination.If the novel portrayed the contemporary social world through words a

cartoonist like Hogarth made the picture full of small details and a vibrancy of its

own.It is significant that Hogarth had illustrated several of Dicken’s novels,since both

the artists looked upon the lower social strata with equal sympathy. Both novel and

cartoon comment upon the contemporary social, political situations and both may

choose to cause laughter.

Both the art forms of novel and cartoon stem from realism. We tend to ignore

the similarity and the cause of their genesis. Both these art forms belong to popular

culture. Both these arts touched all classes.Cartoons apart from depicting common

man and his life also gives him the power to raise his voice.The humble and

powerless common man is unable to raise his voice due to fear of repercussions of

32
criticizing the influential people. This suppressed voice is made public through

cartoons and the object of ridicule is unable to show his anger.

Cartoons in the eighteenth and nineteenth century England were made by

political commentators who had sharp wit. They used this art form to expose political

figures, their pretences and falsehoods. The growth of cartoons in England is closely

related to the humourous magazines launched from time to time like Punch in 1841

and Vanity Fair in 1868,a weekly magazine which gained immense popularity due

toits cartoons.A little later in the twentieth century the magazine Private Eye was

launched in 1961. It is the work of intelligent cartoonists like Steadman and Scarfe

that the political satire in the post world war era continued to command people’s

interest and appreciation.17During the world war rebellious citizens have used

cartoons to expose authoritarian governments for example the polish cartoonists who

in 1944 made some cartoons against Nazi and Fascism.18

Another dominant cartoonist of the western world is David Low(1891-1963).

He became famous chronicling the rise of fascism in 1930s,the policy of

Appeasement and the conflict of the world war II.His stinging depictions of Hitler and

Mussolini led to his work being banned in Germany and Italy.19

In India as newspapers began to be published in English and the various

regional languages cartoons of political and social nature also appeared. The targets of

these satires were the colonial rulers as well as the Indians themselves. The Indian

cartoonists did not spare their own countrymen’s hypocrisies, pretensions and

falsehoods. Important Indian cartoonist like K. Sankar Pillai(1902-1989) raised

cartoons to a new level of respectability in India with his magazine Sankar’s Weekly

in 1948. It was only during the emergency that he had to close down the magazine

33
after which he devoted his niche to making children laugh . He was awarded the

Padma Vibhusha.In India cartoon has become an essential part of the daily newspaper

where it uses the day’s most intriguing, worrying piece of news into a less grim piece

of news by adding a touch of humour to it. It does not belittle the significance of the

news yet it conveys an important point that the worst problems of life can be tackled

more smoothly if a pinch of humour is added to it hence in every regional, local

newspaper in various languages one finds a cartoon almost every day. R.K.Laxman is

the cartoonist who chronicled the first sixty years of India’s independence.Reviewing

the work of Laxman, India’s best known cartoonist author Ritu Khanduri points out

how the cartoonist can also shape public opinion. “ Laxman’s common man cartoons

were a cynical portrayal of Indian governance, generating an early discourse on

corruption”20.Other illuminaries in the field of cartooning in India are Sudhir

Dar(born 1934), Abu Abraham(1924-2002),O.V.Vijayan(1930-2005) and Mario

Miranda(1926-2011) and Ajit Ninan (1955-). In the foreign countries several books

on political satire and the art of cartooning have been published like The Art of Ill

Will: The Story of American Political Cartoons by Donald Dewey, American Political

Cartoons: The Evolution of a National Identity,1754- 2010 by Stephen Hess and

Sandy Northrop, The New Yorker Book of Political Cartoons edited by Robert

Mankoff .In India some of the books that are more commonly known on the art of

Cartooning are Dharmendra Bhandari’s R.K.Laxman: The Uncommonman(2009) ,

Ritu Khanduri’s Caricaturing Culture in India: Cartoons and History in the Modern

