A cartoon says much more than an editorial. It is easy to forget an editorial, not that easy to forget a cartoon.
IT is time somebody put in a word for cartoons and cartoonists, especially the Indian variety. Indian journalism,
it seems has no special place for cartoons, and cartoonists presently look like a disappearing tribe. Time was,
especially in the third quarter of the twentieth century, when newspapers took special pride in featuring
cartoons on the front page. A 3 col x 4 inch cartoon invariably got pride of place in the top half, as R.K. Laxman
would easily testify.
Those were the heydays of cartooning and cartoonists like Shankar Pillai were held in high regard by editors,
proprietors and politicians and someone like Shankar had easy access to the high and the mighty.
Those were the days
Shankar’s originals were highly priced and politicians were some of his greatest admirers, among whom
was none less than Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru, one of the most cartooned figures of his times. It could be
that R.K. Laxman may not have much time to sketch, but the Common Man these days is less and less heard of.
The Hindu still retains a wholesome respect for cartoonists as its edit page will testify and Keshav and
Surendra can justly feel proud of the display they get right in the center of the edit page. Sudhir Tailang,
similarly is given space on its edit page by The Asian Age, as is Unny in Indian Express while Suresh Sawant is
now being featured in the Free Press Journal in a single column as does Subhani in Deccan Chronicle. But, by
and large, cartoonists look like a forgotten lot and there must be some explanation for this phenomenon. Has
the Common Man been with us for far too long? Is the concept itself passé? Has middle class prosperity
finally sidelined the dhoti-clad baldy with a frayed coat and made him irrelevant? It surely merits deep study.
Times indeed have changed and perhaps in the process cartoons too have ceased to draw much reader
attention. No single cartoonist stands out as once Shankar did, and still later did Laxman. When Suresh Sawant
won the first prize at the Global Cartoon Contest in Frankfurt recently it hardly made news, though Sawant has
been free-lancing since 1988 and his works have appeared in a wide range of newspapers including the now-
defunct Blitz, the ever-popular Readers Digest, the Hindi humour magazine ‘Rang’, not to speak of the
German magazine ‘Entiwicklungscolitik. Sawant claims that his first cartoon was published in Bal Thackerayâ
€™s Marmik. It is a pity that Thackeray gave up political cartooning for politics. By his action he has rendered
both fields poorer. At its best a cartoon says much more - and in a more lasting manner - than an editorial. It is
easy to forget an editorial. It is not that easy to forget a cartoon. Sawant, by now a veteran, has been quoted as
saying: “The best part about Indian politicians is that if they make a statement today, they actually imply the
opposite. In any case, they’ll do a turnaround tomorrow. What more can a cartoonist ask for?� Sawant,
incidentally, beat Jim Morin, the American cartoonist who had won the coveted Pulitzer prize for cartooning in
1996, to win the Global Cartoon Contest this year. Cartoons, truth to say, do not necessarily have to be biting or
overtly critical. As Sawant is quoted as saying: “Cartoons about shopkeepers, doctors... about individuals in
general are a comment on our social life�. Which, in the first place is what the role of cartoons should be in
the media field. What is shocking - and painful to boot - is the utter indifference shown by the Indian media
towards Indian cartoonists. Cartoonists should not be identified only with political cartooning. Some of the best
cartoonists are famous for their contribution to Comics. But can anyone name a single comic strip drawn by an
Indian? Hindustan Times carries a four-page comic supplement week after week but not a single Indian’s
work can be noticed in those pages. Consider these names: Hank Ketcham’s ‘Dennis the Menace’.
