The most loved Indian cartoonist, Rasipuram Krishnaswamy Laxman was born in 1927 in a well-to-do Kannada family in Mysore. His father was a headmaster in a school. He was known for being a hard taskmaster. Laxman was the youngest among six brothers. Laxman’s father nicknamed him ‘The Tiger’, for his temperament had to retain his calm at this juncture.
His mother was quite opposite to his father in nature. She was a good tennis player as well as proficient in
bridge and a champion in chess. She used to attend the Maharani Ladies Club. Laxman was comfortable at home in his mother’s absence, as he was habituated, but at night he wanted to be with her.
He was never admitted to any school past his age. This boy was still on playing grounds, while boys of his age were busy rhyming poems in the classroom. Meanwhile, his uncle Chikkannayappa, from Madras, visited their place and discovered the fact and Laxman was admitted at a nearby municipal primary school. To everyone’s surprise, Laxman followed his uncle back home on the very first day with tears in his eyes. His Mother was shocked to see the tears in the eyes of her little angel, cancelled the word ‘school’ from his life which gradually happened to be a boon in disguise.
Growing up !
He had a passion for sketching since childhood. He used to draw street scenes, people and landscapes. As a child he used to collect bicycle chains, hubcaps from a car, deflated footballs, a home-made cricket bat, tennis balls, empty chocolate boxes etc. One day he found three broken glass panes : in red, blue and green, offering him a world of magic – turning the landscape into different colors; an entire garden, trees, flowers, the gardener etc. drenched in green. Then transform the landscape from one color to another. He used to gather his father’s magazines and got lost looking in large illustrations. His favorite magazine was Strand. He also read Bystander, Wide World, Tit Bits and Punch. He used to read jokes under the cartoons, which developed his visualization and sense of humor, knowing improper society or human anatomy without being conscious of what it was.
One day, impressed by one of the cartoons from Punch, Laxman sat down with a paper and pencil to copy it. Noticing this, one of his brothers remarked, "Copying? Never. Look around, observe and sketch! You will never be an artist if you copy. It is like eating the leftovers from somebody’s plate." Thereafter, Laxman never dared to copy anything. Those were his happy days, but they ended within a few months.
The Little Artist at School
Chikkannayappa repeatedly failed in BA English exam and came to his brother Narayan for tuition. Sometimes he played with Laxman, when his brother was busy doing something else. One such day, while playing, he looked at the watch and inquired Laxman about his going to school. Laxman refused and this time he took Laxman to the municipal primary school again. The headmaster recognized him, re-admitted and prevented him from running after Chikkannayappa.
That day onwards, Laxman attended his classes regularly. He insisted on going to school, even on Sundays. His teacher, often left the class to the monitor to smoke a beedi.
One day the teacher left the room assigning them to draw a leaf, of any kind. The class was excited. The students put their creative juices to the ‘leaf task’ given by their teacher. Every one was full of imagination. On entering the class, the teacher had a look at each picture. Then came Laxman’s turn and the teacher stared at his picture for long and asked if it was his own work. Laxman was aghast with fear. Slowly he replied that it was his. Holding the slate up in the class, the teacher announced: "Attention! Look how nicely Laxman has drawn the leaf!" Then he told Laxman: "You will be an artist one day. Keep it up." He gave Laxman full credit. The teacher was impressed by the perfect shape of his Peepal leaf with the veins branching out along the midriff.
Laxman was inspired by this unexpected encouragement. He started to visualize himself as an artist. It was common to see his drawings on the floors, walls and doors of his house. Once he saw his father sitting in a chair and reading newspaper. He looked like a Roman senator stood out clearly and the fringe of gray hair circling his bald head like a wreath added to his imposing appearance. Laxman sketched his father on the floor with a chalk. His mother, who was passing by, recognized the caricature. With a laugh, she invited his father to have a look at it. His father got furious and asked to wipe it off immediately. The mother insisted that it should remain till others came home and had a look at it. The caricature remained on the floor for a long time till it faded and disappeared in the course of time.
With the passing of each year, the school lost its charm. Lessons turned more tough and complicated. He was weak in arithmetic, though he was good in geography and history and could also recollect villains and heroes and warriors.
Narayan – His Mentor
The lesser known fact is that, at that point of time no one knew that among his brothers was a great Indian writer in English in the making, R K Narayan. He did not bother much about Laxman’s academic problems. He turned his attention to Laxman’s personal appearance and habits as trimming hair or applying little oil and combing, helping him give up biting his nails and his habit of wiping his hands, mouth and face with his shirt. It was Narayan, who was a mentor to Laxman and kept a watch on him when he climbed trees, learnt to ride a bicycle or played cricket. Narayan also wrote a story on him, Dodu, the Money Maker, inspired by Laxman’s activities. This story won him an award in a literary competition sponsored by a magazine in Madras.
Making of You Said It
A documentary filmmaker had a bright idea on browsing through the volumes of You Said It, that a movie could be made out of Laxman’s cartoons. Earlier Laxman recoiled and rejected, but the idea of creating a film version of You Said It cartoons fascinated him. He himself was involved in producing the episodes. The two dozen episodes Laxman churned out for the producer were just trivial daily incidents in anyone’s life as admitting a boy to school, taps suddenly running dry in the bathrooms, a distant relative suddenly arriving as a guest or hiring a new servant etc. The film was shown on Doordarshan and was a great success.
Laxman enjoyed the working condition in the Times of India. The proprietors and all his colleagues ungrudgingly accorded him the freedom he needed as a cartoonist. They never refused a request Laxman made regarding his travels abroad or locally, or in any matter concerning his professional needs.
The Grandpa Laxman
Nowadays the relaxing Laxman loves to watch his grand daughter grow. She fascinates him. He wonders how he had ever been able to live all these years without her presence in his house. Mahalaxmi Kutila, Baby, Ram, Papu, Ramanika, Sweety, Doll, so on, are constantly in his thoughts, regardless of where he is or what he is doing. Observing her from a corner provided Laxman with all the entertainment and companionship he needed at this age. With her presence, he has a mysterious sense of being reborn.
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