Good bye, Mr. R.K.Laxman...

A legend passes away… leaving a veritable treasure trove of immortal cartoons which has been representing the expectations, desires, dilemmas, and perhaps even shortcomings of the hapless Indian man since decades. And the best part of it was that he was greatly successful in bringing smiles to people’s daily lives without being spiteful, malicious, or offensive in any way. That, I guess, is the true mark of a genius cartoonist. The sad demise of ‘The Common Man’ will certainly leave an inconsolable void in the minds of his followers.

Reminded of my early college days, when inspired by his caricatures, I aspired to become a cartoonist. Disregarding my mother’s raised eyebrows, I enrolled in an correspondence course in cartooning from an Bombay based institution called ICS, after paying a princely sum of Rs.800. The first lot of study materials arrived by post to my excitement, and it called for hours of practice drawing lines and curves. I had to submit weekly assignments, and generally do a lot of hard work observing my surroundings, drawing objects and figures, and a whole lot of stuff that I found hard to stay focused on. Gradually, as my interest waned, my assignment submissions too started being erratic, and ultimately, stopped altogether.

That was when I realized that being a cartoonist didn't require much of study material or classroom tactics or Rs.800. All that was necessary was a humorous mindset, the ability to visualize and to capture imagination in paper, and most importantly, an inborn talent that I guess, I severely lacked. By the way, my mother still doesn't let me forget the fact that I wasted her 800 Rupees, especially when I start talking about any new venture which I plan to take up…

I choose to pay my tribute to this immortal legend by posting a few of his cartoons that invariably reflect his delightful wit and satirical humor in every possible way. These had appeared in the Times of India, and feel so very relevant to our times...

RIP, R.K.Laxman. We will miss you. 

PK Hai Kya?

Watched the Rajkumar Hirani – Aamir Khan movie, PK.

I used to wonder how a movie which has been given the green by the censor board can get so very controversial. Now I understand why a particular sect of our intellectual society considers it mortally dangerous enough to call for a total ban. I totally sympathize with these legal guardians of spirituality. PK, the movie, should be banned.

For one, PK deals with a major issue of our times… the institutionalization of religion. We have self-proclaimed God men, some of whom are highly successful in managing multi crore business enterprises in a very organized manner. They are not restricted to any particular religion or sect, and their success depends on how effectively they are able to touch the emotional quotient of the gullible common man, who are often neck deep in turmoil and look up to them for instant solutions to their problems. PK attacks such spiritual managers with a healthy dose of sarcastic humor. Just think about it.. if someone threatens to ruin your business, wouldn’t you get on the defensive? Wouldn’t you go to any lengths to protect it? So why blame those conditioned souls who are only ensuring their means of survival? Nope. No way. PK should be banned.

Sometimes truth gets very uncomfortable. The fact that the picture of Mahatma Gandhi has value only on a particular type of paper (currency note), is something which hits you right on the face. Again, PK deals with the necessity of having a relationship with God based on love, and not fear. But I guess, if that be the case, most of God’s so called ‘managers’ would run out of business because all they do is capitalize on the fear of the gullible common man who spend fortunes trying to appease God. Well.. it’s a fact, but who is Rajkumar Hirani or Aamir Khan to rub it on us? The larger population of our great country manages problems effectively by pretending they don’t exist. If this is hypocrisy, so be it, but PK should be banned.

We are the population of a great country that upholds cultural values and ethos. Morality plays a big part in shaping our life and lifestyles. Anything that threatens the foundation of this frail culture is a big no. In a country where it is pretty much easy to rape, eve tease, molest, pinch bottoms, grope, and generally get away even with murder, any act that is suggestive of expressing love or physical intimacy between a man and a woman is not acceptable. How on earth do we permit a lip to lip kiss between the protagonists of the movie? (Let us ignore the fact that we belong to an ancient civilization that among others, has witnessed the birth of great Hindu men like Vatsyayana and Jayadeva who had penned amazing treatises).  It is bad enough that PK features love (love jihad?)  between a Muslim man and a Hindu woman, but nothing could get more sacrilegious than the fact that the man happens to be a Pakistani. A Pakistani!!! God! PK should be banned without doubt.

Hey! Those of you who haven’t watched the movie yet, and are not convinced that PK disrespects Hinduism and everything connected with it, that PK ridicules our culture and tradition, that PK is a blot to our social views and a threat to our innate logical mindsets, why don’t you go watch the movie? After that, let us all stand up and call for a ban against anything remotely sensible in society. Let us all get together to curb the creative freedom of people, let us encourage our children to discriminate one another on the basis of caste, and more importantly, let us proudly admit the fact that we have enough religion to make us hate, but not enough to make us love one another.