Laugh with Laxman (Volume-II)

For decades R. K. Laxman’s cartoons featuring the trademark figure of the Common Man, and collected in several volumes of the Best of Laxman series, have proved to be endlessly popular take-offs of our public life.

There is however another half of Laxman’s oeuvre. 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 event he ubiquitous Common Man is not privy to. Yet it is here that Laxman’s sense of parody and satire finds some of its finest expressions.

A selection of these rare and masterly cartoons which comment caustically on our social and political character were brought together in the first volume of Laugh with Laxman, and proved to be immensely popular. This is the second volume in the series replete with timeless gems that continue to amuse and enlighten.

A book of cartoons may seem at first or even second glance, a flip-through operation. But the pleasure of Laxman lies in its repeat value. Open these books on any pages, open them anywhere, and any number of times, and you can take a smile of granted.

Rasipuram Krishnaswamy Laxman was born in Mysore in 1924. He began cartooning for the Free Press Journal, a newspaper in Bombay, in 1947, soon after he graduated from the University of Mysore. Six months later he joined the Times of India as staff cartoonist; he continues to draw for the newspaper even today.

R. K. Laxman has written and published numerous short stories, essays and travel articles, some of which have been collected in the book, The Distorted Mirror. He has also written three works of fiction, The Hotel Riviera, The Messenger and Servants of India, all of which have been published by Penguin Books. Penguin has also published several collections of Laxman’s cartoons in the series The Best of Laxman and Laugh with Laxman. The Tunnel of Time, Laxman’s autobiography, is also available from Penguin.

R. K. Laxman has won numerous awards for his cartoons, including Asia’s top journalism award, the Ramon Magsayasay Award, in 1984. The University of Marathwada and the Universtiy of Delhi have conferred honorary Doctor of Literature degrees on him. In 2005, the Government of India honoured him with the Padma Vibhushan.

R. K. Laxman lives in Mumbai.