"ಶಟರ್"

 

ನಡೆದಷ್ಟು ದೂರ.... ನನ್ನ ಪ್ರವಾಸ ಕಥನ

ನನ್ನ ಹೊಸ ಕೃತಿ ಹಾಗೂ ಪ್ರವಾಸ ಕಥನ "ನಡೆದಷ್ಟು ದೂರ" ಈಗಷ್ಟೇ ಪ್ರಕಟವಾಗಿದೆ. ಆ ಕೃತಿಗೆ ನಾನು ಬರೆದಿರುವ ಲೇಖಕರ ಮಾತು ಹಾಗೂ ಪ್ರವಾಸ ಕಥನ ಸಾಹಿತ್ಯದ ಪೀಠಿಕೆ, ಪರಿಚಯ ಇಲ್ಲಿದೆ.

 

ನಡೆದಷ್ಟು ದೂರ....

         ಮಾನವ ಒಂದೆಡೆ ಹೆಚ್ಚುಕಾಲ ನಿಲ್ಲುವವನಲ್ಲ. ಇಲ್ಲದಿದ್ದಲ್ಲಿ ಸುಮಾರು ಮೂರು ಲಕ್ಷ ವರ್ಷಗಳ ಹಿಂದೆ ಆಫ್ರಿಕಾದಲ್ಲಿ ವಿಕಾಸಗೊಂಡನೆಂದು ಹೇಳಲಾಗುವ ಆಧುನಿಕ ಮಾನವ ಇಂದು ವಿಶ್ವದೆಲ್ಲೆಡೆ ಪಸರಿಸಿರುತ್ತಿರಲಿಲ್ಲ. ಆದರೂ ಮಾನವನ ಎಲ್ಲ ಪ್ರಯಾಣಗಳೂ ಪ್ರವಾಸಗಳಲ್ಲ. ಇಂದೂ ಸಹ ಮಾನವ ಜಗತ್ತಿನಾದ್ಯಂತ ನಿರಂತರ ಚಲನೆಯಲ್ಲಿದ್ದಾನೆ- ಉದ್ಯೋಗ ಅರಸುವವನಾಗಿ, ನಿರಾಶ್ರಿತನಾಗಿ, ವ್ಯಾಪಾರಿಗಳಾಗಿ, ವಿಜ್ಞಾನಿಗಳಾಗಿ, ಸೈನಿಕರಾಗಿ. ಇವೆಲ್ಲವೂ ಬದುಕನ್ನು ಅರಸುವ ಚಲನೆಗಳಾಗಿವೆ.

         ಆದರೆ ಪ್ರವಾಸದಲ್ಲಿ ಮಾನವನಿಗೆ ಮೊದಲಿನಿಂದಲೂ ವಿಶಿಷ್ಟ ಆಸಕ್ತಿಯಿದೆ; ಅದೊಂದು ಬೌದ್ಧಿಕ ಹಂಬಲ, ವಿಸ್ಮಯಗಳನ್ನು, ಅಚ್ಚರಿಗೊಳಿಸುವಂಥವನ್ನು ಕಾಣಬೇಕೆಂಬ ಹಾಗೂ ಅನುಭವಿಸಬೇಕೆಂಬ ಕುತೂಹಲ ಮಾನವನ ವಿಕಾಸದ ಹಾದಿಯಲ್ಲಿ ಮೊದಲಿನಿಂದಲೂ ಕಂಡುಬಂದಿದೆ. ಅದೇ ರೀತಿ ತಾನು ಕಂಡದ್ದನ್ನು ವಿವರಿಸುವ, ನಿರೂಪಿಸುವ ಅವನ ಕಾರ್ಯವೂ ಸಹ ಅಷ್ಟೇ ಪ್ರಾಚೀನವಾದದ್ದು. ಭಾಷೆಯ ಆವಿಷ್ಕಾರದ ನಂತರ ಲಿಪಿಯ ಆವಿಷ್ಕಾರಕ್ಕೆ ಮೊದಲು ಮಾನವನ ಈ ರೀತಿಯ ತನ್ನೆಲ್ಲ ವಿವರಣೆಗಳು ಮೌಖಿಕವಾಗಿಯೇ ಇರುತ್ತಿದ್ದವು. ಹಲವಾರು ದಿನಗಳು ಬೇಟೆಗಾಗಿ ಅಥವಾ ಆಹಾರ ಅರಸಿ ದೂರ ಪ್ರದೇಶಗಳಿಗೆ ಹೋಗಿರುತ್ತಿದ್ದ ಮಾನವ ತಾನು ಹಿಂದಿರುಗಿದ ನಂತರ ತನ್ನ ಕುಟುಂಬಕ್ಕೆ, ಸಮುದಾಯಕ್ಕೆ ತಾವು ಕಂಡದ್ದನ್ನು, ಅನುಭವಿಸಿದ್ದನ್ನು ಸಂಜೆ ಬೆಂಕಿಯ ಸುತ್ತಲೂ ಕೂತು, ತಂದಿದ್ದ ಆಹಾರ ಸೇವಿಸುತ್ತಾ ವರ್ಣಿಸುತ್ತಿದ್ದ. ಬಹುಶಃ ಜಗತ್ತಿನ ಮೊಟ್ಟ ಮೊದಲ ಪ್ರವಾಸ ಕಥನಗಳು ಇವೇ ಆಗಿದ್ದವೆನ್ನಿಸುತ್ತದೆ. ಅವುಗಳನ್ನು ಆತ ತನ್ನ ಗುಹಾಚಿತ್ರಗಳಲ್ಲಿ ಚಿತ್ರಿಸಿರಲೂಬಹುದು.

         ಮಾನವನ ಹಾಗೂ ನಾಗರಿಕತೆಯ ವಿಕಾಸದ ಮುಂದಿನ ಹಂತದಲ್ಲಿ ರಾಜರು, ಸಾಮ್ರಾಟರು ಹಾಗೂ ಸೈನಿಕರು ತಮ್ಮ ಸಾಮ್ರಾಜ್ಯ ವಿಸ್ತರಣೆಗೆ, ಶತ್ರುಗಳ ಮೇಲಿನ ದಾಳಿಗೆ ಸಾವಿರಾರು ಮೈಲಿಗಳು ಪ್ರಯಾಣ ಮಾಡುತ್ತಿದ್ದರು. ಇಲ್ಲಿಯೂ ಸಹ ರಾಜರು, ಸೈನಿಕರು ಯುದ್ಧದಲ್ಲಿ ಬದುಕುಳಿದವರು ಹಿಂದಿರುಗಿದಾಗ ತಾವು ನೋಡಿದ ಹೊಸ ಸ್ಥಳಗಳ ವಿವರಣೆಗಳನ್ನು ನೀಡುತ್ತಿದ್ದರು ಹಾಗೂ ಹೊಸ ಸ್ಥಳಗಳಿಂದ ತಂದ `ಪ್ರವಾಸ ಸ್ಮರಣಿಕೆ'(ಸಾವೆನಿರ್)ಗಳನ್ನು ತಮ್ಮ ಕುಟುಂಬಗಳಿಗೆ, ಗೆಳೆಯರಿಗೆ ನೀಡುತ್ತಿದ್ದರು. ಕ್ರಮೇಣ ರಾಜರು ತಾವು ಯುದ್ಧಗಳಿಗೆ ಹೊರಟಾಗ ಹೊಸ ಸ್ಥಳಗಳ ವಿವರಗಳನ್ನು ದಾಖಲಿಸಲು ಕೆಲವರನ್ನು ಪ್ರತ್ಯೇಕವಾಗಿ ಕರೆದೊಯ್ಯತೊಡಗಿದರು.

