The doyen of Indian cartooning R K Laxman is no more and the most important chapter of history of cartooning in India comes to an end. He passed away on 26th January 2015 at the age of 94. He was arguably the longest serving cartoonist of India. He drew more than 30,000 cartoons over a period of around 60 years. He was the only cartoonist who had witnessed all the transition phases of India - from colonial rule to the era of independence, from period of planned social economy to a post-1991 liberalized India. His characteristic strokes made the politicians and other prominent public figures to yearn for more without any heartburn. His political cartoons inspired many generation of cartoonists for their simplicity of figures and sharpness of wit. He started his career as a freelance cartoonist and later worked as a full time cartoonist for the first time with The Free Press Journal in Mumbai where Bal Thackeray also worked along with him. He also illustrated the stories and novels of his prodigal brother R K Narayan. However, the turning point of his career was joining of Times of India where he drew the legendary 'Common Man' from Nehru era to Rahul era in his 'You Said It' column. The gratified nation acknowledged his contribution by conferring Padma Vibhushan in 2005 and Times of India acknowledged his contribution by making him the lifetime employee. Though R K Laxman is no more among us, his strokes are immortal and they will continue to spread humor and inspire many generations of budding cartoonists like me.
