Happy Birthday R.K. Laxman, India's Finest Cartoonist!

Rasipuram Krishnaswami Iyer Laxman would have turned 98 today but before leaving this world on January 26, 2015 at the age of 93, he did enough to ensure that he will always be alive in the hearts of millions of people across the globe. His depiction of The Common Man was perfect in the most literal sense. It is hard to believe that someone as gifted as R.K. Laxman failed to get admission in Bombay's J.J. School of Art. While rejecting his application, its Dean told him that his drawings are not good enough to make him a part of this prestigious school. Such a pity!

This was his only dream that failed to convert into reality. After working for newspapers and magazines of little repute, his first full-time job was for the Free Press Journal, Mumbai as a political cartoonist. Since then, he never looked back. After joining The Times of India, his popularity transcended the boundaries of India. For more than five decades, he was an indispensable part of The Times of India.

While working for The Times of India, in 1951, through his daily comic strip, You Said It, he created his most famous and acclaimed cartoon character, The Common Man. Through his cartoons, Laxman was able to beautifully represent the miseries, fears and hopes of the common people of India. How he managed to express everything through his cartoons is something that we mortals won't ever be able to answer.

Today, he is not with us physically but through his cartoons, he will always be alive in our hearts. There have been many Indian cartoonists, there are many and there will be many more but holding a candle to R.K. Laxman is something that will always be impossible for them. We should always feel blessed to be a part of a world where R.K. Laxman lived for 93 years...