         ಇಂದು ನಾವು ಒಂದು ಪ್ರದೇಶದ, ದೇಶದ, ಒಂದು ಸಮುದಾಯದ ಚರಿತ್ರೆಯನ್ನು, ಸಂಸ್ಕೃತಿಯನ್ನು ಅರಿಯಲು ಹಲವಾರು ಆಕರಗಳಿವೆ. ಅವುಗಳಲ್ಲಿ ಮುಖ್ಯವಾದುವು ಅಲ್ಲಿನ ಪುರಾಣಗಳು (ಉದಾಹರಣೆಗೆ, ಸುಮಾರು 4000 ವರ್ಷಗಳ ಹಿಂದೆ ಲಿಖಿತ ರೂಪದಲ್ಲಿ ರಚಿತವಾಗಿದೆಯೆನ್ನಲಾದ ಮೆಸಪೊಟೇಮಿಯಾದ ʻಗಿಲ್ಗಮೇಶ್ʼ ಪುರಾಣದಲ್ಲಿ ಗಿಲ್ಗಮೇಶ್ ಮತ್ತು ಎಂಕಿಡು ಸಿಡಾರ್ ಕಾಡಿಗೆ ಭೇಟಿ ನೀಡುವ ವೃತ್ತಾಂತವನ್ನು ಅತ್ಯಂತ ಪ್ರಾಚೀನ ಲಭ್ಯವಿರುವ ಲಿಖಿತ ಸಾಹಿತ್ಯವೆಂದು ಪರಿಗಣಿಸಲಾಗಿದೆ), ಸ್ಥಳದ ವೃತ್ತಾಂತವನ್ನು ತಿಳಿಸುವ ಗ್ರಂಥಗಳು (ಉದಾ: ಕ್ರಿ.ಶ. 1149-50ರಲ್ಲಿ ರಚಿತವಾಗಿದೆಯೆನ್ನಲಾದ ಕಾಶ್ಮೀರದ ಚರಿತ್ರೆಯನ್ನು ತಿಳಿಸುವ ಕಲ್ಹಣನ ʻರಾಜತರಂಗಿಣಿʼ), ನಾಣ್ಯಗಳು, ಶಾಸನಗಳು, ಸ್ಮಾರಕಗಳಂತಹ ಪ್ರಾಚ್ಯವಸ್ತು ಅವಶೇಷಗಳು ಹಾಗೂ ಬಹಳ ಮುಖ್ಯವಾಗಿ ಪ್ರವಾಸ ಕಥನಗಳು. ಇಂದು ನಾವು ಪ್ರಾಚೀನ ಭಾರತದ ಚರಿತ್ರೆ ಮತ್ತು ಸಂಸ್ಕೃತಿಯ ಚಿತ್ರಣವನ್ನು ನಾನಾಮೂಲಗಳಿಂದ ಕಟ್ಟಬೇಕಾಗಿದೆ. ದೂರದ ಗ್ರೀಸ್ ಮುಂತಾದ ಹಲವಾರು ದೇಶಗಳಿಂದ ನೂರಾರು ಪ್ರವಾಸಿಗಳು ಸುಮಾರು ಕ್ರಿ.ಪೂ. 500ರಿಂದ ಅಂದರೆ ಇಲ್ಲಿಗೆ 2500 ವರ್ಷಗಳಿಂದ ನಮ್ಮ ದೇಶಕ್ಕೆ ಬಂದು ತಾವು ಕಂಡು ಕೇಳಿದ ವಿಷಯಗಳನ್ನು ಬರೆದಿಟ್ಟು ಹೋಗಿರುವ ದಾಖಲೆಗಳೇ ಬಹುಮುಖ್ಯ ಆಕರಗಳಾಗಿವೆ. ಇದೇ 1964ರಲ್ಲಿ ಪ್ರಕಟವಾದ ಶ್ರೀ ಎಚ್.ಎಲ್.ನಾಗೇಗೌಡರ ಬೃಹತ್ ಸಂಪುಟ `ಪ್ರವಾಸಿ ಕಂಡ ಇಂಡಿಯಾ'ದ ವಸ್ತು ವಿಷಯವಾಗಿದೆ. ಗ್ರೀಸ್ ನ ಹೆರೊಡೋಟಸ್ ಮತ್ತು ಟೇಸಿಯಾಸ್ ರಿಂದ ಹಿಡಿದು ಅಲೆಕ್ಸಾಂಡರ್ ನ ಅವಧಿಯಲ್ಲಿ ಮೆಗಾಸ್ತನೀಸ್, ಟಾಲೆಮಿ, ಅರಬ್ಬಿ ಪ್ರವಾಸಿಗರಾದ ಸುಲೇಮಾನ್ ಮತ್ತು ಅಲ್ಮಸೂದಿ, ಐದನೇ ಶತಮಾನದಲ್ಲಿ ಚೀನಾದಿಂದ ಬಂದ ಫಾಹಿಯಾನ್, ಏಳನೇ ಶತಮಾನದಲ್ಲಿ ಬಂದ ಹುಯೆನ್‌ ತ್ಸಾಂಗ್, ಹತ್ತನೇ ಶತಮಾನದಲ್ಲಿ ಘಜ್ನಿಯ ಸುಲ್ತಾನ್ ಮಹಮೂದನ ಕಾಲದಲ್ಲಿ ಬಂದ ಅಲ್ಬೆರೂನಿ, ಹದಿಮೂರನೇ ಶತಮಾನದಲ್ಲಿ ಬಂದ ಮಾರ್ಕೊಪೋಲೋ, ನಂತರದ ಇಬನ್ ಬತೂತ, ಹದಿನೈದನೇ ಶತಮಾನದಲ್ಲಿ ಅಂದರೆ ವಿಜಯನಗರ ಸಾಮ್ರಾಜ್ಯ ಅಸ್ಥಿತ್ವದಲ್ಲಿದ್ದಾಗ ಇಟಲಿಯ ನಿಕೊಲೋ ಟಿಕಾಂಟಿ, ಹೇರಾತಿನ ಅಬ್ದುಲ್ ರಜಾಕ್, ರಷ್ಯಾ ದೇಶದ ನಿಕಿಟಿನ್, ಪೋರ್ಚುಗಲ್ಲಿನ ಬಾಬರೋಸಾ, ಹದಿನೇಳನೇ ಶತಮಾನದಲ್ಲಿ ಟಾವೆರ್ನಿಯರ್, ಥೇವನಾಟ್, ಹದಿನೆಂಟನೇ ಶತಮಾನದಲ್ಲಿ ಅಬ್ಬೆ ಡೂಬೆ ಮುಂತಾದವರು ತಮ್ಮ ಸ್ವಾರಸ್ಯದ, ಅಮೂಲ್ಯದ ಪ್ರವಾಸ ಕಥನಗಳನ್ನು ಬರೆದಿಟ್ಟು ಹೋಗಿದ್ದಾರೆ. ಈ ಕಥನಗಳಿಂದ ಇಂಡಿಯಾ ದೇಶದ ಕೇವಲ ರಾಜಕೀಯ ಚರಿತ್ರೆಯಷ್ಟೇ ಅಲ್ಲದೆ ಆಯಾಕಾಲದ ಸಾಮಾಜಿಕ, ನೈತಿಕ, ಆರ್ಥಿಕ, ವಾಣಿಜ್ಯ ವ್ಯಾಪಾರಗಳ ವಿಚಾರಗಳೂ ತಿಳಿಯುತ್ತವೆ. ಎಚ್.ಎಲ್.ನಾಗೇಗೌಡರ ಈ ಸಂಪುಟಕ್ಕೆ ಕುವೆಂಪುರವರು ಬರೆದಿರುವ ಮುನ್ನುಡಿಯಲ್ಲಿ ಅವರು ಹೇಳಿರುವಂತೆ, `ಈ ಪ್ರವಾಸಾನುಭವ ಕಥನಗಳಲ್ಲಿ ಒಮ್ಮೊಮ್ಮೆ ನಿರ್ಲಕ್ಷಿಸಬಹುದಾದ ತಪ್ಪು ಕಲ್ಪನೆ ನುಸುಳಬಹುದು, ಅತಿರೇಕಗಳು ಕಾಣಿಸಬಹುದು; ಆದರೆ ಒಟ್ಟಿನಲ್ಲಿ ಅವರ ಕಣ್ಣಿಗೆ ಕಂಡ ಆಯಾ ಕಾಲದ ಇಂಡಿಯಾ ದೇಶದ ನೈಜ ಚಿತ್ರಣ ಕಂಡುಬರುತ್ತದೆ. ಈ ಕಥನದ ಪುಟಗಳನ್ನು ತಿರುಹುವಾಗ, ಗತಕಾಲದ ಭಾರತೀಯ ಸಂಸ್ಕೃತಿಯ ವೈಭವದ ಚಿತ್ರಪಟವನ್ನು ನಮ್ಮ ಕಣ್ಮುಂದೆ ಸುರುಳಿ ಬಿಚ್ಚಿ ಹರಡಿದಂತೆ ಭಾಸವಾಗುತ್ತದೆ'.

