INDIA
 Indian
legend Abu Abraham is dead at 78
Mumbai, India, January 13, 2003 -
Born in Tiruvilla, Kerala, India in 1924, Abu Abraham
worked as a reporter with the The Bombay Chronicle for
three years and then with Shankar's Weekly. Later he went
to London where he worked with The Tribune, The Observer,
and The Guardian until 1969. After returning to India,
he joined the Indian Express in New Delhi, where he worked
till 1981. He was nominated to the Rajya Sabha in 1972 as a Member
of Parliament. His cartoons and articles have appeared in leading
newspapers and periodicals in India and abroad (Punch).
The cartoons stood apart for their simplicity of lines and directness
of expression. He also was the editor of a book on Indian cartoonists
published by Penquin. In an interview with The Hindu in
1977, Abu said, "I wish I could draw like a child. It is very
difficult to get that kind of simplicity and appeal. Abu passed
away at his home town on December 1, 2002. He was 78 and is survived
by his wife and two children. Abu was known to have been always
ready to help budding cartoonists.
Top Indian cartoonists honored
Hyderabad, India, December 15, 2002 - Shankar
Kumar alias Sanku an enthusiastic and
very active cartoonist from Hyderabad painstakingly produced and
directed an excellent serial " Eminent Cartoonists of India"
for India's national TV covering works, achievements and life styles
of 12 reputed and popular Indian cartoonists. The cartoonists covered
in this first of its kind serial are the Late Shankar,The
Late Abu Abraham, Gopulu, Bapu, R.K.Laxman, Mario Miranda, Rammurthy,
Sushil Kalra, Vins, Ajit Nainan, Prabhakar Waeerkar, and
Suresh Sawant (WittyWorld's India editor).This
prestigious and highly appreciated serial was recently telecast
in November and December. The government of Andhara Pradesh and
Crowquill Academy organized a grand function on December 13,14 and
15, in Hyderabad to felicitate these cartoonists. The veteran cartoonists
Bapu, Laxman and Mario were specially felicitated and presented
with "Lifetime Achievement Awards," while others were
given mementos. This unique and memorable event was preceeded by
a exhibition of these cartoonists' works.
 Grassroots
comics in India
Rajasthan, India, January 10, 2003
- Grassroots comics, i.e. low-cost, limited edition comics in the
form of wallposters, small booklets etc. is the aim of a cooperation
project in India. The newly formed World Comics-India arranges workshops
that teach the making of comics to social activists in Rajasthan,
Jharkhand, Mizoram and a few other places in India. This is an off-shoot
of a cooperation that began in 1997 between VCDS, a human rights
group in Tamil Nadu and World Comics-Finland. The comics take up
issues, such as gender, corruption, ground water depletion etc.
The comics are remarkably well received because they are made locally
and take up the issues from a local angle. When a wallposter (a
four-panel comic) is pasted on a wall in the village, hardly anyone
can pass by, without reading it. The wallposter is either screenprinted
or photocopied. As an example, in Jharkhand State, the Johar organization
distributes a monthly wallposter comic to 2000 villages.
He was in the Guinness Book of World Records
Bangalore, India, August 1, 2002
- After a long history of heart problems, the well-known veteran Indian
cartoonist Ranga expired on Sunday the 28th of July in Bangalore. He was
77. Ranga had a peculiar hobby of doing on-the-spot caricatures of visiting
foreign dignitaries and other VIPs, and taking their signatures on them.
His collection of about 2000 such drawings found mention in the Guinness
Book of World Records. His cartoons in the Statesman, Indian Express,
and Tribune were highly appreciated.
Indian
cartoonist x-rays the extreme
Mumbai, India, June 6, 2002 - Hemant Morparia, a radiologist by profession,who draws regular cartoons for the
Mumbai based Bombay Times has come out with Fanatics and Their
Antics, a compilation of his toons dealing with religious extremism
after Sept 11. As the book jacket says, buy it before it's banned!
Laxman
appreciated
Bangalore, India, February 14, 2002 - India's leading cartoonist R. K. Laxman was presented
a Lifetime Achievement Award by the Indian Institute of Cartoonists in Bangalore
in a glittering ceremony attended by leading cartoonists and dignitaries.
Laxman could not attend the earlier function held last year at the time
of inauguration of the newly formed Indian Institute of Cartoonists in Bangalore
where six other veteran cartoonists were also presented this award.
The
"Common Man" of India stands at 8 feet
Mumbai (Bombay), India, February 9, 2002 - Back in December, Indian President K. R. Narayan
unveiled a 8 feet tall bronze statute of the "Common Man" popular
cartoon character created by India's most renowned cartoonist R. K. Laxman.
The "Common Man" has been appearing in Laxman's pocket cartoons
``You Said It'' on the front pages of The Times of India for last
more than 50 years. The statute, claimed to be the only of its kind in the
world, is based in the new premises of Symbiosis Institute in Pune, the
city near Mumbai.
Peers pay tribute to Thackaray
Mumbai, India, February 9, 2002 - Bal Thackeray, yet another famous cartoonist-turned-politician
celebrated his 75th birthday on 23 rd Jan 2002. To commemorate this event
an exhibition of caricatures by local cartoonists was organised by Cartoonists'
Combine between the 23rd & 27th January, 2002, in Mumbai. Thackeray
himself visited the exhibit on its last day and spent some intimate moments
with the cartoonists.
Miranda is awarded the prestigious
Padmabhushan
Mumbai India, January 26 2002. Every
year on this day, which is observed as the Republic Day of India, the government
honours eminent personalities by bestowing civil awards on them in recognition
of their achievements in their respective fields. This year Mario Miranda
the well-known cartoonist was declared as one of the receipients of the
prestigious "Padmabhushan" the award 3rd highest ranking award
in India. This is the second time Mario was honoured with a civil award.
Ten years ago he was given "Padmashree" the 4th in the line of
prestige.
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