World (2014),C.R. Devadawson’s Out of Line : Cartoons , Caricature and

Contemporary India.Other cartoonists like O. V. Vijayan are better known as writers

of fiction and the work so far has focused on their fiction. However they are skilled

cartoonists too,and need to be recognized as such. Critical analysis of their skill as

34
cartoonists is very little and remains to be taken up more seriously.References to Abu

Abraham as a person and the artist are seen in the book Abu Abraham’s House by

Lawrence Wilfred who was an equally well known architect but it is doubtful if the

study of his cartoons has come out in full length. So far the work of cartoonists like

Sudhir dar and Mario Miranda are appreciated but critically analysed only in

encyclopedias and other such references. This important aspect of a popular Indian

art which has been neglected, shows neglect of important Indian artists.

Cartoons and novels reflect the history and culture of a country. As one reads

the novels of Narayan and then goes through the cartoons of Laxman one finds a great

similarity of concerns and perceptions so one can conclude that same perceptions and

notions were coming up in the collective imagination of the Indian society.This

comparative study of the novel and cartoons is an over-all cultural study of Indian

society of the time in which these two brothers Narayan and Laxman were born and

gained maturity. This was the time of overwhelming political and social changes as

the entire nation was caught up in the nationalist struggle. From north to south and

east to west the entire India was fighting against the British colonial exploitation and

moved like one wave of humanity against the oppressive rulers.This generation came

under the influence of great leaders , thinkers and writers all of whom spoke of

noblest values, human sympathy for the exploited masses and encouraged the

commonest of citizens to become a flame of social change and revival of dignity.

Artists, writers, painters, singers and cartoonists were immensely influenced by this

new culture and their individual works reflected their noble approach to life. The

collective imagination of the nation was therefore inspired, influenced and moulded in

very similar manner. In presenting the two artists using different mediums verbal and

visual this thesis wants to look into that collective imagination as reflected intheir

35
very different and similar art. Their forms being different have different aesthetical

norms, requirements and parameters so the differences in their work are inherent in

their mediums but as one looks into the content of their works one discovers

significant similarities. The comparative study of the novel and the cartoons of these

two artists wants to bring together two artists’ expressions with the assumption as

they were generated in the same milieu before and after independence they are not

talking in two different directions. This thesis will explore the differences and the

similarities in the works of these two artists. .

Is Cartooning an art of ill will? Although the primary objective of a cartoon is

to criticize yet it tries not to offend. It is a subtle, soft criticism. The lines are loaded

with meaning. It points towards some prominent wrong or exposes hypocrisy or some

sinister will behind the scenes but avoids hitting below the belt.It exposes the wrong

but does not make the object nude. A subtle hint is provided to the reader. The

condensed narrative of the cartoons as represented by the pithy caption can hit more

severely than a thousand words of the narrative of a novel.The cartoons can be

transformative and even incendiary

If we comparethe two art forms on the basis of the time scale of the narrative;

we can say that a novel can cover a time span varying from a day to years but a

cartoon freezes time still there is a context or history behind each cartoon which can

vary.The exposition of narrative works differently in the novel and the cartoon. A

novel has a beginning , middle and end but a cartoon functions in a different form.A

good cartoonist is one who can extract the main details of an object or a human being

and simplify in shapes.A human being has the ability to synthesize the details that

make up a structure or an object in very complex ways into very basic and simple

ones. This way we can represent any type of thing. A cartoon style has two
36
premises.It simplifies the details of face and body and tries to exaggerate the facial

expressions.In order to give a little more realism to the characters the cartoonist

observes the behaviour of people in real life. They look at photos or study the style of

their favourite cartoonist. It is when the cartoonist looks at real life that he can extract

quality information for his drawings. Proportion is the most important factor to

consider in building a cartoon character.The artist should keep in mind the relative

size of body parts because it is based on them that a cartoonist defines the structural

features of his characters.