         ಹಾಗಾಗಿ ಪ್ರವಾಸ ಕಥನ ಸಾಹಿತ್ಯದ ಒಂದು ಪ್ರಕಾರವಾಗಿ ವಿಶಿಷ್ಟವಾದುದು. ಏಕೆಂದರೆ ಅದು ಇತರ ಪ್ರಕಾರಗಳನ್ನೂ ತನ್ನಲ್ಲಿ ಒಳಗೊಳ್ಳುತ್ತದೆ - ಅದು ಚರಿತ್ರೆ, ಸಂಸ್ಕೃತಿ, ಕಲೆಯಲ್ಲದೆ, ಪುರಾಣಗಳ, ಸಾಹಸಗಾಥೆಗಳಂತಹ ಇತರ ಅಧ್ಯಯನ ಶಿಸ್ತುಗಳನ್ನು ಸಹ ಒಳಗೊಳ್ಳುತ್ತದೆ. ಪ್ರವಾಸ ಕಥನಗಳು ಜಗತ್ತಿನ ಇತರ ಸಂಪ್ರದಾಯ, ನಡವಳಿಕೆಗಳನ್ನು ಪರಿಚಯಿಸುತ್ತವೆ ಹಾಗೂ ವಿವಿಧ ಸಮಾಜಗಳ ನಡುವಿನ ಈ ಸಂಪ್ರದಾಯಗಳ ಭಿನ್ನತೆಗಳನ್ನು ಸಂಭ್ರಮಿಸುತ್ತವೆ, ಗತಕ್ಕೂ ವರ್ತಮಾನಕ್ಕೂ ಸೇತುವೆಗಳ ಹಾಗೆ ಕಾರ್ಯನಿರ್ವಹಿಸುತ್ತವೆ.

         ಶೇಕ್ಸ್‌ ಪಿಯರ್ ತನ್ನ `ಮರ್ಚಂಟ್ ಆಫ್ ವೆನೀಸ್' ಮತ್ತು `ರೋಮಿಯೋ ಜೂಲಿಯೆಟ್' ನಾಟಕಗಳ ಕಥಾವಸ್ತುಗಳ ಹಿನ್ನೆಲೆಯನ್ನು ಇಟಲಿಗೆ ಪ್ರಯಾಣ ಮಾಡದೆ, ಪ್ರವಾಸ ಕಥನಗಳ ಆಕರದಿಂದಲೇ ಪಡೆದನಂತೆ.

         ಇಂಥ ಸುದೀರ್ಘ ಇತಿಹಾಸ ಹೊಂದಿದ್ದರೂ ಸಹ ಪ್ರವಾಸ ಕಥನಗಳನ್ನು ಸಾಹಿತ್ಯ ಪ್ರಕಾರವಾಗಿ 15-16 ಶತಮಾನಗಳಲ್ಲಿ ಯೂರೋಪಿನ ತನ್ನ ವಸಾಹತು ಮತ್ತು ವ್ಯಾಪಾರದ ವಿಸ್ತರಣೆಗೆ ಮಾಹಿತಿ ಒದಗಿಸುವ ಒಂದು ಆಧುನಿಕ ಪ್ರಕಾರವೆಂದೇ ಪರಿಗಣಿಸಲ್ಪಟ್ಟಿದೆ. ಮುದ್ರಣ ತಂತ್ರಜ್ಞಾನವೂ ಅದಕ್ಕೆ ಕೊಡುಗೆ ನೀಡಿದೆ.

