Freedom to Cartoon, Freedom to Speak Author(s): R. K. Laxman Reviewed work(s): Source: Daedalus, Vol. 118, No.

4, Another India (Fall, 1989), pp. 68-91 Published by: The MIT Press on behalf of American Academy of Arts & Sciences Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/20025265 . Accessed: 01/10/2012 03:52
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Freedom Freedom

to Cartoon, to Speak

.K.

rr r

Laxman

^^Snly

a political cartoonist would fear utopia: what subject would that leave for his art? Political
survived for fifty years has, however, cartooning in changing India, through the sharp tongues and

pencils of its inceptors. During the Emergency of

Mrs. Gandhi's chuckles causing cartoons reign, censors blitzed as well as those inducing silence.

That situation provides a perfect description of the irony in everyday life that the political cartoonist
attempts cartoon to convey. While always political, India's characters satirize without shrill calls to one's humor and hope voiced publicly.

action. They provide the relief that comes with

hearing

The

art of cartooning

is alien

to the Orient,

although

satire

in verse,

prose, and drama has flourished in this part of theworld from time immemorial. In the early days folk songs and folktales made subtle
comments rulers. But on errant human visual artists social evils, and dim-witted nature, did not seem to employ their talent in a to provoke humorous thought or laughter.

a kind of stage the character Vidushaka, at in would irreverent moments asides serious jester, indulge deadly in a play and send the audience into convulsions of laughter. to do with Vidushaka's remarks had something current always in the goings-on kingdom.
R. K. Laxman is a political cartoonist at the Times of India.

lighter vein at any time On the ancient Sanskrit

69

70

R. K. Laxman
But our graphie artist was at all times preoccupied with painting

gods and their glorious deeds. Even such paintings were few and far between ifwe can judge from the evidence available today. Perhaps because the humid tropical conditions shortened the life of paintings
the artist chose marble demons and a more a lasting medium profusion of in stone to preserve his work.

He felt more at home with chisel and mallet and sculpted away in
granite and dancing damsels, varying temples, images of gods and to the in size from the gigantic

most delicate filigree design. In England, the birthplace of the political cartoon, this art arrived late, long after prose and poetry had satirized society and the
government seventeenth for centuries. century. in the late Cartooning appeared only to it and It is of the Continent. By by spread a century ago. the subcontinent,

recent origin in India. It came here along with the British and made
its appearance than half only a little more In the course of their effort to colonize very practical became habits, which were. it The English a few, to mention cricket, and took root in our soil. Meanwhile, comic drawings and reasons we for

imbibed many British tastes, eccentricities, and with the passage of time our second culture, as the newspaper habit, and of course, language, came over in this manner Punch weekly our first exposure from England arrived. Its

the London

humorous were almost jokes

to this kind

of artwhich distorted reality. The educated class of Indianswho were in a minority and could read and write English became addicted to
this magazine. humor. Even at Punch those who became couldn't a household understand name and a synonym for the captions could enjoy

ears and with of characters the drawings exaggerated looking women at men. at and seaside obese noses, elongated bean-pole-like new in this visual form was an altogether For the educated, humor came were so to it that believe they impressed with They experience.

that British humor was

anecdotes because thrived in many

the best. Although

regions in various

indigenous jokes and

local languages and and and the

dialects, they unfortunately remained at the level of private jokes

the paucity of printed matter, of the language barriers, to the matter of laughter indifference above all the community's in a misunderstanding indifference resulted humor. This among eager to be counted out of this class of less educated

English that the Indian lacked a sense of humor. The educated Indian,
countrymen,

Freedom

to Cartoon, Freedom
Thus

to Speak

71
spread

the misconception. heartily agreed with and gained general acceptance. the introduction of the printing With care not to

the impression

and, taking appeared colonial rulers, began to air local but there were also a few magazines English, vernacular languages. Of course, the press

press later, a few newspapers tread on the sensitivity of the issues. These papers were mostly in catering to readers of

at the time did not play

any role as a weapon

to strike a blow for democracy or freedom. Itmerely applauded the philanthropic acts of some individuals or preached at length against such issues as child marriage or condemned the lack of social
great long. were significance taking place all over the country. Political parties were coming into existence. Demands for social reform, self-rule, and unclean consciousness, in this benign remain habits, state and for the like. But Events the press of did not national

freedom to discuss national affairs on the public platform and in the

press began to be voiced.

The British rulers heard it all, but although they practiced and preached democracy at home and zealously guarded it as the guarantor of human dignity and fair play, they did not believe it applied to the Indians. They reacted predictably by passing laws to
stifle the voice of freedom. and legitimacy to show the press began freedom of expression of course, and criticized the rulers cautiously, and their style of governing the country. When the comments got the authorities considered them seditious and clamped down bolder, some of the more In this process closed daring newspapers a those that advocated in freedom tone muted Only mild, survived. to the cause This action and only gave vitality stirred up national Now consciousness. It exercised muscle. signs of developing

with censorship. Editors were duly punished with fines and impris
onment. down.

