Artists relive prized moments with Laxman

BENGALURU: The black marker pen in cartoonist Satish Acharya's hand moved swiftly on the drawing board. In less than a minute came up a caricature of RK Laxman at the doorsteps of heaven. 'No potholes, no corruption, no inflation', read the caption. Satish quickly added a footnote of Laxman reflecting: "My common man would never survive here."
Satish signed below the cartoon, closed his pen and mulled over his cartoon even as several cartoonists, artists and passionate cartoon lovers watching him burst into applause.For Satish, the drawing was a tribute to whom he calls 'the dronacharya'.
The Indian Institute of Cartoonists organized a condolence meeting on Saturday in memory of Laxman who died on January 26. Artists from across the country joined in to relive the moments they shared with unarguably India's greatest cartoonist.
"He told me how his career began. When he went to The Times of India office, the editor said they don't publish cartoons as the Times in London doesn't. At that time, Laxman showed the editor a couple of his works. The editor paused, and said, 'We'll give it a try'. The next day, TOI carried one of his cartoons. And then there was no end," recalled writer and playwright Girish Karnad.
"He once pencilled my cartoon. It was amazing and I asked him to do it for me on pen. He joked: "If I do it, you'll sell it for Rs 25,000'. I told him I can give him Rs 50,000 if he does it in pen for me. He refused. I framed the pencil version and it still hangs in my living room," Karnad added.
VG Narendra, managing trustee of the Indian Institute of Cartoonists, recalled Laxman's Bangalore visits. "One day, the pocket cartoon published in TOI didn't carry the checks on the Common Man's attire. Laxman seemed to have forgotten to draw them. He was in Bangalore that day and I pointed it out to him. He quickly replied: It's not that I have forgotten. I purposely left it out. I wanted to test the reader's IQ. Also, we should not make it monotonous."
Several others at the gathering recollected their brief acquaintances with him, discussed his qualities as an amazing magician, a watch repairer and a good handyman. Raobail, the renowned cartoonist, reminisced how he stood in a long queue to get Laxman's autograph in 1964.
It was not the celebrated artists alone. Indu Subramniam, 75, came to event with a poem she had written on the cartoonist and got it autographed by him. "He was busy then but was kind enough to sign," Iudu said as she proudly held up the cherished piece of paper.
Nachiket Vinaya, a user experience design specialist with SAP Labs, remembered how as a Class 3 student he used to follow Laxman's cartoons and took to drawing some himself. "His cartoons could engross even a little boy."