Conversations with Indian Cartoonists

Politickle Lines

Edited By: Vinod Balakrishnan, Vishaka Venkat

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Picking up the pen is like playing with fire in political cartooning. Cartoonists draw the line to shake us out of apathy. In the tradition of Shankar and R. K. Laxman, this volume presents conversations with India’s leading cartoonists, taking us into their recondite art.

Picking up the pen is, sometimes, like playing with fire, especially in the business of political cartooning. In a profession of stroke-and-tell, where less is…

Picking up the pen is, sometimes, like playing with fire, especially in the business of political cartooning. In a profession of stroke-and-tell, where less is more, the brooding cartoonist turns everyday events into spaces for engagement. They draw the line between concern and apathy to bring issues into public view, invariably, shaking us out of our inattentional blindness. After all, they are a tribe––an endangered one––with the silly belief that the funny bone must be tickled. Cartooning in India––a Raj legacy––has come a long way from its colonial beginnings and Punch-imitations. Since Independence, newspapers have hosted the bold and often audacious irreverence of the likes of Shankar and R. K. Laxman. Their laconic lines gave the “Common Man” the voice of an honest opinion. This volume presents conversations with India’s leading political cartoonists which take us into that recondite art of political commentating.

Vinod Balakrishnan is a Professor in the Department of Humanities and Social Sciences at the National Institute of Technology, Tiruchirappalli, India. He is a practising poet, motivational speaker and reviewer of books. He was the General Editor of the 12-volume Encyclopaedia of World Mythology (2013). His research interests include somaesthetics, the politics of representation, film studies, life writing, and narratives about India. Currently, he is working on “The Role of the Public Intellectual and the Future of the Humanities”. His articles have appeared in the Journal of Creative Communications, Journal of Dharma, Pragmatism Today, Archiv Orientalni, a/b:auto/biography studies, LitCrit, Indian Literature, CIEFL Bulletin, Journal of English Language Teaching and Indian Express.

Vishaka Venkat is a UGC NET Senior Research Fellow in the Department of Humanities and Social Sciences at the National Institute of Technology, Tiruchirappalli, India. She is working on the language and rhetoric of humour in Indian political cartoons. Her areas of interests include humour, political cartoons, popular culture and Indian aesthetics.