A cartoon has to get to the crux of any issue or situation and depict it through

a drawing and comment but in a novel a whole narrative structure is woven around a

issue creating a chain of events to discuss any issue. A novelist has to analyse the

situation extensively.Other differences between the two art forms is that novel is a

verbal art form while cartoon is a visual art form.A cartoon can become topical but

Ritu Khanduri argues in book Caricaturing Culture in India :Cartoons and History

in the Modern World that though the life span of cartoons can be as short as a firefly

but its sting can linger on for a long time(99). This perspective offers a way to think

about the enduring significance of ephemeral cultural forms of which the daily

newspaper cartoon is the finest example.The form of novel gives greater scope for

depicting character growth and psychological in-depth analysis. Reading a novel takes

time but a cartoon can be read and comprehended in five minutes. The imagination of

a single cartoonist resonates with the collective imagination of the masses and hence

becomes hugely popular.

The message that is condensed in a single cartoon spreads far and wide. The

particular enclosed in a cartoon has the potential to become universal if it resonates or

vibes with the concerns of public like Laxman’s famous cartoon when the scientists
37
are looking for a living being who can survive on moon they zero in on a common

man and the caption reads, “ This is our man. He can survive without water,food, light

and shelter”(BUTY, Cover Page). In this caption the plight of the common man is

expressed very succinctly and effectively. A novel which vouches to bring about

social reform will show the plight of weaker sections and will convey the same

message as showcased in the caption but the novel will use a macro narrative and

what is true of common man or destitutes in Laxman’s cartoons or in Malgudi is true

of destitutes anywhere in the world.Cartoon as an art form has often strayed into

political(ongoing) debates and has been tempted to become exaggerated,

overemphatic or lop sided.Just as many renowned novels in the world are considered

to be a history of the nation and a document of the socio- cultural life of a nation like

Premchand’s Godan, Raja Rao’s Kanthapura which is a depiction of the whole

nationalist movement, Tagore’s The Home and the World and Leo Tolstoy’s War and

Peace , the cartoons of one artist or a group taken over a span of a decade or two can

also become the record of the history, social and cultural developments and the

making of a nation. In the history of cartoons in USA, UK brilliant cartoons depicting

striking water-shed events, historical events of the country are recorded but they are

individual cartoons depicting individual events but when analysed collectively as a

group they are a record of the history of the country. This thesis tries to examine

Laxman’s work from 1947 to 2008 to show how it became a balanced record of the

nation’s political and cultural history,depicting its painful,glorious and difficult

times.Laxman has painstakingly portrayed the various moods and experiences of the

peoples life. States as in India are constantly being caught in different debates that are

divisive and inflammatory because such over emphatic portrayal of a debate or

political opinion makes the cartoons more than illustrative representations of

38
news.The power of the cartoons in democratic processes around the world is

significant because they can mould public opinion, incite people to action and can

take the whole nation in their sweep.When the society is hit hard by rising cost of

living, inflation, back breaking taxes the individual imagination of the cartoonist is a

reflection of the collective or social imagination and touches the chords of people’s

heart. Even before Gandhiji propelled the social reform movement with his powerful

ideas and tried to do away with social inequities in the nineteenth century the

rumblings of voicing the concerns of the oppressed class were floating in collective

social imagination. Tagore who voiced the concerns of the socially ostracized class in

his play Chandalika and Premchand who spoke about the oppressed class in Godan

and short stories like Kafan and January Night condemned the colonial rulers and the

Indian Social system for being insensitive to the plight of poor people.This concern

present in collective imagination saw its reflection in the individual imagination of

the novelist and the cartoonist expressed in a better manner and hence gained

popularity.

A novel as enunciated by E. M. Forester comprises of the following essentials.