         ನನ್ನ ಹಲವಾರು ವರ್ಷಗಳ ಪ್ರವಾಸದಲ್ಲಿ ನಾನು ಕಂಡುದನ್ನು, ನನ್ನ ಅನುಭವಗಳನ್ನು, ಅಲ್ಲಿನ ಚರಿತ್ರೆ ಮತ್ತು ಸಂಸ್ಕೃತಿಯನ್ನು ಅರಿಯಲು ಪ್ರಯತ್ನಿಸಿ ಅವುಗಳನ್ನು ಇಲ್ಲಿ ದಾಖಲಿಸಲು ಪ್ರಯತ್ನಿಸಿದ್ದೇನೆ. ಇಲ್ಲಿರುವ ಎಲ್ಲ ಬರೆಹಗಳನ್ನೂ ನಾನು ಪ್ರವಾಸ ಕಥನಗಳೆಂದು ಹೇಳಲಾರೆ, ಆದರೆ ಅವು ನನ್ನ ಪ್ರವಾಸದ ಹಿನ್ನೆಲೆಯಿಂದ ರೂಪುಗೊಂಡ ಬರೆಹಗಳೇ ಆಗಿವೆ. ಈ ಬರೆಹಗಳಲ್ಲಿ ಬಳಸಿಕೊಂಡಿರುವ ಛಾಯಾಚಿತ್ರಗಳನ್ನು ನಾನೇ ತೆಗೆದದ್ದು ಹಾಗೂ ಕೆಲವನ್ನು ಇಂಟರ್ನೆಟ್ ನಿಂದ/ವಿಕಿಪೀಡಿಯಾ ಮುಂತಾದ ಆಕರಗಳಿಂದ ಪಡೆದಿದ್ದೇನೆ.

         ಇದರಲ್ಲಿನ ಲೇಖನಗಳಲ್ಲಿ ಬಹುಪಾಲು ಲೇಖನಗಳು ಇಡಿಯಾಗಿ ಇಲ್ಲವೇ ಸಂಕ್ಷಿಪ್ತ ರೂಪದಲ್ಲಿ ಹಲವಾರು ಪತ್ರಿಕೆಗಳಲ್ಲಿ ಪ್ರಕಟವಾಗಿದ್ದು ಆ ಪತ್ರಿಕೆಗಳ ಸಂಪಾದಕರಿಗೆ ನನ್ನ ಕೃತಜ್ಞತೆಗಳು. ನನ್ನ ಈ ಸಂಕಲನಕ್ಕೆ ಸುಂದರ ಹೆಸರನ್ನು ಸೂಚಿಸಿದ ಮಂಡ್ಯದ ಗೆಳೆಯ ರಾಜೇಂದ್ರ ಪ್ರಸಾದ್ ಗೆ ಧನ್ಯವಾದಗಳು. ಇದನ್ನು ಸುಂದರವಾಗಿ ಮುದ್ರಿಸಿದ ರಘು ಪ್ರಿಂಟ್ಸ್ ನ ರಘು ಮತ್ತು ಪದ್ಮನಾಭರೆಡ್ಡಿಯವರಿಗೂ ಸಹ ಧನ್ಯವಾದಗಳು.

ಜೆ.ಬಾಲಕೃಷ್ಣ

j.balakrishna@gmail.com

     

ಪ್ರತಿಗಳಿಗೆ ಸಂಪರ್ಕಿಸಿ: 

 j.balakrishna@gmail.com

 

 

 

Remembering B V Ramamurthy

 2nd edition of the Cartoonists India Annual 2023- the first of its kind magazine dedicated to rich heritage of cartooning culture in India was released today (06-01-2024) at the Gallery of Indian Institute of Cartoonists, Bangalore. This Collector's Journal is published by Indian Institute of Cartoonists headed by Senior Cartoonists V.G.Narendra and the journal is edited and designed by Mr.Bibek Sengupta, a cartoonist himself. The journal contains my write up `Remembering B V Ramamurthy'.

Remembering B V Ramamurthy

            There is a lack of documentation on the lives and works of Karnataka cartoonists. making it difficult for the public and academic researchers to learn about them.

            Karnataka has a few notable political cartoonists. R K Laxman was born and studied in Mysore and began his cartooning career at Koravanji, a Kannada humour magazine founded by Ra. Shivaram (RaShi). Laxman shifted his base from Bangalore to Mumbai in 1948. RaShi was desperately looking for a cartoonist. When he discovered B V Ramamurthy, he commented, “Hey Laxmana, you shifted to Mumbai, so there is no worry for me as our own Ramamurthy is here in Bangalore.” A contemporary of Laxman, who became the leading political cartoonist of Karnataka for almost four decades in both the Kannada and English language news dailies.

            Apart from Koravanji, Ramamurthy drew cartoons and also drew beautiful comic illustrations for two books by RaShi, Indanondu Kaladalli (1957) and Kenakonu Baara! (1967). Shivakumar, son of RaShi, is continuing his father’s crusade by publishing Aparanji, a humorous monthly in Kannada, celebrating the 40th year of Koravanji. Shivakumar preserved the original comic illustrations drawn by Ramamurthy for his father’s books.

            Ramamurthy’s style of cartooning was quite unique. He could convey a whole world of meaning with just a few lines and strokes. His name and cartoons were household words in Karnataka, where people eagerly awaited his work in the newspapers Prajavani and Deccan Herald, as well as the magazines Sudha and Mayura. His most famous creation, ‘Mr. Citizen’, was a mirror image of the common man in our society, looking on at the socio-political chaos and bewilderment. With his passing away in 2004 and after his stint as a cartoonist for almost 33 years, political cartooning in Karnataka has taken a back seat. Editorial cartoons have almost disappeared from mainstream newspapers and magazines.

            Ramamurthy, affectionately known as ‘Murthy’ by his friends and fellow cartoonists, was a native Bangaloean who was born in Bangalore’s old area, Ranasingh Pete, near Aralepet on October 14, 1933. His father, H Venkatagiriyappa, was a musician who worked as an assistant to Vijayabhaskar, a famous Chennai cinema music director. His mother, Huchamma, was a homemaker. Murthy was the eldest of three children. Murthy married his relative, Rathna.

            He had an innate interest in art, and his house walls were his canvas. He often drew portraits of his high school teachers, for which he was reprimanded. He attended primary school in Ranasinghpete and high school at Fort High School. For his intermediate education, he stayed at the YMCA on Nrupathunga Road and graduated from St. Joseph’s College.Ramamurthy, like other cartoonists of his time, was inspired by Sir David Low, a famous British cartoonist from New Zealand. Low even wrote Ramamurthy a letter of appreciation. During this time, Ramamurthy met Sheshappa, the editor of the popular Kannada daily Kidi (a Kannada word that means ‘Spark’). Sheshappa recognised Ramamurthy’s talent and published his first cartoon in the 1950s. He encouraged Ramamurthy immensely to draw political cartoons and took him to the Assembly to observe the proceedings so that he could find inspiration for his cartoons.

            Soon, Murthy’s cartoons in the Kidi newspaper caught the attention of Philip Spratt, a British intellectual and communist. Spratt was sent by the British arm of the Communist International, based in Moscow, to spread Communism in India. He was among the first architects and a founding member of the Communist Party of India. He was the editor of MysIndia, a pro-American weekly. Spratt encouraged Murthy to draw cartoons there, but unfortunately, there is no record available of whether he ultimately published Murthy’s cartoons in his publication.

