Worth a Thousand Words

While views vary about the future of the art form,experts agree that historically it has received little attention and has been incompletely archived in India. We have no formal cartoon museum and scant literature. However,as Mushirul Hasan one of the few experts to have studied humour and author of the recent Wit and Wisdom,Pickings from the Parsee Punch Niyogi Books,2012 says,In India we havent produced 10 great scientists,but we have produced 10 great cartoonists.

Cartoonists like Shankar,Mario Miranda,RK Laxman,Abu Abraham are brands within themselves,each with their distinct lines,signature calligraphy and unique take. Inspired by them,a crop of cartoonists rose in the late 70s and early 80s who dominate todays cartooning space.

The recent brouhaha in Parliament about cartoons in textbooks and politicians in a tizzy about their representations,have brought political cartooning to the centre stage. While they have cried for the removal of the cartoons,they have succeeded in highlighting them. As Ilan Danjoux,a scholar on cartoons,writes in Reconsidering the Decline of the Editorial Cartoon PS: Political Science and Politics,April,2007,If the relevance of the editorial cartoon need be measured,it can be done against the efforts taken to silence them.

The editorial cartoon remains a symbol of free expression,however the other three Cs crime,cinema and cricket, have compromised its space,says political cartoonist of Asian Age and Deccan Chronicle Sudhir Tailang. Today,a handful of major newspapers allow the cartoon front-page privileges. Hasan is unsparing in his criticism of this squeezing out. He says that political cartoons have been edged out because newspapers have become clumsy and noisy. There is no space for subtle exploration of views,sentiments. When you can purchase news,where is the space for cartoons?

Cartoonists also share this view that the kowtowing of newspapers to the establishment risks jeopardising their profession. Tailang says,Political cartoons can survive only on free opinion. An independent voice,which might take on powerful people,is not convenient for newspapers.

While newspapers share the blame for imperilling the political cartoon,the power-wielding also shoulder some responsibility. Keshav,a cartoonist for The Hindu says,Tolerance by all,especially by those who are at the receiving end,is necessary, adding,It looks like a daunting proposition.

But a few decades ago,the cartoon could stretch and breathe across the printed page. RK Laxman writes in Freedom to Cartoon,Freedom to Speak Daedalus,Another India,Fall,1989 of the decade after Independence when 8230;although not all publications were political in content,most of them allow a page or two for political satire and caricature as an obligation to the popular pastime. Laxman plots the evolution of the Indian political cartoon,where under the British,the cartoons depicted the colonial ruler as a bulldog or a lion and mother India as the anguished angel. The cartoons then took inspiration from Indian mythology and portraiture,where the Congress was the many-armed Durga,the British the ten-headed Ravan and Ram symbolised patriotism. Cartooning in India had to evolve from these hack manoeuvres and imitations of western artists before it could earn its bite.

The form came to its own with Shankars Weekly,Indias answer to Punch,started by K Shankar Pillai. It ran for 27 years,but shut down in 1975,the year of Emergency. Laxman summarises Shankars influence and reputation,He Shankar helped to elevate the profession of the cartoonist from being the creation of mere decoration in a newspaper to being on a par in status with the editorial commentator and political analyst.

While some of the most iconic cartoons emerged during Emergency,it also took a toll on the cartooning movement. EP Unny,chief political cartoonist of The Indian Express,says the best work happened from the 50s till the 70s. That was a good time. While Shankars Weekly shut down in 1975,Emergency also affected Laxman,whose cartoons were sent to Delhi from Bombay for approval by the censor board and often returned with a Rejected stamp. When the minister in charge of press censorship,told him that he was not above the law of censorship,Laxman contemplated retiring from the profession altogether. Only the restoration of a functioning democracy brought him back to work.

Over time,the scope of the editorial cartoon has widened. Unny says that the biggest change in the last few decades has been in content and technology. News has broadened to include the economy and sports. Technology has also changed the cartoon-making and updating process.

Unny believes that overlooking the recent events,cartooning as a form is gaining traction,as it is now accepted in new spaces,like academics and literature. VG Narendra,managing trustee,Indian Institute of Cartoonists,says that the quality and the number of entries they receive for the Maya Kamath Memorial Awards for excellence in political cartooning has been improving over the last few years. Pocket cartoons on cellphones hold promise. Galleries are showing an interest in comic art and some works even sell for a couple of lakhs. And artists can now access and learn from cartoons from across the world on the Web.

In a quirk of fate,while the internet threatens print newspapers and magazines,it might be a saviour for the cartoon. Cartoon Movement,the largest site of international political cartooning and comic journalism,started in 2010,today has over 160 cartoonists from over 80 countries,with over 50,000 visitors per month from 120 countries. Tjeerd Royaards,editor-in-chief of the site and an editorial cartoonist,believes that the online world offers cartoonists new opportunities. He says,Part of our mission is to prove that it is possible to create a financially sustainable platform that can pay cartoonists a decent fee for what they publish online. They achieve this by reselling their content to some of the major international media outlets like The Guardian,New Internationalist,La Repubblica Italy and by working with schools,universities and NGOs. The site provides a stage for a new generation of editorial cartoonists,giving them a chance to create their own following.

Cartoon Movement is also furthering cartooning through avenues like comic journalism. Army of God,a 100-page non-fiction graphic novel,explores the history of the Lords Resistance Army,based on David Axes reporting and sketches by Tim Hamilton,from the Democratic Republic of Congo in 2010. Through pithy text and vivid black and white images,it tells a story with multiple characters,ancient history and a villain who abducts and kills children. Royaards says,Because it is a relatively new form of journalism one of the challenges is convincing people that it is a serious form of investigative journalism.

As the meaning of both the comic and journalism mould and expand to suit modern sensibilities,the editorial cartoon is sure to take new and unexpected forms. Meanwhile,the picture in the box will continue to surprise and inspire readers of the morning newspaper and surfers of the web.