Story, people, plot, fantasy, prophesy, pattern and rhythm.In a cartoon it is not

feasible to show the growth or development of character. Suppose one studies a series

of fifteen cartoons on Jawahar Lal Nehru one can distinguish different qualities of his

many-sided personality but these qualities are just a reflection of the character traits

present in the real object of caricature but in a novel even while depicting a well –

known character like Gandhi the author can provide his own point of view or a new

insight into the character.A novel can be mystical, mysterious, vague, philosophical

and plotless but a cartoon cannot. A cartoon needs the solid ground of a theme or an

issue on which it is created.Political cartoons not only capture the Zeitgeist

39
throughout history but the most powerful cartoons retain the ability to shock, gall and

inspire long after their creation. Recent events in Europeand India are ample evidence

to the fact of cartoons inciting extreme fanatic responses which as Navasky has

discussed in his book The Art of Controversy : Political Cartoons and Their Enduring

Power (2013). Violence has been the fate of many controversial cartoons in different

parts of the world. In this context it is important to find out if Laxman ever invoked

controversies or angry outbursts. This thesis will try to examine how Laxman could

remain above such violent reactions.

A Short Biography of R.K.Laxman

R.K.Laxman was born on 24 october 1924 in Mysore. He started sketching on

the wall when he was three21. Laxman was the youngest of six sons. His strict

headmaster father passed away when he was young. However his mother who was

social, cheerful and accomplished at tennis, bridge and chess filled the void and

allowed the young artist to give expression to his nascent creative impulse. As a child

Laxman spent his days sketching. He did not dream of becoming a lawyer or a

doctor.His favourite pastime was to sit on a bench in the market square with his

sketch book,observing people and recording impressions.

Books and magazines which were a part of his father’s collection were also a

source of inspiration. His favourite magazines were The Strand, Bystander, Wide

World, Tid Bits and Punch. He used to spend hours studying each drawing until he

unconsciously developed a visual sense of humour for he had a “Keen eye” and had a

gift for recalling details.”22

One day at a drawing test at school, he drew a peepul leaf on a slate. “ You

will be an artist one day,” was the teacher’s astonished response23. It was Laxman’s

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first rave review and a defining moment in his life. He started thinking of himself as

an artist in the making and his drawings all over the house began to proliferate. This

was the beginning of his understanding of the role of a cartoonist; “a cartoonist born

with a cock-eyed vision manipulates a face or a human situation and distorts it

without losing the essence of humour.”24

When Laxman reached high school he chose drawing and painting as optional

subjects. He gradually became acquainted with professional painters in Mysore. Their

company aided his artistic growth. His talent got noticed and he received his first

commission :illustrating articles for the magazine of Mysore university. The editors

were highly pleased with his work. He began to contribute cartoons to a new

humourous magazine called ‘Koravanji’ that was launched in Bangalore.

Overtime Laxman started showcasing some of his work- ordinary common

man in every day pursuits,like vegetablesellers,gypsies,children in all myriad moods-

at the art gallery in Mysore Exhibition grounds. He also came in contact with the rich

and the famous for the first time. Lady Todhunter, wife of Sir Charles Todhunter,

advisor to His Highness of Mysore, was in charge of an elite kindergarten. She

commissioned Laxman to paint murals on the walls of the building. He was also

assigned the task of making postcards to help the war effort----- World War II was

raging at the time . His drawings were printed and sold as postcards. Further , he

began to illustrate his brother R.K.Narayan’s short stories for The Hindu and his tales

set in fictional Malgudi.

All this while, Laxman continued to grow and mature as an artist. A factor that

helped him in his growth was his access to Krishna & Co.Bookseller in Mysore. The

owner allowed him to browse through all the art books, including entire volumes on

41
the history of European art; from Renaissance to Impressionism. This experience held

him in good stead during his later travels through Europe where he saw the original

paintings in art galleries.25

The British caricaturist David Low inspired Laxman a lot. Laxman used to

admire his drawings in The Hindu. He would spend hours observing their finer points,

the perspective, the drapery all done in controlled distortion. These caricatures were

masterpieces of visual satire. It also introduced him to political comment which

became his chief weapon.