The political cartoonist worked

ensure not his paper's survival. He to annoy any person in monsters, abounded or question angels,

under restricted conditions

ideas to broad Thus, snakes, any policy. lions, symbols his cartoons jackals,

to

kept his tigers,

so as and

elephants. There were, of course, the celebrated bulldog and the lion to represent the British rulers.A dove-eyed suffering angel symbolized
mother India, otherwise known as Bharat Mata. The other creatures

72

R. K. Laxman
violence, injustice, menagerie variously represented to of the hour. and the needs famine, according pestilence the cartoonist the national struggle began to gain momentum, ruler. But posters and of still the cartoons significant were more in line with They propa por

in the cartoonist's want, As colonial ganda vague theme

ventured to draw the paunchy, thick-set John Bull to represent the

than with satirical comments.

trayed flaming patriotism and lampooned the alien ruler, but in a

a safe limit set by the system. The impersonal way within was in the same but presented the cartoons always in variations: of the nation Bharat Mata, the mother innumerable on them. Again, written the the legend "Imperialism" chains with

same ladywas shown being crushed under the jackboot of John Bull or being burdened with the deadweight of colonial exploitation.
is no way to gauge the reaction of the common cartoons. reader to these flamboyant they were viewed with Perhaps was that shown towards the same interest and uncritical acceptance At this time there

an illustration in a book of mythological tales. Our entire creative activity revolved round the mythology of the Ramayana and the
Mahabharata. Krishna, The the dance poets composed based songs in praise of Rama, the and Shiva. form was on the classics and so was

Similarly,

art of sculpture, which always depicted devotional themes. It is very likely that the cartoons of John Bull and BharatMata appeared to the
viewer versions In fact, because dents Ravana as extensions the eternal of conflict in new those mythical concepts, showing evil and good. between a little more the cartoonist when gained the numerous and dressed the number inci ready-made them up to fit the of evil aspects of

in later years,

independence, his task of looking for ideas was considerably eased

he borrowed and anecdotes came from heavily in our mythology

irony in current political events. Thus the ten-headed demon king

in very handy to represent

the alien administration. Similarly, the British rulers' show of liber alism through reforms which were of doubtful benefit to the people,
shot down

with his mythological bow and arrow representing in a complicated way the combined forces of patriotism and determination. Now these
cartoons may seem somewhat they made semiliterate. taste. Nevertheless, were illiterate or clumsy and crude a great impression able They were to our sophisticated on the people who to comprehend the

by the nationalist

party, was

shown

in the role of Rama,

Freedom

to Cartoon, Freedom

to Speak

73

Sample of a Vintage political manner prevailing content familiar situation. in a cartoon to them because

Cartoon itwas to them in a presented able to relate it to the

and

they were

as we the rudiments of cartoons they were called cartoons, Though were were of the rather jejune drawings know them missing. They a painter of those days was basically academic type. The cartoonist

74
from became

R. K. Laxman
the art and schools other trained classical But To to turn he of kings and portraits reasons he For pecuniary could not shake off the stiff out

noblemen

characters. alas,

a cartoonist. and cartoon. he no doubt

academic training and allow his lines the free flow that is the soul of
caricature style, which add saw regularly to it the ubiquitous Punch magazine for inspiration and sometimes

for copying, when he desperately needed guidance in drawing a figure, stood in the way of flexibility of draftsmanship. Even in
England taken in those days in drawing under the popular cartoonists or were Bernard Partridge

and John Tenniel, who adhered to a classical style with no liberty

human the features of the human artists without cartoonist distortion nation The influence to draw in them. a determined effort to gain independence. from every corner of the the Punch So our figure. and his own element of

limitations

continued or caricature

cartoons

any

But the Indian cartoonists did not remain docile and banal. The
in engaged was cry for it echoing became loud and clear

subcontinent. The press, both small and large, had become bolder in attacking the British and openly demanded that they quit. The British
were tional hesitant affairs to resort to summary punishments and arrests, for not

only had world opinion become a factor to reckon with in interna

in stature leaders had gained political The arrival of Mahatma international respect. commanding scene as the leader of the Independence on the political Gandhi movement in a big way boost to the freedom gave a moral struggle for his cause. The editorial writers and attracted world sympathy and were became unsparing in attacking the British. but also our own

