[dropcap]T[/dropcap]he country has lost another conscience keeper. R K Laxman created the Common Man cartoon character but the cartoonist himself was uncommon in many ways. R K Laxman’s cartoons will continue to inspire for generations to come.
Meanwhile, Eastern Mirror will not waste this space to give another common obituary of the Common Man creator because the man was uncommon. We rather chose to pay our tribute in an uncommon way by reproducing quotes by him and also about him by others.
His iconic creation Common Man will live forever. He was much more than a mere caricaturist – a beacon whose cartoons instructed and educated governments–Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis.
India will miss you RK Laxman. We are grateful to you for adding the much needed humour in our lives & always bringing smiles on our faces—Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Laxman was an intellectual giant who will be missed for decades to come and will serve as an inspiration to many—Sonia Gandhi.
A legend is no more. The common man has gone out of our lives on R day: RK Laxman RIP— Rajdeep Sardesai.
Meanwhile, here are some best quotes of R K Laxman
• A cartoonist enjoys not a great man but a ridiculous man.
• Britishers who came to India missed Indian humour since they couldn’t understand our sense of domestic humour. They thought Indians have no sense of humour!
• Cartooning is the art of insult and ridicule.
• Change? Does the colour of the sky change ever? My symbol will never change.
• Crows are so good looking, so intelligent. Where will I find characters like that in politics?
• Each morning I grumble, I plan to resign as I drag myself to office. By the time I come home I like my work!
• Every one of my drawings is my favourite.
• Every single tree spelt adventure. I would scramble right to their top and watch the world from the heights.
• Frankly, our politics is so sad that if I had not been a cartoonist, I would have committed suicide.
• Generally, people take everything for granted. They hardly see anything around them.
• I am grateful to our politicians. They have not taken care of the country, but me.
• I do not remember wanting to do anything else except draw.
• I have not forgotten that you can see the world through pieces of coloured glass.
• I think anarchy would have suited us better.
• I think everybody enjoys it when our mighty politicians are exposed in a comical and often ludicrous light.
• It is impossible to say how to become a cartoonist; you have to be born with the gift, just as you cannot tell someone how to sing.
• Laloo Prasad Yadav, who ought to be inside jail, is actually outside. And Jayalalitha is growing so large that I do not know which jail can accommodate her!
• My common man is omnipresent. He’s been silent all these 50 years. He simply listens.
• My sketch pen is not a sword, it’s my friend.
• Nothing like India for cartooning and drawing!
• Only when we grow older do we learn to be kind and realise that selfishness is bad. But even then not all of us learn these things. Otherwise, why would there be fights and wars?
• Searching for new ideas is an endless process.
• The cartoon contains observation, sense of humour, sense of the ridiculous and contradiction – life!
• [The Common Man] from India can survive without water, food, light, air, shelter!
• To a child, reality seems much more fabulous than fantasy.