As Laxman was totally absorbed in his art, he paid little heed to school. He

was even caned by his teachers on occasions! However when the results of the final

examinations were announced he did well in most of the subjects. Unfortunately, he

failed in Kannada by five marks which disqualified him from entering intermediate

college but he was consoled by his elder brother Narayan. He declared proudly that

failure in the English entrance examination did not prevent him from becoming an

outstanding novelist in the English language.

Once he recovered from the blow Laxman decided that any attempt to enter

college was a waste of time, for he was an artist; so he applied for admission to the

renowned Sir J.J. School of Arts in Mumbai.26 He was quite surprised to be told that

the sample of work he had given did not qualify him for enrolment.It is a sweet irony

of fate that many years later he was invited by the Dean of the institution to distribute

prizes to the winners of the annual exhibition of paintings by students. Laxman took

his revenge by making a brief speech which was a little sarcastic, even caddish.

Another consequence of the rejection was that Laxman took Kannada tuitions, cleared

the examination and joined college, although a year later.

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 During his vacations, Laxman received an invitation from a cartoonist in

Chennai who was thinking of producing and directing an animation film based on the

mythological character Narada. He had seen Laxman’s work in The Hindu and

wanted him on board as chief animator for a salary of Rs. 250 a month. When he

went to Chennai to meet the man, Laxman’s intellectual and aesthetic sensibilities

were offended by the crude nature of the humour but he continued to work for the

three month period. The following anecdote will illumine the dedication, devotion

and thorough research that Laxman put in his drawings. In his words,

I was to draw a character tumbling down a hundred steps of a staircase that

led to heaven. When I went back home at night, I also took the trouble of enacting

an actual fall down a staircase when no one was looking. I carefully took notes of

my observations; the angle of the hand trapped under the body, the twist of the

limbs, facial grimaces and so on. Later I incorporated these authentic details as I

worked on drawing after drawing.27

The film according to him, was an anti-climax. Laxman was supremely

unimpressed with the entire project.

Laxman’s first political cartoon was caused by the postal employees’ strike across

the country who were demanding higher wages.He began to visualize a cartoon as he

read the news item. He immediately drew it and took it to a monthly called Swarjya.

The editor saw the cartoon and accepted it straightaway for the latest issue.28

After completing his graduation in Mysore, Laxman went to Chennai to get a

job. By then, he already had a small income from his regular freelance work. Besides

he was also engaged in minor projectssuch as advertisements for toilet soap and

43
posters to promote adult literacy. But this did not satisfy Laxman as he aspired to

become like David Low.

Laxman began to look for new positions. He went to Delhi and met the editor

of The Hindustan Times who appreciated his work but could not give him a job due to

lack of vacancy. Laxman liked to recall later how many years afterwards he was

honoured with the Durga Ratan gold medal, an award given in the memory of the

same editor who had treated him so kindly29. However he did not have such a pleasant

experience with a “somnambulant senior editor” of The Indian Express, who taunted

him with questions like : “Why do you want to become a cartoonist? What’s so great

about that job? Why not take up some other job?” Ironically, after many years the

express group gave him a cash award and a citation for professional excellence!30

Laxman came to Mumbai and tookup the job of a political cartoonist in The

Free Press Journal in Bombay.To quote Laxman’s own words from the book R. K.

Laxman: The Uncommon Man “I used to sit bent over my drawing board for nearly

ten hours a day”(Bhandari7).Bal Thackeray was his fellow cartoonist there.

Thackeray was “competent and efficient but preoccupied with the idea of saving

Maharashtra, its pristine glory, people, language and culture.”

After leaving Free Press Journal Laxman joined The Times of India. The

initial assignments were found to be unsufficiently mentally stimulating and

challenging. According to him “I felt my intellectual capacity was getting atrophied

and I was losing the sharp satirical perspective and eye for absurdity that forms the

soul of a political cartoonist”(Bhandari 8). Laxman started drawing political cartoons

to appease his mental unrest.

