The Hindu : 'R.K. Laxman, an unambiguous genius'

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Saturday, Mar 13, 2004

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'R.K. Laxman, an unambiguous genius'

By Our Special Correspondent

The Nationalist Congress Party leader and president of the Yashwantrao Pratishthan, Sharad Pawar, and the Editor-in-Chief of The Hindu , N. Ram, presenting the Yashwantrao Chavan National Award for 2003 to celebrated cartoonist R.K. Laxman in Mumbai on Friday. — Photo: Vivek Bendre

MUMBAI, MARCH 12. "There are would-be geniuses in the field of Indian journalism, and there are individuals aspiring to be geniuses, but I have long been clear that there is only one unambiguous genius among Indian journalists, and that is R.K. Laxman," said N. Ram, Editor-in-Chief of The Hindu , speaking as chief guest on the occasion of the conferment of the Yashwantrao Chavan National Award for 2003 on the celebrated cartoonist.

The legendary protagonist of Mr. Laxman's cartoons in The Times of India, the silent but observant `Common Man', has been a daily companion to generations of readers. He has represented their crises and predicaments, their struggle with poverty, inflation, corruption, poor infrastructure and bad governance. Except for a brief interval during the Emergency (1975-1977), Mr. Laxman has been at work continuously for the last 58 years, recording the errors and foibles of India's political leaders, business barons and self-appointed gurus from an unsparing, fiercely independent viewpoint. His record of India's public life began in the closing days of imperialism and found innumerable targets during the age of the protected market, the permit-licence-quota raj and quasi-socialist political experimentation; it retains its capacity for critique, illumination and amusement in the epoch of globalisation. Despite the fact that Mr. Laxman has never been "big on messages", said Mr. Ram, "there is a strong indictment, in his work, of mass poverty and mass deprivation in India, despite all the slogans and programmes of the last five decades. And yet, beneath its cynical appearance, his work is hopeful."

Presiding over the function, the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) president, Sharad Pawar, praised Mr. Laxman for his gift of being able to lampoon politicians and subject them to satire, without resorting to crude personal attack. "As Mr. Laxman has shown, a cartoon can have a more powerful effect on the public consciousness than an editorial or a fiery speech, even many fiery speeches," Mr. Pawar said. Reflecting on the critical role of journalism, Mr. Pawar paid handsome tributes to Mr. Laxman and complimented The Hindu on its uncompromising stand on the freedom of the press, in a single gesture, when he observed: "No one doubts for a moment that we must uphold the system of parliamentary democracy, but every elected representative must also recognise the special position of the journalist who takes up the pen to ask questions on behalf of the people."

A visibly moved Mr. Laxman professed himself cognisant of the honour rendered to him, but was too emotionally overcome to speak further. Previous recipients honoured with the Yashwantrao Chavan National Award, which recognises contributions to the causes of national unity, democratic values, and economic and social development, include the economist and politician, Madhu Dandavate, the social activist, Ila Bhat, and the development administrator, V. Kurien.

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