He had a reply to everything and anything under the sun. And the most intriguing part of it was that he did so, without saying a word. His common man said it all out for him. R.K. Laxman, one of the best caricature artists in India, passed away on 26th January, 2015, but through his and indirectly the common man’s life we learnt many lessons of life.
1. He was the brother of the late, R. K. Narayan, the creator of Malgudi days
2. He was rejected by J J College of Arts in Mumbai and was later invited there as a chief guest
3. The boy in the Asian Paints logo – Gattu – was created by him
4. Illustrations that appear in the TV adaptation of RK Narayan’s Malgudi Days were drawn by R. K. Laxman
5. R. K. Laxman became the first cartoonist to exhibit in London
6. He had a special attachment towards crow and drawing crow
“But I have been watching the crows since childhood. I loved the colour on its face. It can count up to seven – number seven it can count. They have made an observation. They are very clever birds.” – R. K. Laxman
7. A bronze statue of the “common man” has been put up at Symbiosis Institute, Pune
A chair at Symbiosis International University has been named after R. K Laxman
8. The common man lives on
Tribute to a legend #rklaxman Image source: #Twitter pic.twitter.com/qeRRRQeYtH
— DU Khabar (@DuKhabar) January 27, 2015
The common man lives on through him, and he made millions of us believe that even the simplest of things, most common men can make all the difference in the world. RIP sir.