44
 When the editor saw these political cartoons he offered Laxman the front page

which finally became his established position. Over time, the proprietorship of Benett,

Coleman and Co. ltd. Changed to Indian hands and Laxman was shifted from the art

section to the editorial department, with the designation ‘Chief Political Cartoonist’ of

The Times of India. On the 150th anniversary of the newspaper in1988 the Indian

government immortalized Laxman’s creation the ‘ common man’ by issuing a stamp

with the picture of common man on it.

Laxman has described his manner of working in detail in his autobiography

The Tunnel of Time.His method of creation was both relaxed and unique. He read the

newspapers and cogitated. Once he had deliberated carefully on the news itemshe

then weighed its graphic possibilities. Then he began to visualize the entire cartoon

thinking of every detail “down to the carved legs of the furniture”31.Once the picture

was complete then came the master stroke as he says, “Then came the punch line, full

of self importance and self satisfaction mouthed by characters unaware that they were

ridiculing themselves ”(Bhandari 9). His editors were satisfied too- throughout his

entire career, not a single cartoon or caption has been edited or amended.

Besides the political cartoons, Laxman started tackling civic problems in his

single column daily feature ‘You said it’. He dealt with postal delays, negligence of

municipal authorities, inadequate drainage system, traffic problems, bureaucratic

hurdles etc. Laxman did many cartoons on these subjects, most of which are talked

about and reprinted in periodicals even today. Laxman took imaginative liberties with

the world of reality as he invented his own symbols. He created his own characters

which were based on the ministers, officers and several other public figures around

him.

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 Laxman developed his unique art of caricature. He dealt with satirical

concepts strictly on the familiar level of everyday life.His method of creating a

cartoon was minimal for he did not believe in gross exaggeration. As time went by his

readers found in him not just a ribtickling cartoonist but a thinker, social reformer,

political scientist and critic of errant politicians. He began to receive letters

complaining about postal delays, sloppiness of municipal authorities, inflated electric

bills , even bribes in school admissions.32

Laxman is fondly remembered for his signature creation the common man.

The bespectacled character seems to be ubiquitous. He is a mute witness to drought

stricken villages, to P.M.’s banquet hall or a science laboratory.The character was

created when Laxman thought of minimizing his efforts to show the general public in

his cartoons. According to Laxman—“ I had to draw quite a crowd to indicate the

common citizen. Sometimes when I had to work against time, I used to reduce the

number of these common citizens.”Laxman kept creating different representative

figures till he hit upon the figure that became the “ common man” In Laxman’s

words this common man was “bald and bespectacled; mute, his bulbous nose propped

above a bristly moustache, with a permanently bewildered look and dressed in a dhoti

and checked coat ” ( Bhandari,10).

Dharmendra Bhandari states that a closely guarded secret is that “this man”

that Laxman refers to is none other than the cartoonist himself. Proof of this is a

cartoon drawn in 1954 in London titled ‘ some holiday snaps’. A drawing of the

common man with the famous statue of Eros is clearly labelled ‘self in the

foreground’, a clear acknowledgement of identity ( Bhandari 10).

46
 Laxman experimented with the appearance and attire of his alter ego, through

whom he could express his own views on contemporary social and political realities.

In1950, the character wore a cap and would sometimes be labeled ‘ common man’. In

1951, he wore a cap, coat and dhoti; in1952, he was even seen in a suit and tie; and in

1953, he appeared in black cap and black coat; over the next couple of years, the

character was seen with a lot of hair and wearing checked pants, both with and

without a cap. By 1954, the present day common man had evolved; although until

1960 he would occasionally be seen in a white or black coat other than his

trademark check. Laxman considered the “common man’s” appearance to have

become an iconic representation of the humble citizen, a “nobody” whose appearance

would remain the same even as the human race entered a new century. It would never

change as he said once, “ Does the colour of the sky ever change?”( Bhandari,10)

After attaining success in the newspaper columns Laxman sought to extend his

horizons to make his body of work rich and diverse. He continued to illustrate stories

and articles for the Illustrated Weekly as a freelance contributor. In his feature

‘Personalities’ he drew colour caricatures of prominent leaders in different walks of

life, both in India and abroad--- without even meeting most of them! He illustrated

books, short stories, articles and also did promotional drawings for commercial

products. For instance, he created the popular character ‘Gattu’ for Asian Paints.