The cartoonist did not lag behind. So much was happening politically that he could not help getting out of the strait jacket of
conventional draftmanship and mythological ideas. Real governors, collectors, representatives?viceroys, imperial in his cartoons. their grotesque missioners?were appearance making a besides being Mahatma Gandhi, great leader of men, was a great favorite of the cartoonist. toothless the people, and com

with his puckish, His whole appearance and other factors about him made his smile, unique attire, in Even an inexperienced him the delight of the caricaturists. beginner a make caricature of him! could cartooning highly competent

At about this time a young New Zealander had left his homeland
and sailed to England to become the greatest cartoonist the world

Freedom
had ever known. his use His name

to Cartoon,
was David were

Freedom
Low. His new

to Speak

75

concepts,

of material

altogether

style, his visual in the field of

figurative satire. Instead of the usual quill he used brush, which made his drawing bold, simple, and clear. He had a genius for the art of
the caricature, which again was unique. He had the gift to exaggerate them facial features of a celebrity and distort them without making and crude, which used to be the practice earlier. Besides, he grotesque

had a deep knowledge of politics and was a committed champion of

social in the satirical art world of his cartoons justice. The appearance Imitations of his in the 1920s had a great impact on other cartoonists. soon in of the world where every part sprang up cartooning style and Low's work was seen. But the imitations in the course through sheer came nowhere such of time

existed near

effort. However, the great master's a own cartoons acquired quality of their in making good copies of Low's work.

incompetence

cartoons were in some of the In that period Low's reproduced our were in somewhat outdated newspapers country, although they

by the time they reached the Indian shores by boat and their themes
had no relevance trade union subjects movement. in the context of our politics: and Tory-Whig movment, of his cartoons. Occasionally Whatever the subject, itwas the Irish problem, were usually wranglings to draw cartoons the the on vivid

he used

colonial rule and onMahatma Gandhi's arrest and civil disobedience

a joy to look at Low's

cartoons. Our Indian cartoonist was duly influenced by the force of

his lines and the care with which he drew human anatomy, of course, without furniture, and the folds in a dress?all, of the vital need to distort and give a comical twist. buildings, losing sight

and John Tennial, of Punch fame, had By then, Bernard Partridge to the background. and receded outdated become The cartoonist to come seemed under David Low's influence. This inescapably

influence had some beneficial effect on those who had wit and the
capacity to see the irony in a political situation. These few started

with copying Low even in respect to ideas if that somehow fitted a political event here. But gradually they developed their own style and
sense of humor.

A modest degree of education, a general knowledge of mankind

and its matters, acceptable Regrettably, a sense of humor, are necessary drawing the art schools and the competence to the development the resorts of an to produce of a cartoonist. dropouts from

were

16

R. K. Laxman
compulsions from art school The not educated artist who (and still are), so the young could not take on the career of a political even if he had the inborn talent to man,

educational graduated cartoonist. draw, would

think of setting himself up as a cartoonist. Being a India economic had such that her educated poor country, pressures service or in looked for a safer haven in government youth habitually or to law business houses or, still better, took medicine. That was the

reason India had so few cartoonists worthy of the name and the field
was left free for anyone the field He of with a minimum and student was became and of talent. a national had a flair as a figure for drawing. grist to the

In the early 1930s a young man named Shankar Pillai ventured

into cartoonist. national mill cartooning was a law

Looking around him, he felt he could satirize the political scene. The
political movement for the aspiring young freedom gearing cartoonist. up and provided

It is not possible here to go into the details of the political struggle

that our those brave men. or to describe and list each of fighters were waging a Itwould It is enough be business. for complicated between the British here to say that the confrontation leaders was exciting, eventful, and inspiring.

our purpose rulers and the national

The personalities who

tough. There were situation working

clashed with each other were colorful and

needed He for a cartoonist. had the added Shankar, gifted

all the elements

with wit and politically well

in no uncertain

informed, took full advantage of the

of opportunity was he Furthermore,

manner.

in Delhi, the seat of the British Raj. a paper with to Times, join the Hindustan lucky enough intensely a minded views. It was owned rich nationalistic by patriotically

industrialist who gave his total support toMahatma Gandhi and his
an impact on the making and governing councillors began to take note of public. The viceroys or cheered according to their sense of and felt peeved his cartoons cause. Soon Shankar's cartoons were

humor. One of the viceroys had become so benign that he relaxed his
imperious stance and asked for the originals of Shankar's cartoons,

although theywere pretty uncomplimentary to his lordship. Shankar became a favorite of the public and supreme in his field. He helped to
mere of from being the creation of the cartoonist the profession to being on a par in status with in a newspaper the decoration In the course of his commentator and political editorial analyst. elevate

