In the language of cartoons

Felicitation

What better way to celebrate the completion of two year of the Indian Institute of Cartoon Gallery than to bring in some of the best cartoonists of the country and felicitate them. “A cartoon makes us understand life in different languages,” said Justice A J Sadashiv, at the inaugural exhibition recently, while adding, “This self-interactive piece of art, which is either political or social in nature, has the power to assassinate a character of an individual and even destroy the political life of an individual.”

The institute felicitated seven cartoonists with lifetime achievement. The awardees’ — E P Unni, Kaak, Vasant Sarwate, Prabhakar Raobail, T Venkatarao, Tom and M K Govindakumar — most popular cartoons and caricatures are currently on display at the institute. From the picture of Kaak’s humble crow that acts as a scavenger, exposing rot where ever it spots it to Tom’s popular cartoon strip Bobanum Moliyum are all put up for the viewers.

While the chief political cartoonist of an english daily, Unni expressed how the hallmark of a cartoon is in its caption, Vijay Narian Seth, the vice chairman, National Advisory Committee explained the restrictions a cartoonist has while drawing on a political or a social issue and how careful one must be while bringing out the humour among one’s own people. “The country is still learning how to tackle such issues and take them in the right spirit and grow,” added Vijay.

Over the next few days, workshops will be held for young aspiring cartoonists. For details, call 41758540.