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The real Maya

PIONEER Maya Kamat was the only woman political cartoonist of India. Here's a sneak peek at the book that celebrates her spirit, to be released today

April 16 will mark a homecoming of sorts for Maya Kamath (1951-2001). That's when The World of Maya, a book on her life and work, will be released at the Alliance Francaise. It will accompany an installation-like exposition of her cartoons (open to the public from April 18 to 23).

Collectors' delight

The 348-page, large-format book, packed with a selection from over 5,000 cartoons done over 15 years, is a collector's compilation. Published by Mumbai's SPARROW (Sound & Picture Archives for Research on Women), it celebrates India's only woman political cartoonist. Released in Mumbai, then New Delhi, it will reunite her family, friends and fans here to celebrate Maya's rare talent.

Her daughter Deepa, who wrote the book's intense introduction, recalls its inception thus: "After my mother died, dad (Amarnath Kamath), my brother Nandan and I were keen on a tribute to her. We held a three-day exhibition of her work at the Alliance Francaise from November 29, 2001. But ink on paper doesn't last forever. When C.S. Lakshmi of SPARROW approached us with an offer to archive her work, we jumped at it."

FUNNY TAKES: Some of Maya's best works

As Lakshmi (a.k.a. the sensitive, sparkling Tamil writer Ambai) received batches of Maya's cartoons over three years, she was convinced that a publication was essential. "The book gave us a sense of seeing my mother's work as a body. And helping it to survive for posterity," observes Deepa. "My family feels blessed that Lakshmi found this way to commemorate my mother's work. They had never met, but Lakshmi had followed her cartoons for years."

What were Maya's cartoons about? As a gender-sensitive humanist, rather than a feminist, she started out with Gita, a family-based strip, for the now-defunct Evening Herald. Nandan once recalled: "The gags were straight out of our lives." Deepa adds: "She used to pay us Rs. 5 if we gave her ideas."

A daily slot at the local Indian Express followed. When Maya branched into current affairs cartoons, these found space in The City Tab, then The Independent, Free Press Journal, Newsday, Economic Times and The Times of India. When Deccan Herald asked for her slant on city life in 1991, Framed appeared on its pages for about five years. That's until Asian Age gave her a major break — as a political cartoonist.

Manjula Padmanabhan, the pioneering Indian woman cartoonist, recalls in the book: "Maya's political opinions were expressed with a cool yet distinct humour — a sense of irony combined with an understanding of the political forces of the day. It's a quality that cartoonists must have deep within them... She wasn't pointlessly vicious and she often cut to the heart of the issue, just by the way she used symbols."

Fellow cartoonist Ponnappa said in a 2001 tribute: "Maya had an excellent feel for Indian politics. She was courageous, often stepping across the borderline of risk. She was an original, never clichéd. Her style was distinctive, her simple lines well-composed."

Tushita Patel, her Asian Age editor in Bangalore, noted: "Her style was unique not just because she was a woman, but because she was also south Indian. For someone watching a BJP-led government at the Centre, this was lethal. She found the bigotry of the NDA's (mostly chauvinistic north Indian) men unbearable. She was at a vantage point, being completely contrary to what the NDA stood for."

Animal rights

"My mother's work emerged from a heavily-interrupted introspective process amidst a living, throbbing household," observes Deepa, a mediaperson herself. But Maya was just as committed to animal rights through CUPA (Compassion Unlimited Plus Action). And counselling across the social divides through Parivarthan. Besides creating a garbage management programme in Jayamahal, where she lived.

When cultural icon Girish Karnad hands over the book to mediaperson Nupur Basu at 6.30 p.m. on Saturday to usher in Maya's cartoon display, what will it mean? "This is where the book belongs. This is where she worked. More people in this city will appreciate it than anywhere else," stresses Deepa.

ADITI DE

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