Freedom
career he

to Cartoon,

Freedom

to Speak

77

drawings moment

the quality of his gave rise to many imitators, although was always amateurish, lacking in finish. His ideas were the

kind which
of

induced an instant guffaw rather than provoked a

and laughter. However, he made the contemplation cartoons in of and their place journalism. people conscious an cartoonist the became fellow and was Suddenly important its own cartoonist sought after by editors. Each paper wanted to ridicule and lampoon that be. Editors the powers that realized cartoons were not only instruments cause for fighting the national builders if the cartoonist that from was a talented to present angle. one. The his The own editor

much

but also circulation columns humdrum

common reader got a little bit of relief from the dreary written
at cartoons by looking life and human miseries seemed a funny

recruited young talent but smothered it from blossoming out fresh and original by expecting the cartoonists to draw and think "like
Shankar." The cartoonist It took accepted the demand unprotestingly. influence A

good imitation was handsomely paid forwith the chance to climb the
ladder of success. and original efforts to assert some years for Shankar's themselves. to fade

Then World War II broke out. The cartoonist in India, like his counterparts elsewhere in the world, did not find it hard to find a subject. Hitler, Mussolini, Churchill, Franco, and Stalin readily
offered enough material to last the war. Of course the cartoonist in

India, besides fighting fascism and dictatorship in the international field, had to deal with imperialists at home. But an imperial decree called the Defence of India Rule restricted his freedom. In spite of such conditions Mahatma Gandhi announced at this juncture the "Quit India" movement, which was a call for the British to leave
The a national against the ruler acquired British refused laws, disobeyed cooperation the administration, courted arrest voluntarily, and filled India. The struggle citizens dimension. in running the prisons

to overflowing. Itwas beyond the might of the imperial power to contain the people. It had to fight Germany on the Western front and
Japan on the Eastern. at the end of the war. Finally, Britain promised to leave the country

During all this time the press was muzzled and strict censorship imposed. Therefore, the cartoonist had to settle for attacking Hitler,
and Tojo and only Mussolini, a at the British. take sideswipe occasionally got past the censors to

78

R. K. Laxman
the war ended and to have into to the British made preparations a field day. The nation went existence. Indian Pakistan leaders became drew a

The moment leave, nation Muslim

the cartoonist called Pakistan

began came

through a veritable political earthquake. It split in two and a new

theocratic state. The enlightened up a

sensible constitution based on the democratic ideals of Britain and the United States and declared India a secular republic inwhich every citizen enjoyed equality, liberty, and fraternity. Freedom of the press
was considered to protect sacred balances and checks very important provided run to our democracy. If things had the according and

ideals set by our founding fathers, the job for the Indian cartoonist would have become pretty dull. But, of course, things did not turn
out that way.

It is difficult at this point not to become somewhat reminiscent, for

I happen to have been a witness getting firsthand experience and

impressions of the political scene of the country as it unfolded from the day of our Independence. Itwas at this time I got out of college, from which I graduated in
cartoon I had been a self-taught and philosophy. economics, politics, no out time in I lost Once of ist from a very young school, age. were career. The conditions in the country highly settling down to my

stimulating for a budding cartoonist. Everywhere I looked there

to be a subject India was for a cartoon. split into two appeared soon our was After Pakistan. and there constitution, nations, drafting

we were holding general elections. Then teething trouble for the

young nation started in finding resources, and the virtues the value of democracy the people about educating of secularism, up drawing

plans for industrial progress, improving agricultural yield, abolishing

could satirize. themes the cartoonist In all these there were poverty. comical asides to the serious business of There were also numerous some eccentrics and there were For the nation. instance, building sentences served of fadists in power who, prison having by virtue

during foreign rule, were holding important positions in the ruling party and in the government. These individuals came up with ideas that seemed to be purely for the benefit of the cartoonist. Some of
them nagged funds allotted must that serious-minded by insisting colleagues the ignorant masses education for spreading among cow slaughter. Another be used first for the purpose of banning their more

of their demands was that total prohibition should be introduced in

Freedom
the vast subcontinent

to Cartoon,
out

Freedom

to Speak
Of

79
course,

to drive

the evil of alcoholism.

this measure straight away ushered in illicit distillation, bootlegging crime, and corruption of the police force. This policy paradoxically
resulted excise over the country drinking all to the government. was doing overtime, I As a cartoonist, drawing in excessive revenue state was new and colossal almost loss of

three or four

cartoons a day. The prohibitionist who had become the chiefminister

of our to the office. He seemed somewhat vague about on the our bestowed constitution that the the freedom press and tried to muzzle my activity. But, of course, he could cartoonist was scrapped not succeed. Finally, itwas the prohibition policy that of

when

this gentleman disappeared from the scene after becoming

unpopular with the public. Even after his departure, the

extremely continued Other more

damage he had done to themorals of the people and to the economy

ideas! for many years to inspire me with no were our new less frustrating of aspects republic and pragmatic itwas a paradise. approach No better to administering chance could and

disheartening to the serious political observer who had hoped for a

enlightened for me a nation have come

of (at that time) some 500 million people with aspirations for a better
life. But a cartoonist's India was who way. with some fourteen major languages, which

