RK Laxman (1921-26.01.2015)

Eminent cartoonist RK Laxman dies at 94

TNN | Jan 26, 2015,

MUMBAI: The genius chronicler of India's life and political history, who unfailingly brought millions of readers the gift of a chuckle every day, is no more.

R K Laxman, the country's best-known cartoonist, passed away on the evening of January 26, at the Dinanath Mangeshkar hospital in Pune, where he was on life support for the past few days. He was 93.

Born in 1921 in Mysore, Laxman had no formal training in cartooning but the work he put out over decades was sheer genius. He began by drawing for local papers, and illustrating the stories of his famous elder brother, novelist R K Narayan, while still at college.

After stints at various publications and even a film studio after his graduation, he came to Mumbai in the 1940s. After a brief spell at the Free Press Journal, he came to the Times group in 1947 and stayed there for the rest of his glittering career.

The recipient of numerous awards, among them the Padma Bhushan, Padma Vibhushan and Magsaysay Award, Laxman's fan base ran into millions. He never let them down, drawing two cartoons a day, always brilliant, with consummate ease. His Common Man, created in 1957, was the symbol of India's ordinary people, their trials and tribulations, their little joys and sorrows, and the mess they found themselves in thanks to the political class and bureaucracy. But despite the sobering reality of this, there was never any rancour in Laxman's cartoons. His humour was always delightful, and no one could hold a candle to his brushstrokes.

Laxman continued cartooning for the Times till 2010, even after suffering a stroke in 2003 which paralysed his left side. In 2010, he suffered another stroke which robbed him of his speech. Ill-health forced him to stop cartooning for the Times but he continued drawing till the very end.

Laxman's last few years were spent in Pune. In the middle of January, he was admitted to hospital to treat a throat infection but complications ensued. The end came after multi-organ failure on January 26.