Laxman also continued to draw his favourite subjects: crows and Ganesha. He was

fascinated by crows even as a child. “I tried to draw their antics.” Laxman learnt in

the Smithsonian Institute in Washington D. C. and shared animatedly with his

listeners that the museum’s research on crows reveals that they passed most

intelligence tests, and can count upto seven objects ( Bhandari 15).

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 Laxman found the peculiar physical shape of the elephant deity very

endearing. “There had been a constant effort to resolve all sights and shapes, no

matter how tenacious,remote, vague or abstract, into his dynamic form”( Bhandari

16).

Laxman was also the driving force behind the production of successful show

on Doordarshan ‘ Wagle Ki Duniya’ where actor Shah Rukh Khan got his start. The

two dozen episodes that were prepared were all trivial incidents in anyone’s life such

as taps suddenly running dry in homes, admitting a boy to school, hiring a new

servant, a distant relative suddenly arriving as a guest. The dialogue was based on

Laxman’s tape recorded narration (Bhandari 17).

Laxman was an intensely private individual who shied away from crowds and

disliked being photographed. He had a razor sharp memory and incredible power of

recollection. He relished observing conversations rather than participating in them and

liked solitude. As a traveler he loved to explore new destinations and study different

people.

For an independent man, being dependent on others for the most basic tasks

was extremely depressing after the stroke which he suffered. Eventually, it was the

lure of the job that got him back on his feet—he was determined to start drawing

again.The greatest source of motivation for him at this trying time was his beloved

wife,Kamala.His wife is the bedrock of his existence—just like the common man’s

wife in his cartoons.Laxman was just three years old when he first saw Kamala; she

was a newborn, his elder sister’s daughter. It was a love marriage that met with no

opposition as unions between uncle and niece were common practice in southern

India. Laxman felt very strongly about the world we live in today, whether it’s the

education system or the media.

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 Laxman became skeptical of the relevance of his own profession. “ The

politician, usually the one who inspires the cartoons, has also a share in lowering the

quality of cartoons.” He said,

It is a ridiculous aspect of our democratic system that proven

gangsters, murderers and smugglers enter politics freely and stand for

elections from behind bars, to represent the people and serve them,

Earlier their political cunning, the deception they practiced on the

gullible public without being caught, the false promises they made

during election time, were all material for the cartoonist. I exposed

these hidden characteristics through my cartoons , giving a moment of

joy to the tormented common man. But over the years, the sinister

motives and evil intentions of the politicians have ceased to be subtle.

They have become transparent as if put in a glass case for all to see.

The cartoonist needs to do nothing to expose or reveal the clown

behind the mask! It appears that there is no need for a cartoonist any

more.( Bhandari 19)

This uncommon man breathed his last on January 26, 2015 in a world that was

witnessing new forms of rigidity and attacks on the freedom of expression. Recent

attacks on cartoonists working in different publications in the world heighten once

again the value of a daring political commentator like R.K. Laxman.

49
Notes and references:-

1. Mukherjee, Meenakshi.The Twice Born Fiction.New Delhi: Arnold

Heinemann Publishers,1971. 37.Print

2. Narayan, R. K. “ English in India” The Times of India. December 2,1964,10.

Print.

3. Ibid,37.

4. Iyengar,K.R.S.Indian Writing in English. New Delhi : Sterling Publishers Pvt.

Ltd., 1962. 27. Print.