Hindi had been constitutionally decreed our national language.

a subcontinent

had no relation toHindi and innumerable other dialects. The people

But the Hindi had no clue to Hindi. spoke these languages moment in all that the the Union enthusiasts innocence, imagined, our was went national down and tricolor up, everyone Jack brought

would immediately forget all traces of the English that they had learned over two hundred years and begin to talk and think inHindi.
Overnight, and railway of public places, addresses, postal to and the national the English changed language signboards was act out. turn in This tactless created anti-Hindi script wiped a on resentment fanatics who their rampage? by going expressed were names

burning public transport, damaging public property, and generally demolishing and burning all that could be demolished and burned. It
did not stop with that. The anti-Hindi identities demanded separate linguistic more and deaths, the riots, demonstrations, on a states and the yielded rearranged linguistic agitators for their went union further and states. After many

government at the basis. Now,

80
moment

R. K. Laxman
states each having its own there are twenty-five as a and medium of education, purposes narrow. and parochial cartoons. With no holds barred, the cartoonist language making for the

administrative society in our

All this turmoil added color to our political life and was reflected
lampooned,

ridiculed, and criticized the people at the helm of affairs who were responsible for such colossal bungling.
aim his attack only at administrators. He as was to the public turned his attention behavior well, whose equally name to The wanted streets, public buildings, deplorable. people in history and city squares after their favorite heroes and parks, names after freedom the old the movement, given by the during on a British Raj. They went spree. All the familiar names renaming The cartoonist did not gone, the common man felt as if he had been shifted land. Of course the cartoonist satirized the common and energy on such trivialities. Thus the new nation sparkled with a liveliness unmatched on out to a strange predica man's

ment and attacked themindless frenzy of the public wasting

with many facets of

its time
and

interest,

moved on eagerly toward its fixed goal, falling, stumbling, toddling

in any nation in the world. coat Compared limping had been econom

with

India, the postwar Western world

its dark worn-out social and political centuries. our country was

looked dull and boring.

and hat and system which facing politically,

England was pulling back to a monotonous standardized During

over many all this turmoil

ically, and socially, the press exercised its freedom and criticized the
all of which the political government, parties, and the bureaucracy, a state to in crisis. Even the of eternal combined keep the country were amazed by the boldness with of the world seasoned democracies its role. It was indeed a tribute to our which the press was playing which government, even when Estate unwarrantedly As I became ing on strictly played the press was fair and sometimes the Fourth respected and wrong, unkind,

inwatching and comment entrenched was finding our country, I it of the political phantasmagoria common cartoons. to in Indian define the difficult my increasingly time is of the essence. Deadlines For a cartoonist, hang like the sword over the head of a political A good many cartoonist. of Damocles were to draw masses of people if he minutes be lost would precious

provocative. more and more

Freedom
composed It is easy of Maharashtrians, for the cartoonist large are those such

to Cartoon,

Freedom

to Speak

81

are by and subcontinent anatomy, those with

Punjabis, Assamese. Bengalis, Tamils, in the West, where dress and appearance so in India. At one end of the Not standardized. for whom a turban end of the nation is almost part of their in the extreme south are

and at the other

in that they seem clothed only an individual the of by anatomy! classifying Again, dress he wears. An industrialist, say a textile tycoon, may be dressed in Sanskrit, like a retail fruit seller. Or again, a scholar exactly sparse clothing there is no way

Nehru

English, Greek, and Latin might

old

look like a humble priest of an

I to discover of character, and portray dress, the appear

temple. impoverished common in this medley denomination ance, habit?

So how was

In the early days I used to cram as many figures as I could within the available time, with all sorts of clothing and looks to represent the masses. to a few figures. I narrowed my efforts down Gradually, These of India. Finally, the whole my readers accepted as representing I succeeded in reducing my symbol to one man. He now represents

themillions with his striped coat, bald head with awisp of white hair,

82

R. K. Laxman

You Said It
It's an excellent offer?very sensible, practical, and responsible! We But we can't accept it. It doesn't fit into our policy! and bristling ment, hanging progress. or among mustache supporting a bulbous He a nose, which is ubiquitous. like it.

supports

an

oversized pair of spectacles. He has a permanent look of bewilder

so suitable about Next for our environment. Today he is is in the cabinet room when meeting high-powered woes to their the slum dwellers he is among listening of the the abolition the protest marchers demanding