            Ramamurthy’s cartoons soon caught the eye of Pothan Joseph, the founder editor of the Deccan Herald, the English Daily published from Bangalore. Joseph was a veteran whose journalistic career spanned across 40 years. He worked with notable people of the time, such as Muhammad Ali Jinnah, Annie Besant, Mahatma Gandhi, Sarojini Naidu, and Motilal Nehru. He also nurtured cartoonist Shankar Pillai, helping to make political cartoons a staple of Indian newspapers. He found Ramamurthy to be the best candidate for political cartooning. To work for the Deccan Herald, Murthy had to stop drawing cartoons and illustrations for other publications, as per the contract. Joseph encouraged Ramamurthy to draw pocket cartoons. Ramamurthy’s association with this publication house lasted 33 years until his retirement. He continued to draw political cartoons even after his retirement and even when he was sick. During those days, there was no email. Ramamurthy had to send them, through his son and friends, to the Deccan Herald Office.

            In the Deccan Herald, Ramamurthy started ‘As You Like It’ in November 1956, a daily cartoon column where his famous character, ‘Mr. Citizen’, appeared. Mr. Citizen was a true Kannadiga with a Mysore Peta (a traditional turban in Karnataka), a black coat, Dothi (a traditional white cloth worn around the waist in a typical style), and an umbrella. The title of the pocket cartoon was later changed to `Mr. Citizen’. Ramamurthy was extremely successful in subtly bringing out the many problems that a common man faces in his daily life. This provided him with a stronger foothold for making readers chuckle. Mr. Citizen, with an eternally bewildered face, was a mute spectator to the political and social world around him. Mr. Citizen was so popular with the readers that whenever Mr. Citizen was seen without his customary Mysore Peta, the readers demanded that he put the Mysore Peta back on.

            He once drew a sketch of Jimmy Carter, the former US President, with the caption `Grin of the Year’. This cartoon drew international acclaim. His cartoons were also exhibited worldwide in 1978 and 1982. Exhibitions of Ramamurthy’s cartoons were organised by the Indian Institute of Cartoonists at the Indian Cartoon Gallery, Bangalore, in 2007, 2012, and 2017. Three volumes of Ramamurthy’s cartoon collection were published by Bapco Publishers in Bangalore.

            Ramamurthy was also interested in fine art. He did some paintings in oil and watercolour, which reflected his artistic talent. Some of his paintings were exhibited at the Alliance Française du Bangalore in 1974. The then Chief Minister, Sri Devaraja Urs and the Governor of Karnataka, Sri Mohanlal Sukhadia, both attended the exhibition.His artworks were exhibited at various state art societies and also at the Jehangir Art Gallery in Mumbai.

            Ramamurthy was the chief patron of the Karnataka Cartoonists Association for almost 25 years. The first convention of the ‘Karnataka Cartoonists Association’ was held under his chairmanship in Udupi in 1978–79. He organised the second conference at Chitrkala Parishath, Bangalore. He travelled all around Karnataka to organise various cartoon workshops. He was the first chairperson of the Indian Institute of Cartoonists until his death in 2004.Throughout his tenure, Ramamurthy received many prestigious awards, including the Karnataka State Rajyotsava Award (1984), the Sandesha Award (1998), and the Karnataka Journalists Academy Award for his contribution to journalism as a cartoonist and for creating the iconic character, Mr. Citizen. He has been honoured by the Karnataka Lalithakala Academy (1990–92) and the Karnataka Cartoonists Association (1998). He was also made an honorary member of the Karnataka Lalithakala Academy.

            In spite of all these recognitions, as a cartoonist, Ramamurthy did not earn the fame he deserved at the national level. There could be many reasons. One main reason could be the circulation of the Deccan Herald, which was limited at the regional level.

            A great artist, painter, and cartoonist par excellence, Ramamurthy dabbled in literature and attempted to document cartooning history. He once gave a talk on All India Radio on the cartoon history of the world. According to sources, he was halfway through a book on the history of cartoons. This outstanding artist died of cardiac arrest on March 24, 2004, at the age of 70. Ramamurthy’s cartoons will be remembered forever for bringing smiles and making readers think.

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About the writer: Dr.J.Balakrishna is a Professor at University of Agricultural Sciences, Bangalore, and is also a writer, translator, and a cartoonist. He is also interested in the history of cartoons. His works have been published in the newspapers and Magazines in Karnataka.

Tracing the history of Cartooning in Karnataka

Cartoonists India Annual 2022- the first of its kind magazine dedicated to rich heritage of cartooning culture in India was released July 2nd 2022. This Collector's Journal is published by Indian Institute of Cartoonists headed by Senior Cartoonists V.G.Narendra and the journal is edited and designed by Mr.Bibek Sengupta, a cartoonist himself. The journal contains my write up on `Tracing the history of Cartooning in Karnataka'.

Tracing the history of Cartooning in Karnataka

To trace the history of Kannada Cartoons we need not have to delve in to deep past, but we have very few documents as relics. Though the print media is almost 220 years old (First Kannada news paper was Mangalooru Samachara started in 1843 by German, Rev. Hermann Friedrich Mögling, a Christian Missionary of the Basel Mission) and hundreds of dailies, weeklies and monthlies started later throughout Karnataka, publishing of political or social cartoons started rather very late. ‘Tai Nadu’ which started as a weekly from Mysore in 1926 was later converted in to a daily and published from Bangalore from 1928. Gulur, an Advocate used to write Political Cartoons to ‘Tai Nadu’.

            A century after Mogling started Mangalooru Samachara Ra. Shi. aka R. Shivaram, a Doctor by profession but an humourist by nature heavily influenced by the British satire magazine ‘Punch’, started a Kannada satirical magazine ‘Koravanji’ during March 1942 which for the first time started giving prominence to cartoons. R.K.Laxman who was a student of Na. Kasturi at that time was identified and in fact Koravanji was the stepping stone for Laxman as a Cartoonist who drew for ‘Koravanji’ for almost four years.