Peanuts featuring ‘Good Ol’ Charlie Brown’ by Schulz, Scott Adams’ ‘Dilbert’, Eric & Bill’s
‘Pink Panther’, Bill Rechin and Don Wilder’s ‘Crack’, Stan Lee’s ‘Amazing Superman’,
Hy Eisman’s ‘Popeye’, Brad Anderson’s ‘Marmaduke’, Tom Armstrong’s ‘Marvin &
Bitsy’, Kemsley’s ‘Ginger Meggs’, Scarpelli & Boldman’s ‘Archie’, Smythe’s ‘Andy
Capp’, Art & Chip Sansom’s ‘The Born Loser’, not to speak of Bob Weber’s ‘Moose & Mollyâ
€™ and G.B. Trudeau’s ‘Doonesbury’. Four full pages of comics all drawn by foreign cartoonists. Arenâ
€™t there Indian cartoonists who can draw better and more relevant comics meant for Indian children? Has any
editor, bless his heart, ever called up Anant Pai (‘Uncle’ Pai) for help in this direction? What Uncle Pai has
done in the ‘comic’ field for almost two entire generations makes him worthy, at the very least, of a
Padma Vibhushan. What Amar Chitra Katha has done to educate Indian children in history, mythology and
religion has no parallel. And yet, not only government after government, but even our English dailies have
ignored him. It is a crying shame. What, one would like to ask, has Dennis the Menace, or Charlie Brown or
Popeye got to teach our children? Conceded they are ‘funny’ in some strange way, but do our editors
have any sense of vision or purpose? Amar Chitra Katha has more relevance and more educative value than all
the American comics put together — a fact that our editors obviously do not want to recognise. Culturally, it
seems, our English media has sold out to the West. The very thought is morbid.
The Western influence
Fancy The New York Times or The Christian Science Monitor or The Times (London) or Germany’s Die Welt
or the French Le Monde carrying four full pages of Indian comics! The very thought seems preposterous.
Western media couldn’t care less for Indian culture, if, that is to say, ‘comics’ can be considered as
reflective of any culture. How many German, or French or Italian or British or American children have ever
heard of Amar Chitra Katha? And yet Indian newspapers seem over-anxious to publish four full pages of
western rubbish. It merely shows what respect they have for India’s tradition and culture. The saddest part
of it all is that it is the Indian child that is exposed to the rubbish. And one hasn’t ever heard of any protest
from Indian parents, whose minds, too have long been brain-washed. We have an H.R.D. Minister who
apparently does not read newspapers or, if indeed he is capable of reading, cares for Indian children, and how
they are brought up. When ministers are ignorant of what is going on right under their noses, what can one
possibly expect from the government? And so the English media keeps up with the downgrading of young
Indian minds with no one to protest. That, in sum, is what a hundred and fifty years of colonial rule has done to
Indian ‘intellectuals’. When the Great Middle Class takes pride in discussing Dennis the Menace in their
drawing rooms, it is the ultimate limit in national degradation.
IT is time somebody put in a word for cartoons and cartoonists, especially the Indian variety. Indian journalism,
it seems has no special place for cartoons, and cartoonists presently look like a disappearing tribe. Time was,
especially in the third quarter of the twentieth century, when newspapers took special pride in featuring
cartoons on the front page. A 3 col x 4 inch cartoon invariably got pride of place in the top half, as R.K. Laxman
would easily testify.
Those were the heydays of cartooning and cartoonists like Shankar Pillai were held in high regard by editors,
proprietors and politicians and someone like Shankar had easy access to the high and the mighty.
Those were the days
Shankar’s originals were highly priced and politicians were some of his greatest admirers, among whom
was none less than Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru, one of the most cartooned figures of his times. It could be
that R.K. Laxman may not have much time to sketch, but the Common Man these days is less and less heard of.
The Hindu still retains a wholesome respect for cartoonists as its edit page will testify and Keshav and
Surendra can justly feel proud of the display they get right in the center of the edit page. Sudhir Tailang,
similarly is given space on its edit page by The Asian Age, as is Unny in Indian Express while Suresh Sawant is
now being featured in the Free Press Journal in a single column as does Subhani in Deccan Chronicle. But, by
and large, cartoonists look like a forgotten lot and there must be some explanation for this phenomenon. Has
the Common Man been with us for far too long? Is the concept itself passé? Has middle class prosperity
finally sidelined the dhoti-clad baldy with a frayed coat and made him irrelevant? It surely merits deep study.