Freedom

to Cartoon,

Freedom

to Speak

83

nuclear bomb! That, of course, would not preclude him from being
present at a banquet hosted by the prime minister for a visiting

foreign dignitary. This man has for forty years survived all domestic
to protect him have all those politicians who professed He is tough and durable. He truly symbolizes the mute disappeared. millions for he has not uttered a word of our country, in all these are beyond is a bemused of events which his years. He spectator control. a decade of our Within the tribe of cartoon getting independence, ists proliferated. New and many other dailies, weeklies, fortnightlies, crises, while mushroomed types of magazines everywhere. but in almost every written English language These were not only in in the country as well.

for the cartoonist Thus, vast opportunities opened up. As a nation, we are rather prone to talk politics, whether at a bus stand, railway or cocktail party, compartment, public park with our fellow joggers. in those sessions what passes for politics Of course, is really gossip, scandal rooted in some blurred facts, all combined in rumor, hearsay, a to mixture time in it between palatable help spend masticating and political magazines, and listening to political reading newspapers on the radio. That comments not all publications is why, although are political in content, most of them allow a page or two for political as an obligation to the popular satire and caricature pastime. Thus, the country which didn't have a single cartoonist less than a century ago is now swarming with them, good, bad, and indifferent, compe tition among them having become keen and the indifferent ones who sense eliminated. drew without The bad ones improved, to having stand up to professionally in the major superior cartoonists working of the country. this time a series called "You Said It." It was a cartoon which every day on the front page of single-column appeared our paper in its fixed place in the right-hand corner. My idea was to on have a go at a freewheeling socio commentary socioeconomic, a in rather free of real aspects political person lighter vein, political events. The feature was not an attempt alities or factual political at to expose the general mood serious analysis but meant of the country. events drawn and economic in this manner would, I Social, political, newspapers I started at about expected, silently common appeal to those who their lot I created were in their not especially critical and who accepted man, whom life. My taciturn day-to-day was and who off and on in appearing

84

R. K. Laxman

cartoon in the company of Jawaharlal Nehru and his my bigger came in handy for this purpose. The other charac cabinet ministers, ters I built around him in this single-column cartoon were likewise fictitious?the the bureaucrats, the ministers, the crooked villagers, economic the the rebellious the businessmen, experts, students, of the leaders?nearly every type from every walk factory workers, it. "You Said It" proved life as the occasion warranted extremely It has appeared daily for more than three decades, inter

popular. The but to

rupted only briefly whenever I go on a holiday!

reaction there of people to the cartoons is, of course, very gratifying, is no way of knowing the reaction of the ministers who are no way they had an adverse made of a cartoonist. curbing remark about a cartoon, The the

the butt of my attacks. Even if they resented being ridiculed and made
look moment uncouth, a minister

popularity of the cartoonist who had provoked him increased. But by

and large they all went about with an air of good-humored tolerance.

I have had occasion to meet a few people whom I have lampooned. They have expressed admiration for my wit and understanding of political situations but have followed up by suggesting how to
in assessing I have gone wrong and where improve my cartoons, in a democracy certain situations. you They have said, "Of course, are free to say anything, of the but you must work for the welfare society ridicule and not be destructive the cabinet ministers, the lot of the common man!" in your comments. You who after all are working should not to improve

Nevertheless,
the cartoonists ineffectual

amply provided with materials by the ruling party,

of India merrily went their on playing the their role. The

the planners, parties, infighting, opposition international election campaigns, debates, economists, parliamentary to affairs, and a hundred other subjects were there for the cartoonists was ever no to that from. Smugly choose power going believing restrain us, we enjoyed our freedom. of a paper follows the line of editorial By and large the cartoonist

policy prescribed by the editor. And the editorial and the cartoon
from this practice early each other neatly. But I deviated complement to go against my own opinion and in my career. I found it difficult for me, the editors of our paper have always allowed belief. Luckily me an independent and editorial role. I function without supervision,

Freedom
this freedom view our often from results

to Cartoon,
in a cartoon

Freedom
expressing

to Speak

85

a refreshingly

different

that of the editorial. after she lost a court suit that declared the prime as prime

But on June 26,1975, Mrs. Gandhi took the nation by surprise by

abrogating her election minister's minister. pers were constitution To avoid void. to step down from having an emergency and continued

post, she declared We lost our freedom at the mercy in New Delhi. were after deletions primary target.

powers short stories allowed censors' Iwas

of expression The newspa overnight. of the censors, who were at the mercy of the and articles, news items, pictures, Editorials, or ideas and banned for seditious scrutinized were made. Cartoons, of course, became the

