JOIN USYour identity is your most valuable possession.” Do you know which great personality said this? Well, it was Elastigirl, a character in the cartoon movie, The Incredibles.
If you are surprised at seeing a profound sentiment in a cartoon, don’t be, for it is cartoons that bring out the most profound ideas in the simplest of ways. And cartoonists are that rare breed of humans who encapsulate the greatest of truths in speech bubbles. They hold a mirror to the world, making big statements with a few simple-looking pencil lines, making us laugh and think at the same time.
Mysore Vasudevarao Nagendra Babu is one such cartoonist, produced by the creative stable of Mysuru, which had earlier given R K Laxman to India. Whether a depiction of L K Advani jumping up from a prickly lotus saying, “Ouch! Is this a lotus or a cactus?”, or Shiva warning Ganesha, “Oh Mushikavahana! Beware of paparazzi!”, Nagendra’s cartoons draw an answering smile from us. Trying to uncover his achievements and personality from the man himself is an interesting experience, one that I was privileged to have.
World of cartoons
Nagendra’s interest in cartooning began early. As an 18-year-old, encouraged by art teachers in school, and inspired by cartoonists like fellow Mysorean R K Laxman, he sent off a cartoon to Mysuru’s popular evening paper, The Star of Mysore, which got published. The year was 1990, and the man has never looked back. He grew from strength to strength, with his trademark Babu’s Banter getting published in many other leading newspapers and magazines across Karnataka. However, he never forgot the man who gave him his first chance: his 200th cartoon in December 1992 showed The Star of Mysore’s editor sheltering him with an umbrella as his picture was being taken.
Nagendra has always dreamed big. His sights set on the Guinness Book of Records, he got international recognition in 1994 for making a greeting card that was 276 feet long!
For a man from a small town with big history, Nagendra has used meagre sources to achieve big things. In 2001, he represented India as the country’s Cultural Ambassador to Taiwan for a year.
Nagendra’s next great accomplishment occurred in 2005, when he won the Fulbright Fellowship from the US Department of State. Just how did it happen? “I was going through the national edition of a newspaper, and saw the advertisement,” said Nagendra. “I knew it was a big deal to get the fellowship because I’d read of Shobaa De being one. And so I applied!” After an interview in New Delhi, he was selected. When he went to get his American visa at the US Consulate in Chennai, he was treated to lunch there!
Nagendra went to Savannah College of Art and Design (SCAD) and did research in sequential art for six months. Being a Fulbright scholar must have made him popular when he came back to Mysuru, right? Nagendra gave an unexpected response. “I found I’d become unpopular. In fact, some people I knew for years stopped speaking to me.”
However, Nagendra has never been one to wait for popularity to come to him. His habit of making caricatures of famous people and presenting it to them has helped him meet many celebrities. “I make two copies of the caricatures,” he told me. “One is heavily laminated and given to the celebrity. The other, I get autographed and keep for myself.” These pictures have helped him make contact with even media-shy artistes such as S Janaki and K J Yesudas. The central hall in his house is his ‘Hall of Fame’, featuring photographs of himself presenting the caricatures to celebrities. He even showed me the autograph of Dr Rajkumar, which few people have.
Now at 42, Nagendra has over 8,000 published cartoons to his credit. He recently celebrated the silver jubilee of his cartooning by releasing a book called Babu’s Banter — a Cartoonist’s retrospect, and holding an exhibition of select cartoons in Karnataka Chitrakala Parishath, Bengaluru. However, he is not one to rest on his laurels. He is now all set to launch his own superhero comic book featuring a cartoon character called Amphy Man.
Dreaming big and doing big is Nagendra Babu. And more big things await him, even as we await for more big things from him.