(MENAFN- Gulf Times) The Maharashtra government plans to erect a befitting memorial to the legendary cartoonist and creator of 'The Common Man', R K Laxman, on the campus of the Sir J J School of Arts in mumbai, a family member said.
Ironically, this is the same institution which had refused to give admission to a young Laxman in the late 1930s as his "drawings failed to conform to the high expectations" of the hallowed institution!
"Yes... with support of Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis and Education Minister Vinod Tawde, the Maharashtra government has finalised the spot inside the Sir J J Institute of Applied Art campus. It will be in a shaded location near the bungalow of another legend, the renowned writer and Nobel laureate, Rudyard Kipling," Laxman's daughter-in-law Usha Srinivas Laxman said.
"The memorial should not be just limited to a statue which nobody will notice...; plus it should be accessible to people from all over India and the world," Usha said.
She has submitted her concept of the memorial which would be in the form of a full-fledged art museum encompassing the works of Laxman. It will also offer opportunities for study or research to students and art lovers, thereby making it a world-class global tourist attraction.
"This could form the basis for all such similar memorials to Laxman in the country later...; It is in the last stages of being finalised and we hope the government will make the announcement at an appropriate time," Usha added.
This would fulfil son Srinivas' request last February to have a memorial for Laxman in Mumbai, which currently has only a statue of 'The Common Man' in Worli.
After all, though he was born in Karnataka, Mumbai was the place where he lived, worked and became a legend, starting with freelance contributions to publications like Swarajya and Swatantra, and later The Hindu to accompany his brother R K Narayan's famous short stories.
Laxman worked with the now defunct Blitz, then with the top newspaper of that era, The Free Press Journal as a staff cartoonist, becoming a colleague of a lanky soft-spoken Bal Thackeray, who later became a commanding political force in Maharashtra.
They remained dear friends for over 60 years till Thackeray's death on November 17, 2012.
After his stint with FPJ, Laxman joined The Times of India, which proved to be the turning point in his career and made him a living legend.
"It was the vibrant and never-say-die spirit of the ordinary Mumbaikar that inspired the image of Laxman's bespectacled creation - The Common Man. Always silent with a confused and bewildered expression at the antics of politicians, generally in his trademark checked-shirt with dhoti, and a tuft of hair clinging to the sides of his worry-marked pate," Srinivas said of his father.
Meanwhile, Google 'celebrated' Laxman's 94th birthday with a special Doodle yesterday.
The doodle, in black-and-white - just like Laxman's sketches which created history -depicts a studio in three parts, comprising his work desk, the cartoonist sitting on a chair drawing his famous 'Common Man' on a vertical canvas, with the 'Common Man' peeping from behind, and a collection of work canvasses shown at the end.
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