Iwas put under the central censor board at New Delhi, although
working supervising in Bombay and there was a regional of the papers and magazines the contents censor who coming was out of

that region. Every day my cartoons had to be sent to Delhi

for

warrant One heard rumors of arrests without and police censorship. to offices. Some of my journalist colleagues went raids on newspaper a a For situation the became cartoonist, nightmare. prison. political Whatever I drew, scales, I ran the risk of offending wives and meek someone in power. mischievous

Helplessly,
weighing

I began to illustrate silly jokes about fat individuals and

extravagant husbands,

imps bothering parents and the like. I never realized that thinking up such imbecilic ideas could be so strenuous and painful. These
cartoons suddenly I flabbergasted. a a the minister and audience with submitted personal prime sought had become mindless memorandum how the censorship explaining to survive and I found it difficult and rigid and how as a cartoonist pleaded leniency tant part. a more to my kindly approach and assured that in a democracy From profession. cartoons Iwas promised played an impor to make their nervous the censor without passed even some of these were difficulty banned! in the beginning. I was But

then on, my cartoons began our in I satirical content. appearance paper once again with anemic to test the patience became overcautious and did not want of the
censors.

I gained courage in slow degrees and made inroads into the taboo areas like the Congress law and order, the struggle of party, inflation, the press under censorship, and the deception practiced by the rulers on the public course In false the of time I through propaganda.

86

R. K. Laxman

Nehru became overconfident and took my freedom for granted, as if Iwere

functioning One day censorship. needle minister was or

in a truly democratic I received a summons When Iwent before

system. from the minister him, he warned

in charge of press me in no uncertain

terms that Iwould be arrested and put behind bars if I continued to

I tried the government. herself had assured me and to him that the prime to explain that I could function normally. He not above it, prime minister no hope if there was for a over I pondered my predicament

became lividwith anger and dismissed me with the threat that there
no a law of censorship prime minister! that Iwas as It seemed in this country any more.

cartoonist

and finally consoled myself with the thought that I had put in over
as a cartoonist thirty years satisfied and seek honorable hope and had had excellent retirement innings. I should be I saw no from this profession. ever go back to the good old days. not in a happy situation either, finding it rule. Moves were on by the opposition activities had in and sabotage to the atmosphere of

that the country would now the government was By dictatorial difficult to maintain to overthrow

the government. parties Underground rumors In of a free press, the absence creased. of law and order circulated freely, adding breakdown

Freedom

to Cartoon,

Freedom

to Speak

87

The administration. of uncertainty and to the difficulty of government minister suffered untold and the prime image of the ruling party the internal and the external pressures international damage. Thus,

forcedMrs. Gandhi to call for general elections in 1977.

her party was routed at the hustings. A new govern Predictably, ment came to power, and I cheerfuly went back to work, fully armed once again with my constitutional rights to lampoon and ridicule the new The set of new rulers. These were drawn from various parties, which

hitherto had functioned only in opposition with mixed ideologies.

functioning with a great deal of But soon ideological clash and understanding. differences, promise and ideas about harebrained economic, social, ing personalities, as cartoonist. It aims almost seemed the task of the political lightened were to if the new administrators there solely to provide inspiration government commenced

Indira Gandhi the cartoonist. of the But power, satirical man's soon much common At stage they even cartoonist and render some existence! Gandhi having was again back in been out in the cold seemed to take over terms the job in the

it in practical

day-to-day

this government fell, and Mrs. and more benign, chastened

88

R. K. Laxman

Indira Gandhi for two years. The policy era. It was of the country went back to that of the till after the end of Emergency that I

pre-Emergency almost puerile, cartoons had come to learned why even my harmless, of Mrs. Gandhi's be censored. A prominent member staff who was told me came about the psychological from among predicament the clerical of the censors. staff. When These cartoon

not

the official in charge of keeping vigil over the activities of the press
my in a fix, Iwas told. If he it tickled his wit, he immediately understood banged on it on the basis that something the rubber stamp "Rejected" that reaction. But if the made be an antigovernment people laugh might cartoon showed no scope for laughter at all, it got the reject stamp under scrutiny, a cartoon and their the censor was even The so?because cartoonists it might started as before. intentions. pernicious the party and the caricaturing Congress in the talents made their appearance Young harbor cartoon" were mere style doodles that was into coming and the captions bore a great deal of activity exhibitions and officers were chosen

prime minister field, attempting in which fashion, the burden

the "instant

drawings of conveying the humor. There was in the world A number of cartooning. of cartoon

