{"id":2310,"date":"2020-07-08T14:26:24","date_gmt":"2020-07-08T14:26:24","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.itisaras.org\/projectdhaara\/?p=2310"},"modified":"2020-07-08T14:26:27","modified_gmt":"2020-07-08T14:26:27","slug":"cartoonist-way-of-expression","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.itisaras.org\/projectdhaara\/2020\/07\/08\/cartoonist-way-of-expression\/","title":{"rendered":"Cartoonist Way of Expression"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

By Ritika Soun<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Indian politics is very dynamic and has been so since the establishment of the Indian democracy.\nAs they say, the Indian constitution is a \u2018living document\u2019, and it is true in many ways. Not just\nbecause it is amended and adapted to the changing times and periods but to my understanding\nalso because it voices the needs and protects the people against many ills. To address one such\ncharacteristic of our constitution is \u2018the freedom of expression\u2019. \u2018Expression\u2019 has always been an\nintegral part of our growing up and more importantly in the Indian context- where the freedom of\nexpression is given to us as a fundamental right. Some of us might have taken it for granted,\nsome must be using it conventionally, while still some of us are struggling to come to terms with\nit. As when it comes to \u2018express\u2019, according to me it is quite \u2018subjective\u2019.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Virtual and visual media can be used in almost any discipline to enhance learning – both in and\noutside the classrooms. This visual and graphic learning is not only limited to classrooms but it\nexpands to all (children, adult, or elderly). When things are presented in an attractive way like –\nthrough cartoons\/ graphics or sketches, videos and others, then they become easily\ncomprehensible and more relatable to the human mind. Similarly, Indian politics also has an\nalternative mode, rather an unconventional method of presenting the political discourses of India,\ni.e cartoons<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Cartoons liven up and energize people. They make people sit up and notice – either with a smile\nor a smirk. We witness them every day, either digitally via television or through the means of\nnewspapers! And if one wants to explore the casual side of it, via memes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A political cartoon, as Thomas Knieper describes, \u2018is a drawing made for the purpose of\nconveying commentary on politics, politicians and current events. Political cartoons or editorial\ncartoons are a key indicator of the democratic health of a country. The cartoonists typically\ncombine artistic skills, hyperbole, and satire to question authority and draw attention to\ncorruption, political violence, and other social ills. Satire is an integral part of political cartoons\nand also eases the representation of a serious ill humorously for a larger audience. Cartoonists\noften use this to explore their opinions on an issue, for instance on \u2018corruption\u2019. Cartoonists use\n\nsimple objects, or symbols, to stand for larger concepts or ideas. A good political cartoon makes\none think about the current events, but at the same time, it also tries to sway one’s opinion toward\nthe cartoonist\u2019s point of view. The best political cartoonist can change one’s mind on an issue\nwithout us even realizing how s\/he did it. (Isn\u2019t it mesmerising!)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In India, political cartoons were and are still used to propagate ideas and change. The vernacular\npress and cartoons became (initially in the past) the medium to convey change and information\nand were considered opinionated and blunt, which is also the case if we look more closely.\nHowever, on the other hand, they also provided the grounds for arguing back and attempted to\npresent the ‘harsh truth’.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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R.K. Narayan, Laxman and family<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

India has been gifted with many such talented folks, who have been loved and adored by the\npeople for decades. The discussion(s) on cartoons, illustrations, and humorists is incomplete\nwithout our ‘common man’ R.K. Laxman. This Padma Vibhushan is known for his wit and\nartistic vision, which has forever immortalized ‘The Common Man’- the bespectacled, dhoti-clad\nelderly character who was the cornerstone of his biting satire. The Common Man has represented\nthe hopes, aspirations, troubles, and even foibles of the average Indian. Using his pen he\nbeautifully represented the confusion, chaos and helplessness of the political scenario especially\nthrough \u2018The Common Man\u2019 which was indeed very common. He has never been associated\nwith a toxic approach to politics. Furthermore, his ‘common man’ from the comic strip ‘You Said\nIt’ became so common a name that it was turned into a comedy television series ‘R.K. Laxman ki\nDuniya (2011-13)<\/em>‘. Even though he is no longer amongst us, his name is very much alive through\nhis work – cartoons. He was such a visionary that his cartoons still stand to be relevant for\ncontemporary society and times. Despite his achievements and awards, he was denied admission\nto the JJ School of Art in Mumbai. The school\u2019s dean wrote to him that his drawings lacked \u201cthe\nkind of talent to qualify for enrolment in our institution\u201d. As they say, the rest is history!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Aseem Trivedi<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