5. Rao, Ranga. R.K.Narayan. New Delhi: Sahitya Akademi,2009.30.Print.

6. Ibid,14-15.

7. Bagmar,G.B. R.K. Narayan: The Novelist Ph.D. diss. Nagpur University,1981.

359.

8. Walsh,William.R.K.Narayan: A Critical Appreciation New Delhi:Allied

Publishers,1983. 166-167. Print.

9. Rao,Ranga. R.K.Naryan. New Delhi:Sahitya Akademi,2009. 16. Print.

10. Ibid,17

11. Ibid,25

12. Cartooning History.www.coolcartooning.com.N.p.n.d.Web.7 June2015.

13. Khanduri,Ritu.Caricaturing Culture in India:Cartoons and Historyin the

Modern World.Cambridge:Cambridge University Press,2014.24.Print.

14. Cartooning History.www.coolcartooning.comN.p.n.d.Web.7June 2015.

15. ibid

16. Hess,Stephen and Sandy Northrop. American Political Cartoons:The

Evolution of a National Identity, 1754- 2010. New York: Transaction

Publishers,2010.21. Print.

50
17. Cartooning History.www.coolcartooning.com N.p.n.d.Web.7June2015

18. ibid

19. ibid

20. Khanduri, Ritu. Caricaturing Culture in India: Cartoons and History in the

Modern World. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2014.26. Print.

21. Bhandari, Dharmendra. R.K.Laxman:The Uncommon Man. Jaipur. 2009.3.

Print.

22. ibid

23 ibid

24. ibid,4

25. ibid

26. ibid,5

27. ibid

28. ibid,6

29. ibid

30. ibid,6

31. ibid,9

32. Laxman, R. K. The Distorted Mirror.Delhi : Penguin. 2003.25. Print.

51
 Works Cited:-

Bhandari,Dharmendra.R.K.Narayan: The Uncommon Man.Jaipur,2009. Print.

Devadawson, C. R. Out of Line : Cartoons, Caricature and Contemporary

India.Hyderabad : Orient Blackswan. 2014.

Dewey, Donald.The Art of Ill Will : The Story of American Political Cartoons.

NewYork : NYU Press. 2008. Print.

Ghosh,Pulakesh. Feminism in R.K. Narayan’s Novels Delhi:Sarup Book Publishers,

2013. Print.

Hess, Stephen and Sandy Northrop. American Political Cartoons : The Evolution of a

National Identity1754-2010. New York : Transaction Publishers.2010.

Iyengar,K.R.S. Indian Writing In English. New Delhi:Sterling Publishers Pvt.

Ltd.,1962. Print.

Khanduri,Ritu. Caricaturing Culture in India: Cartoons and History in the Modern

World.Cambridge:Cambridge University Press,2014.Print.

Laxman, R. K. The Tunnel of Time. New Delhi: Penguin India Ltd. 1972.Print

Laxman. R. K. The Distorted Mirror.New Delhi: Penguin India Ltd.2003. Print.

Mankoff, Robert. The New Yorker Book of Political Cartoons. New York :

Bloomberg Press.2000. Print.

Mukherjee,Meenakshi. The Twice Born Fiction. New Delhi: Arnold Heinemann

Publishers,1971. Print.

52
Narayan, R. K. My Days.New York: The Viking Press,1974.Print.

Naik,M.K . A History of Indian English Literature. Sahitya Akademi, 1982, Print.

Navasky. Victor S.The Art of Controversy: Political Cartoons and their Enduring

Power.New York: Penguin Random House.2013. Print.

Rao, Ranga. R.K. Narayan. New Delhi:Sahitya Akademi,2009.Print.

Walsh,William. R.K.Narayan: A Critical Appreciation. New Delhi : Allied

Publishers, 1983. Print.

Web Sources:-

Cartoon. Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.N.p.n.d.Web.7 June 2015

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/cartoon

Cartooning History.www.coolcartooning.com.N.p.n.d.Web.7June2015.

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