Freedom
competitions with attractive

to Cartoon,

Freedom

to Speak
government

89

cash awards were

held. The

of India itself sponsored such exhibitions at home and abroad. In 1984 Mrs. Gandhi fell to an assassin's bullet, and her son Rajiv
Gandhi became full of progressive poverty, This young person was energetic, the prime minister. to take the country to the twenty-first ideas, eager and unemployment still plaguing the nation after

century ahead of time, and hoping to solve all the problems of

ignorance,

forty years of independence. We cartoonists held our breath and watched him with trepidation.We feared that the source of inspira
tion for cartoons for crisis Besides, features and a be no scope might dry up. In utopia there would on which, and adversity, after all, the art of satire thrived! a handsome he was young man with well-proportioned no to create a true caricature. handle with which that gave

our But very shortly he belied our fears. Now is secure profession to flourish. As for his uncaricaturable continues features, they have given way to a variety of amusing symbols. The reader finds no

difficulty at all in recognizing the leader, however distorted his features are in the drawings.
Now

stylized and

and the editors are the political the cartoonists, analysts, in the press. without any serious threat to their freedom functioning

In fact, the press has become extremely critical of late of the government headed by Rajiv Gandhi. He came to power with a
massive mandate in the elections. blunders. influence He He enjoyed tremendous popularity to rule, to distanced

among the people. But within two years he lost it by committing a

series of avoidable make himself advice. friends and betrayed a lack of capacity and to seek advice. He people, and the people

from party members

at large and surrounded

himself with buddies from school and surrendered to their immature

was reflected in the newspapers disillusionment People's day concern in and day out. They attacked him mercilessly and voiced to all this, certain allegations about the survival of the country. Added

of corrupt practices, dark deeds of kickbacks in the arms purchase deals, and accounts in Swiss banks were brought out into the open by the indefatigable investigative journalists. As if to benefit the cartoonist, there are a few distinct traits of
Mr. Gandhi which of are available this vast for use in our cartoons. Mr. Gandhi

was employed as a pilot in the national airways before he became

prime minister parachutes, pilots' uniforms, subcontinent, and airports, so naturally, other items aircraft, frequently

90

R. K. Laxman

Rajiv Gandhi
cartoons to parody in the political the ruler. So do electronic for it is well known and such modern devices, computers, gadgets, to run the nation. And that he is a great believer in progressive means for driving cars at breakneck speed is, of course, yet again his passion can to make cartoonist draw another the upon point pictorial feature
comment.

But

somehow

in such

a paradise

for cartoonists,

the free secular

political life got entangled with religion of the most bigoted type.
it India being a country of many castes, and subcastes, religions, sur to separate from its religious secular politics becomes difficult And and castes being the sacred cows of the roundings. religion cannot be touched without nation, causing sensitivity religious is not sure sometimes if riots in the streets. Thus, a cartoonist bloody a on toes comments when he he is treading on someone's religious it is wise for the cartoonist issue. At such delicate moments political to set aside his freedom a bit and accept some self-imposed censorship the blame to one party or another and carefully avoid apportioning for the riots. He should take a general view of political groups and as an evil monster that is out to show the caste system as a whole damage the fabric of harmonious living and destroy innocent lives.

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to Cartoon, Freedom

to Speak

91

Despite my care, I have been guilty of offending the sensibility of a

few religious believers over the years. This, the course of my work quite inadvertently. I have done in naturally, At one time or another,

Christians, Muslims,
obscure done over a sects visits warned

Buddhists, Sikhs, and people belonging

to

calls, letters, and personal have, telephone through me and expressed at the grave damage their indignation cartoons. to their religions it is Of course, certain through of forty years of my career, which as it might sound here. to an increase a great demand certainly has not been of the exis

alarming when listed in thismanner what has occurred sporadically

period as hazardous

Meanwhile, owing has there been India, new magazines, tence in recent events and

in literacy among the people and for reading material, have come into

modern technology of printing is able to meet this demand. Many

periodicals, times. and newspapers

Most of these are liberally enlivened by cartoons depicting political

caricatures of public personalities. But the country has

made very meager headway in the field of cartoons illustrating gags We still depend of the kind theNew Yorker or other magazines carry. abroad for material from upon syndicated these, particularly for
comic strips. Superman, Flash Gordon, Phantom, Blondie, Mickey

Mouse,
local

andMutt and Jeff have all found their reincarnation inmany

and magazines all over the country. to produce comics. Here indigenous on our good old mythologies. again, they have all been dependent comic strips sadly lack drama and pictorial and are These grandeur to be in line with modern too moralistic. A few that attempt in several dailies languages There have been some attempts

readership and produce comedy depicting crime fall into the trap of
imitation. Perhaps the comic art form will also evolve out of this dilemma

successfully, as did the art of political cartooning from its early days of obscure mythical symbols and weak imitations to the hard-hitting political satire that it has become today, freely flourishing as one of
the several safeguards of democracy.