PUNE, Nov 1: It was a tribute. From one humourist to another, as R K Laxman, cartoonist par excellence, was interviewed at the Balgandharva Rangmandir as part of the ongoing `Pu La Mahotsav' on Monday evening.As Bharat Dhabholkar, noted advertisement and theatre personality observed, ``Both Pu La and and Laxman have minutely observed society and reflect it in a distorted mirror.'' So much so that it helps caricature society and bring out the funny element of life.Tributes to Pu La were paid by veteran theatre persona Vijaya Mehta as she recounted instances from her interaction with P L Deshpande. ``His contribution to my generation is immense. There was a whole galaxy of artists and creative people who surrounded him and we all benefited from him.''Later as the interview commenced, conducted by Dhabholkar and veteran journalist Kumar Ketkar, Laxman was at his humourist and reminiscent best. Charting his life that included meetings with the likes of Jawaharlal Nehru and Bertrand Russel, among other things.``I hate meeting politicians,'' said Laxman, ``because in 50 years of independence they have cheated the common man. When the pantheon of leaders stepped forward to make their tryst with destiny, they put their wrong foot forward.'' This, Laxman said, took away the focus from the real issues. ``Today some priest in Orissa is demanding that Rajiv's name should not be included in the (Bofors) case. What has the country come to.''Of course their were jibes at himself. ``Imagine cartoonists like me are being invited to such functions,'' he joked as the audience went rolling down the aisles.When queried about the meeting with politicians, Laxman cited his meeting with Rajiv Gandhi, a man he found difficult to caricature (``He was a handsome man''). ``Rajiv pointed out that I made him look too fat. I said that I would look into the matter!''With one book already out in the market, another collection of Laxman's works will soon hit the market, this time a compilation of his caricatures of prominent people. ``Please buy it,'' said the visual humourist as the evening drew to a close. With more programmes planned for celebrating Pu La's achievements in his eightieth year, it proved to be an ideal tribute to the city's genius.
