CHANDIGARH, Nov 5: If the Zipper-gate spawned many Clinton jokes on internet, the present Onion Exit and Enter has begun to induce wit-coated creativity into suffering consumers. As it did to this doctor-turned-budding cartoonist of the city, Chander Malhotra, whose tongue-in-cheek comments went up on the walls of the Indus Ind Art Gallery this evening. Chander's cartoons are packed with punch and though some of the remarks have already been appeared, like the Income Tax man knocking on the door of a 5kg-onion-possessee, there are certain sensibilities in them that go straight to one's heart. As it did happen at the gallery when many people came out with their "interesting onionecdotes''. Chander pointed out that the cartoon ideas came out of his own experiences, like the one featuring the policeman's wife, wondering at the brouhaha over the price hike as her husband never ever felt the need to pay! "It really happened in front of my eyes. This cop came, said `Pyaaz daal do' and went off with the onions. Theshopkeeper told me they never pay''.For Chander, the onion crisis symbolises the absurdity of the system and it is excellently encapsulated in the cartoon which depicts the poorest of the poor commenting, "Till last year I was having roti with onions only.But never appreciated the status attached to it.'' Chander has matured over the years since his first exhibition at the Alliance Francaise. But this time, a thinking cartoonist reflecting upon the chaos of society has emerged.