Pioneers in Kannada Social cartoons which saw a bloom of cartoons during 1960s are Nadig, K.R.Swamy, M.T.V.Acharya, Rag, M.Vishwanath, Hublikar (of Chingari fame in ‘Prajamatha’), Prem Kumar (who started a pocket cartoon in ‘Udayavani’ by name Chinakuruli), S. Srinivasulu, V.R.Chandrashekhar, S.S. Anand. Nadig and K.R.Swamy became household names and their cartoons started inspiring many a budding cartoonists. M.T.V. Acharya, an art teacher started Drawing and Cartooning postal correspondence coaching which was a first in its type in teaching Cartooning. But a cartoonist who was born in Coastal Karnataka took shape as a Cartoonist elsewhere during 1940s itself. Kanneppadi Ramakrishna who wrote by name Raghu was born in 1925 in Putturu, Dakshina Kannada District published his first cartoon in ‘Orient Illustrated Weekly’ in 1943 when he was a student at Benares and he was appreciated by his Vice Chancellor Dr.Sarvapally Radhakrishnan. Soon his cartoons started appearing in ‘Aaj’ a Hindi daily of Benares and ‘Amrit Bazar Patrika’ of Allahabad. After his graduation he started his life as a full time cartoonist and joined ‘Kalki’ a Tamil Weekly of Chennai on the advice of Dr.S.Radhakrishnan. Raghu worked there for 10 years as a cartoonist. Later he joined ‘Navbharath’, a Kannada daily published from Mangaluru in 1956. He became popular and a household name by his pocket cartoon ‘Shinganna’ in ‘Udayavani’ and later ‘Chinakurali’ in ‘Prajavani’. He tried unsuccessfully to bring out a cartoon weekly in Kannada called ‘Indradhanush’ during 1962-63. He has brought out ‘Shinganna’ and his political cartoons published in ‘Navabharat’ in a collection. Kannepadi Ramakrishna breathed his last on 23^rd July 2000.

As R.K.Laxman moved to Mumbai to ‘Times of India’, Political cartooning in Kannada News Papers had stalwarts like B.V.Ramamurthy who drew in ‘Prajavani’ (Kannada) and ‘Deccan Herald’ (English), V.G. Narendra in ‘Samyukta Karnataka’ and later in ‘Kannada Prabha’.

N. K. Ranganathan of Bangalore who is known to the cartoon world as Ranga is best known for his two-stroke line drawing of Mahatma Gandhiji and is perhaps the best known line drawing of the Mahatma in the world. Though Ranga did not write to Kannada News papers or magazines, Ranga's professional life began in ‘Shankar's Weekly’ the brain child of the legendary cartoonist K. Shankar Pillai. He worked at various times for ‘The Statesman’, ‘The Indian Express’ and ‘The Tribune’, besides drawing for various other publications across the country for nearly four decades. He is also in the Limca Book of Records for having the highest collection (of some 2,000 autographed cartoons/sketches) of National and International celebrities. Ranga had the habit of sketching celebrities while interviewing them for AIR. On one such occasion, the late Russian President Nikita Kruschev liked his sketch so much that he asked for a copy. After that, Ranga began drawing two cartoons: One for the celeb and one with his/her autograph for himself. At a photo-op or press briefing, Ranga would calmly draw, unruffled by the jostling of reporters and security men. In fact, he perfected the art of drawing two sketches in the time taken for one, to save time!

While most leaders gladly autographed his sketches, only two leaders demurred. Former British Prime Minister Margent Thatcher felt he had not done justice to her new hair style. Ranga immediately re-touched the sketch, and the Iron Lady signed it. In the second case, however, the celeb would not oblige: Prince Charles thought Ranga has done a poor caricature of his, and refused to sign. On yet another occasion, former Park Prime Minister Zulfikar Ali Bhutto did sign, but made his displeasure clear: “A bad cartoon. I do not look anything like this,” he scrawled on Ranga's sketch.

Ranga died of a massive heart attack on July 28, 2002 in Bangalore.

B.V.Ramamurthy’s perpetually puzzled Mr. Citizen grappling with the trials and tribulations of life, has greeted Karnataka in the past every morning for over 33 years. For decades, with his gentle humour, B.V.Ramamurthy, perhaps the progenitor of the pocket cartoon in South India, has been making readers of ‘Deccan Herald’, ‘Prajavani’, ‘Sudha’ and ‘Mayura’ chuckle. His Mr. Citizen had become a habit with Karnataka. In fact, when at one point, Mr. Citizen abandoned his trademark Mysore ‘ Peta' (turban) and displayed a bald pate, readers demanded that he don the ‘Peta' again.

Murthy, as he is known to friends (he also jokingly calls himself ‘3Thi' -  a pun of his name in Kannada), had honed his drawing and sketching skills even while in college. He graduated in Science from St. Joseph's College, Bangalore, in 1955. It was ‘Kidi' Sheshappa, a firebrand journilist of the ‘50s, who uncovered Murthy's talent as a cartoonist, in his paper ‘Kidi’, literally meaning Spark. This sparked the growth of a genius. Murthy's talent was further nurtured by the legendary Pothan Joseph, who provided him a stronger spring-board and a large canvas ‘Decan Herald’ and ‘Prajavani’. He encouraged Murthy to draw a pocket cartoon every day. Mr. Citizen soon became the morning Toast of Karnataka's readers, their spokesman for all things under the sun- by being mere a spectator (or rather a witness) and never uttering a word!

Among cartoons that brought Murthy international attention was one titled ‘Grin of the year' caricaturing Jimmy Carter, the former US President. While he is known mainly for his cartoons, he was dexterous in illustrations and watercolours also.

        V.G. Narendra is another senior Cartoonist of Karnataka who worked under Cartoonist Shankar and is the person who gave Cartoonists of India a National Forum by establising the Indian Institute of Cartoonists at Bangalore, the first National-level organization of cartoonists in India. He was influenced by the cartoons of the great Shankar during his school days. Even while in school, he was contributing cartoons to several periodicals. During his college days, he started drawing pocket and political cartoons for newspapers. After graduating with a science degree from Karnataka University, Narendra headed to Bombay to make a career for himself. He soon started contributing to the ‘Illustrated Weekly of India’, ‘Dharmyug’ and other magazines. After a while he joined Ranga Rekha Features, Mumbai, the first Indian Comic Feature Syndicate. His pocket cartoon ‘Reporter Sanju' began appearing in over 15 dailies in several languages.

         A chance visit to office of the ‘Free Press Journal’ resulted in an invitation to contribute political cartoons to the paper. His work caught the eye of Shankar, who sent him a message asking him to meet him in Delhi. Narendra went over, and worked with Shankar on an experimental basis for a week. An impressed Shankar invited him to join ‘Shankar's Weekly’. That was a turning point in Narendra's life.

        Two years later, when ‘Shankar's Weekly’ was forced to close down because of the Emergency, Narendra moved to Bangalore and joined ‘Samyukta Karnataka’ daily as a Staff cartoonist in 1976. After 11 years there, he moved to another leading Kannada daily, ‘Kannada Prabha’ in  which he worked for 20 years. Since the establishment of the Indian Institute of Cartoonists in 2001, he has been devoting his time and energy to promote the art of cartooning in India, as Managing Trustee of the Institute. His talents were recognized and honoured by Karnataka Cartooninsts Association, Karnataka Media Academy, Bangalore Press Club, Kannada Sahitya Parishat and other organizations.