The cartoonists possess so much power in their characters that they can turn the tables upside\ndown, just with a little support of the ‘public’. For instance, let us recall the incident of another\nIndian cartoonist Aseem Trivedi (2012). Cartoonist Aseem Trivedi has been associated with the\n‘offensive’ sketches. One of the sketches that gained this negative light was his depiction of\nParliament as a ‘national toilet’ and the ‘gang-rape of Mother India’. These depictions sent him to\njail on September 24, 2012, with the charges of ‘sedition’. Isn’t it ironic that the one who is\nexpressing the political reality (corruption) taking his creative license has been absorbed in the\nsame with the highest of the charges? Isn’t it a retrospection to one’s ‘right to express’?\nNevertheless, his arrest charged the public with anger and a lot of discussions and debates were\nheld over it. Can this be an indicator of people\u2019s voice and opinion under a democracy? \nAnother example to show the creative way of dissent was recently witnessed during the CAA\nprotest at Jamia Millia Islamia. It provided the writers and artists to ‘express’ their views.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Cartoons, particularly political cartoons and cartoonists are highly appreciated and applauded\nwhen they express in favour of power. At the same time, these cartoons and cartoonists are the\nones who are trialed and tested when they express themselves against power. This brings us to\nthe serious question of the depiction of such political cartoons – whether they are ‘offensive’,\n‘controversial’ or just an ‘obverse’ of the same coin.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Similarly, there is another set of cartoons that are depicted on televisions in between the news\nbulletins. For instance, the ‘so sorry’ series which airs on Aaj Tak, dwelling on the present\npolitical atmosphere. Another cartoonist who has been working to depict the political discourses\nthrough his editorial cartoons is Satish Acharya.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On one hand, cartoons provide us with an alternative view and a much simpler way of\nunderstanding complex societal realities and politics, on the other hand, they are and have been\ntested and scrutinized time and again by the power.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hence, it is only fitting to say that they are an integral part of the Indian political reality.\nMoreover, with the increasing thirst for political cartoons, we hardly find any newspaper which\ndoes not carry a cartoon, whether it is good, bad or indifferent. As cartoons are one of the few\nthings that are not bound by boundaries- linguistic or otherwise and it is only through this that it\nhas attracted audiences from across the Indian subcontinent and throughout the world.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Cartoons are not just a means of entertainment, but serve several other crucial functions in a society. From exposing the fictitious sides of governments to becoming a powerful mode of
\ndissent when verbal communication is under attack \u2013 cartoons serve more functions than are just overtly obvious.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":2333,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":true,"template":"","format":"quote","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[1632,1627,1619,1630,1634,431,1622,1626,1629,808,1631,717,1624,1633,1623,1621,1620,1628,1625],"class_list":["post-2310","post","type-post","status-publish","format-quote","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-society","tag-aseem-trivedi","tag-cartoonist","tag-cartoons","tag-common-man","tag-controversial-political-satires","tag-corruption","tag-freedom-of-expression","tag-fundamental-rights","tag-harsh-truth","tag-indian-constitution","tag-jj-school-of-art","tag-jnu","tag-living-document","tag-mother-india-sketch","tag-political-cartoons","tag-r-k-laxman","tag-r-k-laxman-ki-duniya","tag-satire","tag-thomas-knieper","post_format-post-format-quote"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.itisaras.org\/projectdhaara\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2310","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.itisaras.org\/projectdhaara\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.itisaras.org\/projectdhaara\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.itisaras.org\/projectdhaara\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.itisaras.org\/projectdhaara\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2310"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/www.itisaras.org\/projectdhaara\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2310\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2338,"href":"https:\/\/www.itisaras.org\/projectdhaara\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2310\/revisions\/2338"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.itisaras.org\/projectdhaara\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2333"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.itisaras.org\/projectdhaara\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2310"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.itisaras.org\/projectdhaara\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2310"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.itisaras.org\/projectdhaara\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2310"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}