India’s most celebrated cartoonist, Rasipuram Krishnaswamy Iyer Laxman, better known as RK Laxman, was born on October 24, 1921, in Mysore. RK Laxman was known for his cartoons which projected the hopes, fears, aspirations, troubles and sometimes even the shortcomings of the Indian man.
His first full-time job was as a political cartoonist for The Free Press Journal in Mumbai, where Bal Thackeray was his colleague. RK Laxman was quite popular for his “The Common Man” character which portrayed the common issues through his comic strips, which featured in the Times of India later in his career.
R.K Laxman was also conferred with the Padma Vibhushan in 2005, Padma Bhushan in 1973, Ramon Magsaysay Award for Journalism, Literature and Creative Communication Arts in 1984. The legendary cartoonist passed away on January 26, 2015, at the Dinanath Mangeshkar hospital in Pune. Every morning, for over five decades, his fans waited for his cartoons, with his signature checkered jacket, dhoti, Gandhi-glasses.
As we commemorate the legendary cartoonist RK Laxman, let’s take a walk down memory lane and see 10 RK Laxman’s cartoon that were published in The Free Press Journal:
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday paid tributes to legendary cartoonist R K Laxman on his 100th birth anniversary, and said that through his cartoons, he beautifully conveyed the socio-political realities of the times.