Maya Kamath (1951-2001), born in Mumbai is a Post Graduate in English Literature spent her formative years in Delhi. Drawing was a childhood hobby and she became an illustrator with MacMillan publishers and started to work as a drawing teacher at Sophia's School. It was the sight of sketches in a book titled ‘For Better or for Worse’, by Lynn Johnston, that inspired her to draw cartoons. Kamath's career as a cartoonist began in 1985 with ‘The Evening Herald’ a publication of the Deccan Herald group. She later worked for Indian newspapers such as ‘The Indian Express’, ‘The Asian Age’ and ‘The Times of India’. She also contributed environmental cartoons in a German collection called ‘Third World’. In October 1998, the Karnataka Cartoonists' Association presented her with an award at their 7th Cartoonists' Conference. Maya who breathed her last at the age of 50 was India's only female political cartoonist at the time of her death. Her husband, Amarnath Kamath, instituted the annual Maya Kamath Memorial Award (MKMA) in 2008 under the aegis of the Indian Institute of Cartoonists. It recognises excellence in cartooning and is followed by an exhibition of the cartoons at the Indian Cartoon Gallery.

B.G.Gujjarappa who is popularly known as Gujjar is dexterous in drawing illustrations, political cartoons and caricatures. Gujjar is featured in world’s 100 best caricaturists, has been in and out of several newspapers and media firms during the last 30 years. He is now Art Director at Bangalore based Indya Comics, which is bringing out in graphic novels in various Indian languages. His artistic skills are being put to use to picturise Indian classics.

A Post Graduate in History Gujjarappa started as a Lecturer in History. But cartooning beckoned him more than books and soon he was part of the initial team that started ‘Lankesh Patrike’, a tabloid, as a cartoonist. Later he joined Printers (Mysore) Ltd that published ‘Deccan Herald’ and ‘Prajavani’ and worked as a staff cartoonist for 14 years. He did political cartoons for ‘Udayavani’, a Kannada newspaper on a freelance basis. He has also worked for ‘Business Standard’ Delhi.

Children are Gujjar’s favourtites. He loves illustrating children’s books. He also writes for them. Gujjar has illustrated over 1000 books for children, which includes his own seven books, and varied subjects. To his credit are numerous national and international awards.

He is very passionate about caricatures. He has been experimenting in various styles of caricaturing. His cross hatching style caricatures are popular among readers. Gujjar has been featured in worlds 100 best caricaturists. He also worked for a Canada based Cartoon syndicate Artizans. He has been commissioned to do the caricatures of Prime Ministers, VVIPs, corporate CEOs and scientists. He was a member of Public Relations Committee, Karnataka Government and also a member of Karnataka Lalithakala Academy. He is a recipient of  Kempegowda award instituted by Bangalore Mahanagara Palike.

End of Editorial Cartoons?

At the International level ‘The New York Times’ in response to outrage created by a syndicated cartoon which showed the caricatures of Benjamin Netanyahu and Donald J. Trump stopped publishing Editorial Cartoons and cancelled its contract with two cartoonists. In India people used to eagerly wait for cartoons of R.K.Laxman in ‘Times of India’ and in Karnataka to cartoons of Ramamurthy and Narendra in ‘Prajavani/Deccan Herald’ and ‘Samyuktha Karnataka/Kannada Prabha’ respectively. Now those days are over. Still many Kannada News Papers encourage cartoonists and publish editorial and pocket cartoons. P.Mohammed a great and sensitive cartoonist worked for ‘Prajavani’ for many years and is now settled in Mudabidri and draws pocket and political cartoons for ‘Vartha Bharathi’. Prakash Shetty who is a great caricaturist now draws pocket and editorial cartoons for ‘Prajavani’. Earlier he has worked for ‘The Week’, english weekly of Malayala Manorama. Youngsters like Raghupathi Shringeri and Kantesh Badiger illustrate and draw pocket cartoons for ‘Vijayavani’ and ‘Samyukta Karntaka’ respectively. Raghupathi Shringeri says he was inspired in to cartooning his by his late brother and cartoonist Dr.Satish Shringeri. Dinesh Kukkujadka who earlier drew pocket cartoons for ‘Vijayavani’ quit because of ideological differences with the editors and is now a freelancer.

Satish Acharya who shot to fame with his ‘He drew first’ cartoon in response to killings of editors of French magazine ‘Charlie Hebdo’ is an avid and prolific cartoonist and is famous for his ‘anti establishment’ cartoons which are published throughout India. In addition to drawing cartoons, he is known to encourage cartooning among civilians and youngsters by conducting ‘Cartoonu Habba’ in his home town Kundapura and as well as in Bangalore.

Social Cartoons

Social cartoons have a special place in Kannada News papers and magazines and has encouraged a breed of cartoonists since the days of Koravanji, a monthly started in 1942 by R.Shivaram and which stopped publication after twenty five years. Later its memory was revived by A.R.Sethurama Rao in 1983 as ‘Aparanji’ and now Shivakumar son of R.Shivaram is editing the magazine. They have also brought out in digital form and the old ‘Korvanji’ issues are available in a CD form.

As ‘Koravanji’ was a stepping stone for R.K.Laxman, ‘Sudha’, ‘Mayura’, ‘Prajamatha’, ‘Karmaveera’, ‘Kasturi’ and later ‘Taranga’ and ‘Tushara’ magazines have encouraged a host of cartoonists. Nadig from Bhadravathi and K.R.Swamy from Shimoga were very much popular during 1960s and have inspired many a cartoonists. Nadig drew daily pocket cartoon for ‘Udayavani’ a Kannada Daily. K.R. Swamy, whose first cartoon was published in 1965 is still active and draws cartoons. Premkumar was popular with his pocket cartoon Chinakuruli which was published in ‘Udayavani’. Ganeshaiah of Mysore, V.Gopal of Malur and V.R.Chandra Shekhar of Shringeri were active in the field of Social cartoons. V.Gopal breathed his last during 2019. V.R.C.Shekhar who at present is the President of Karnataka Cartoonists Association is an academically trained artist and is still teaching at Karnataka Chitrakala Parishath. He is recipient of several awards and his cartoons and art works have been exhibited on several occasions throughout India.

Prabhakar Rao who published cartoons under the name Raobail was popular with his unique style of cartooning. He was born in 1937 in Kasargod. He worked as an illustrator and designer in the Art Department of the Life Insurance Corporation of India at Mumbai and after retirement settled in Dharwad. Raobail has contributed cartoons and illustrations to a host of newspapers and magazines including ‘Indian Express’, ‘Times of India’, ‘Reader’s Digest’, ‘The Illustrated Weekly of India’, ‘Debonair’, ‘Blitz’, ‘Inside Outside’ etc. His cartoons have featured in the ‘Penguin Book of Indian Cartoons’ edited by Abu Abraham. Raobail has designed and illustrated children’s books for UNICEF. He has done greeting cards for CRY and Concern India. In 2009, he was selected by Indian Institute of Cartoonists for their Lifetime Achievement Award. Raobail died on April 4, 2018 at the age of 80.

