Thursday, July 16, 2015

Two Lovely Books Full of Cartoons - Sudhir Dar

Recently read two fine books full of cartoons by Sudhir Dar - 'The Mad, Mad World of Elections' and 'The Best of Sudhir Dar'. I don't know if we can call cartoons as read or enjoyed but I read and enjoyed the many cartoons by Sudhir Dar immensely. He is highly accomplished and one wonders why I have not registered his name before. The cartoons were collections drawn over 40 years for different newspapers and magazines including Pioneer, Hindustan Times, Delhi Times and Outlook. And they are really good.

Born in 1932 in Allahabad with a Masters in Geography, he worked for the AIR and then Air India (sales promotion). From 1960s he went into cartooning seriously for The Statesman and later on for the Hindustan Times with a cartoon called 'This is it'. He won awards nationally and internationally - the International CLIO awards in the USA is one - and he represented India in the International Cartoonists Conference in London etc.

Sudhir Dar has a keen eye for politics and he makes some bold statements on the criminalisation of politics, money in elections, party hopping candidates. I like his teenager cartoons with their irreverent looks and responses, his Delhi cartoons - buses and pollution being main issues.

These days I realise I am enjoying reading cartoons as much as I did when I was a kid. The newspaper is serving me that purpose only. Plan to get myself more cartoon books.

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