Times indeed have changed and perhaps in the process cartoons too have ceased to draw much reader
attention. No single cartoonist stands out as once Shankar did, and still later did Laxman. When Suresh Sawant
won the first prize at the Global Cartoon Contest in Frankfurt recently it hardly made news, though Sawant has
been free-lancing since 1988 and his works have appeared in a wide range of newspapers including the now-
defunct Blitz, the ever-popular Readers Digest, the Hindi humour magazine ‘Rang’, not to speak of the
German magazine ‘Entiwicklungscolitik. Sawant claims that his first cartoon was published in Bal Thackerayâ
€™s Marmik. It is a pity that Thackeray gave up political cartooning for politics. By his action he has rendered
both fields poorer. At its best a cartoon says much more - and in a more lasting manner - than an editorial. It is
easy to forget an editorial. It is not that easy to forget a cartoon. Sawant, by now a veteran, has been quoted as
saying: “The best part about Indian politicians is that if they make a statement today, they actually imply the
opposite. In any case, they’ll do a turnaround tomorrow. What more can a cartoonist ask for?� Sawant,
incidentally, beat Jim Morin, the American cartoonist who had won the coveted Pulitzer prize for cartooning in
1996, to win the Global Cartoon Contest this year. Cartoons, truth to say, do not necessarily have to be biting or
overtly critical. As Sawant is quoted as saying: “Cartoons about shopkeepers, doctors... about individuals in
general are a comment on our social life�. Which, in the first place is what the role of cartoons should be in
the media field. What is shocking - and painful to boot - is the utter indifference shown by the Indian media
towards Indian cartoonists. Cartoonists should not be identified only with political cartooning. Some of the best
cartoonists are famous for their contribution to Comics. But can anyone name a single comic strip drawn by an
Indian? Hindustan Times carries a four-page comic supplement week after week but not a single Indian’s
work can be noticed in those pages. Consider these names: Hank Ketcham’s ‘Dennis the Menace’.
Peanuts featuring ‘Good Ol’ Charlie Brown’ by Schulz, Scott Adams’ ‘Dilbert’, Eric & Bill’s
‘Pink Panther’, Bill Rechin and Don Wilder’s ‘Crack’, Stan Lee’s ‘Amazing Superman’,
Hy Eisman’s ‘Popeye’, Brad Anderson’s ‘Marmaduke’, Tom Armstrong’s ‘Marvin &
Bitsy’, Kemsley’s ‘Ginger Meggs’, Scarpelli & Boldman’s ‘Archie’, Smythe’s ‘Andy
Capp’, Art & Chip Sansom’s ‘The Born Loser’, not to speak of Bob Weber’s ‘Moose & Mollyâ
€™ and G.B. Trudeau’s ‘Doonesbury’. Four full pages of comics all drawn by foreign cartoonists. Arenâ
€™t there Indian cartoonists who can draw better and more relevant comics meant for Indian children? Has any
editor, bless his heart, ever called up Anant Pai (‘Uncle’ Pai) for help in this direction? What Uncle Pai has
done in the ‘comic’ field for almost two entire generations makes him worthy, at the very least, of a
Padma Vibhushan. What Amar Chitra Katha has done to educate Indian children in history, mythology and
religion has no parallel. And yet, not only government after government, but even our English dailies have
ignored him. It is a crying shame. What, one would like to ask, has Dennis the Menace, or Charlie Brown or
Popeye got to teach our children? Conceded they are ‘funny’ in some strange way, but do our editors
have any sense of vision or purpose? Amar Chitra Katha has more relevance and more educative value than all
the American comics put together — a fact that our editors obviously do not want to recognise. Culturally, it
seems, our English media has sold out to the West. The very thought is morbid.
The Western influence
Fancy The New York Times or The Christian Science Monitor or The Times (London) or Germany’s Die Welt
or the French Le Monde carrying four full pages of Indian comics! The very thought seems preposterous.
Western media couldn’t care less for Indian culture, if, that is to say, ‘comics’ can be considered as
reflective of any culture. How many German, or French or Italian or British or American children have ever
heard of Amar Chitra Katha? And yet Indian newspapers seem over-anxious to publish four full pages of
western rubbish. It merely shows what respect they have for India’s tradition and culture. The saddest part
of it all is that it is the Indian child that is exposed to the rubbish. And one hasn’t ever heard of any protest
from Indian parents, whose minds, too have long been brain-washed. We have an H.R.D. Minister who
apparently does not read newspapers or, if indeed he is capable of reading, cares for Indian children, and how
they are brought up. When ministers are ignorant of what is going on right under their noses, what can one
possibly expect from the government? And so the English media keeps up with the downgrading of young
Indian minds with no one to protest. That, in sum, is what a hundred and fifty years of colonial rule has done to
Indian ‘intellectuals’. When the Great Middle Class takes pride in discussing Dennis the Menace in their
drawing rooms, it is the ultimate limit in national degradation.
| Cartoons slipping out of media India suffers hard times in Editorial Cartooning BY M.V. Kamath -- Afternoon Despatch & Courier -- Bombay October 21, 2005 |