B V Panduranga Rao a free lance Cartoonist was born in 1944, is a retired Senior Manager from Bhilai Steel Plant. His cartoons have been published in various News Dailies, Magazines, Technical Journals, Comics etc. in English, Kannada and Hindi. He is famour for his 3D cartoons. He has participated in many National and Inter National Cartoon Contests. He has won over dozen of Prizes at National level and his cartoons have been selected over 30 times at International level cartoon Contests Exhibitions and also printed in 29 cartoon Catalogues from various countries. His achievements have been entered as National record in prestigious Limca Book of Records and India Book of records. Panduranga Rao was felicitated with Life Time Achievement Award by the former President of India Dr APJ Abdul Kalam at Cartoon Festival – 2011 at New Delhi.

H.B.Manjunath, S.V.Padmanabha, G.S.Naganath, James Vaz of ‘Taranga/Udayavani’, Nanjundaswamy, Vishwanath, S.S.Anand, Sharad Kulakarni, Venkatesh Inamdar, Bhajantri, John Chandran, Panju Gangolli, Harishchandra Shetty, Jeevan Shetty, Gangadhar Adderi,  Ramadhyani, Vasantha Hosabettu, Sharanu Chatti, G.M.Bomnalli and many other cartoonists (this list is only indicative and not exhaustive) are active in Karnataka today either professionally or on free lance basis. Among women cartoonists apart from Maya Kamath, Geeta Shastri used to draw social cartoons in magazines.

Social media is another equivalising factor today and one need not have to wait for publication in print media to let the world know about your cartoon. People draw, experiment and share instantly over Facebook, WhatsApp, Twitter etc. Digitisation has made the artists work easy to an extent.

Karnataka Cartoonists Association

It was during 1977 an idea to institutionalize and bring under one umbrella the cartoonists of Karnataka emerged. Nadig from Bhadravathi, K.R.Swamy from Shimoga, N.Shivanand, S.S.Anand, Ramamurthy, V.R.C.Shekhar, Narendra, M.Vishwanath, M.T.V.Acharya and Ganeshaiah from Mysore met at an old choultry in Gandhinagar, Bangalore. Thus was born Karnataka Cartoonists Association with Nadig as its President, K.R.Swamy as its Secretary, Narendra and others as Executive Committee members.

The Association organised a small conference and exhibition at Shimoga during 1978 and  first State level Karnataka Cartoonists Conference was organised at Udupi during 1978 itself and it was hosted by MGM College. It was inaugurated by Ku.Shi.Haridasa Bhatta and Cartoons were exhibited. B.V.Ramamurthy was honoured and felicitated.

During that time V.G.Narendra was a staff Cartoonist at ‘Samyukta Karnataka’ and Association thought his contacts would help build the Association and cause of cartoonists and hence was made its President and Prem Kumar as Secretary. At the end of 1978 when Narendra took over the reins, R.S.Naidu who was residing at Mysore was felicitated at his home itself by Narendra and other members of the Association.

During 1978-79 a conference was held under the auspices of Karnataka Vidyavardhaka Sangha, Dharwad and the famous poet and Jnanapitha laureate Da.Ra.Bendre inaugurated the conference.

The second State level conference was organised for 2 days on a grand scale at Kannada Sahithya Parishath when Ham.Pa.Nagarajaiah was the President of the Parishath in which R.K.Laxman and Abu Abraham were invited to participate. During that time Mario Miranda was in Bangalore and Narendra immediately contacted him and requested him to participate which he duly obliged. R.K.Laxman inaugurated the conference and Nadig was felicitated in that Conference.

The third State Level Conference was held at Badami House, Bangalore (Badami House which later housed Karnataka Chalanachitra Academy has now been razed to give way for more modern buildings) in which Narendra, Hublikar and others participated. Madan a cartoonist of ‘Tughlaq’, a Tamil Magazine was also invited.

After Narendra’s term, B.V.Panduranga Rao took charge as President. Later Hublikar was made the President of the Assoiation and Narendra as Vice-President. Next conference was held at Kalaburgi at the artist Andani’s Ideal Art School. Telugu Daily Eenadu’s cartoonist Sridhar was invited and felicitated at this conference.

Later S.Srinivasulu took the reins of the Association as President and the conference was held at Bangalore. Marathi cartoonist Vasant Saravate was invited and felicitated.

Almost after a gap of 20 years V.G.Narendra was made as President of the Association for the second term. To commemorate the twenty years of the Association’s existence a grand Anniversary function was held at Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan. The Anniversary function was inaugurated by none other than the then Hon’ble Chief Minister of Karnataka J.H.Patel. Ranga was invited. Most of the cartoonists of Karnataka including Ponnappa, Maya Kamath participated in the function. Ramamurthy was conferred with Life Time Achievement Honour by the then Kannada and Culture Minister M.C.Nanaiah. During the same time Raghu (Kannepadi Ramakrishna) was felicitated at Chitra Kala Parishath in a function organised by the Association and Chowta was the President of Karnataka Chitra Kala Parishath at that time.

The association to promote the art of cartooning and caricaturing among the young and budding cartoonists, the Association organised its first two day Cartoon Workshop during 1980 at Yavanika, Dept. of Youth Services, Govt. of Karnataka. Similar worksops were conducted regularly thereafter.

In the State level Conference held during 2009 Life Time Achievement honour was bestowed on Toms (Thomas) of Kerala, Unni (Indian Express), Vasant Saravate (Mumbai), T.Venkata Rao (Andhra Pradesh), Madan (Tamil Nadu) and Raobail of Karnataka.

H.B.Manjunath of Davanagere later took the reins of the Association as President followed by Padmanabha. After the sad demise of Padmanabh, V.R.C.Shekhar was made the President and continued for the second term also.

It was the dream of V.G.Narendra to form a National level institute of Cartoonists and thus was born Indian Institute of Cartoonists during 2001 with Ramamurthy as Chairman, Narendra as Managing Trustee and Mario Miranda as Chief Patron. With the support of Government of Karnataka the Institute was inaugurated at Hotel Parag in a two days function which was inaugurated by the then Hon’ble Governor of Karnataka Smt.Rama Devi. Many cartoonists of South India participated in that function. Mario Miranda, Pran, S.D.Phadnis, Nadig, Yesudasan, Bapu, Gopulu were conferred with Life Time Achievement honour and were felicitated by the then Hon’ble Chief Minister of Karnataka S.M.Krishna who also inaugurated the website of the Institute.

The Institute organised another function during 2002 in which R.K.Laxman was conferred with Life Time Achievement Honour by the then Hon’ble Chief Minister of Karnataka S.M.Krishna.

The first Cartoon Gallery in the Country was opened by the Indian Institute of Cartoonists during 2007 at M.G.Road, Bangalore and it was inaugurated by the then Hon’ble Governor of Karnataka T.N.Chaturvedi.

[Dr.J.Balakrishna, author of this write-up is a Professor at University of Agricultural Sciences, Bangalore is a writer, translator and a cartoonist. He is also interested in the history of Cartoons. He has been drawing cartoons since 1976 and his works have been published in all the major News papers and Magazines of Karnataka. At present he is recording the history of Cartoons and Cartooning and has plans to bring out it in the form of a book soon.]