The other side of R.K. Laxman
For decades now, R.K. Laxman’s cartoons, nestled in a corner of the front page of the newspaper and ridiculing the import of the very news items they are surrounded by, have delighted millions of readers every morning. These cartoons, featuring the trademark figure of the Common Man and collected in several volumes of the Best of Laxman series, have proved to be enduringly popular travesties of our public life.
There is, however, another half of Laxman’s oeuvre, comprising cartoons that appear on the back page of the Sunday newspaper. Some of these cartoons reveal what politicians, executives and high-placed professionals might say and do in private, often behind closed doors. Others look into the future or lend a speaking voice to animals to gain a different perspective on our everyday affairs. These are worlds that even the ubiquitous Common Man is not privy to. Yet it is here that Laxman’s sense of parody and satire find some of their best expressions, commenting caustically on our social and political character by pointing out the incongruities inherent in our systems.
Previously uncollected, some of these rare but masterly cartoons are brought together for the first time in this first volume of Laugh with Laxman as a special treat for all Laxman fans.