Getting a Glimpse of Recent History...
Through the eyes of the 'common man' as depicted by R.K.Laxman. He was a renowned cartoonist whose work reflects the realities in a developing nation, India, over decades.
Most of the teens hadn't heard of this genius. Some were familiar with his brother, R.K.Naryanan's work, Swami & Friends. But nothing beyond that.
R.K.Laxman’s cartoons were staple in the Sunday newspapers spanning over five decades (Starting from the 1950s-2015). He created the legendary ‘common man’, a character clad in checked shirt and dhoti being an onlooker of events happening around. He created cartoons based on a variety of subjects pertaining to politics, social issues and daily life of the common man.
After a brief introduction about the great man that he was, we set to work. We picked up some of his cartoons to analyze. What followed were fascinating interpretations of the times during which the current teenage generation weren’t even born. Not ancient history but recent history that perhaps will get studied as a part of Indian Economic Development course if anyone of them chooses to study Economics as a course.
There is a lot a cartoon can tell one about the time. Inspite of ourselves we ended up comparing past and present. Have things changed for the better?
“The cartoon is about the load of school bag.”
“How heavy are your school bags today? Has anything changed?”
A variety of responses poured in. Interestingly those in India, said that nothing has changed in terms of the weight of the school bag.
Those joining us from abroad, said that most of their work is in the laptop. They carry a laptop and at the most some binders with papers. Bag weight isn’t an issue. One teen however shared that early on when he was in primary school, ironically the load used to be heavier as he used to carry a lot more books. But now in senior high school, the load definitely seems lighter.
Deeper meaning of the cartoon
“This cartoon is a lot more than the weight of the school bag,” observed a teen. “Reading the caption tells me it is also about the state of jobs. Education did not deliver jobs then. It doesn’t seem too different now too. Many educated people find it hard to find jobs even now.”
“These cartoons depict the times in India when it was a nation trying to develop as an economy from nearly nothing to a successful nation. Creating more job opportunities has been the focus across decades, resulting in a number of government programs. Have things improved today? I would say definitely. It may take time for an educated person at times to find a suitable job but definitely one doesn’t necessarily need to land with manual labor jobs, if one has a good degree to one’s credit. Of course we need to verify data to ensure this claim is true.”
The style of illustration
“There is purposeful exaggeration in the style of illustration to drive home the point. For instance, no one slouches so much while carrying a school bag. That little exaggeration is deliberate and delivers on the desired impact when seen in context of the caption below.”
“The caption makes it amply clear that the politician in the picture is visiting this picture after a really long time. It must be election time. Politicians offer a number of promises which often don’t get fulfilled after election,” observed a teen.
“The villagers perhaps are used to promises and no work and yet seem to have some hope in their faces which is hard to understand.”
“Bringing reform and positive change is difficult. Politics makes it even more challenging. Progress tends to happen slowly over a long period of time.”
The details in the illustration that help tell a story.
“In the background we see a car, probably, the ambassador, the most popular car of the time. The politician must have arrived in the car. In contrast we see humble huts. Does the politician own a car of his own? Is this his car? Or does it belong to the government? The contrast of affluence of the politician vs that of the villagers and their homes is hard to miss.”
“There is also some sort of a depiction of a person’s head on the trunk. Perhaps not intentional but seems to signify something significant. Could it mean endless waiting for positive change?”
Time was not in our favor for more. But in a short while we travelled back in time, learnt a thing or two about the past, made comparisons with what we know today and also realized that we may not know the big picture after all! It was a very humbling experience.
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