The News Minute | January 26, 2015 | 12:46 pm IST
Eminent cartoonist, journalist, illustrator and humorist, Rasipuram Krishnaswami Laxman, better known as RK Laxman, on Monday passed away in a hospital in Pune.
Laxman is survived by writer wife Kamala, retired journalist son Srinivas and daughter-in-law Usha.
"He was first admitted to a hospital nearby Jan 16, but his condition showed no improvement. Later, we moved him to Dinanath Mangeshkar Hospital where he showed a miraculous recovery," Srinivas told IANS. He added that Laxman's 89-year old wife Kamala took the news of her husband's demise stoically. The date and venue of Laxman's funeral have not yet been finalized and will be announced in due course, he added.
"The past 10 days have been extremely unnerving... the uncertainties of his health was a concern for the entire family," he said.
Laxman was reportedly put on ventilator support after he developed breathlessness on Sunday evening.
94-year-old Laxman, an employee of The Times Of India, was admitted to a private nursing home in Pune on January 16 due to some kidney and chest-related issues.
According to a Hindustan Times report, Kailas Bhingare, who runs Saraswati Library, and is close to the Laxmans said that in 2010, Laxman suffered several strokes, limiting his movement and speech. 'Even as strokes prevented the cartoonist from speaking, he continued to sketch, expressing himself through his pet character – the emblematic face of the common man, Bhingare added.
Laxman, who's cartoons have regaled audiences since the 1950s, was conferred with the Ramon Magsaysay Award for Journalism, Literature and Creative Communication Arts in 1984 and in 2005, he became a recipient of the Padma Vibhushan, India's second highest civilian honour.
One of India's most beloved cartoonist, Laxman was born in Mysuru in and his older brother is popular novelist R. K. Narayan.
One of Laxman's most iconic character is The Common Man. "I had to create this mythical individual in a striped coat, with a bushy moustache, a bald head with a white wisp of hair at the back, a bulbous nose on which perched a pair of glasses, and thick black eyebrows permanently raised, expressing bewilderment. He voyages through life with quiet amusement, at no time uttering a word, looking at the ironies, paradoxes and contradictions in the human situation", a 1998 Frontline report quotes Laxman as saying.
Laxman began with illustrating his elder brother RK Narayan's stories in The Hindu and later worked for several other local newspapers. He also worked with Bal Thackeray, who was a cartoonist before founding the Shiv Sena, at The Free Press Journal in Mumbai (Bombay). Laxman finally joined The Times of India where he would work for the next six decades of his life.
#rklaxman (1921-2015) pic.twitter.com/CqY8uCxdS9
— MANJUL (@MANJULtoons) January 26, 2015Back in those days, first thing to read in TOI was common man by #RKLAXMAN. shradhanjali to greatest observer.
— nitinv (@nitvyas) January 26, 2015Wish tomorrow's entire front page of @timesofindia is cartoons only; even the ads.THAT would be a fitting tribute to #RKLaxman
— Akash Banerjee (@akashbanerjee) January 26, 2015Tribute to the great #RKLaxman, by my former colleague Varghese Kallada pic.twitter.com/XgqkeqPtTU
— Anna MM Vetticad (@annavetticad) January 26, 2015What distinguished his charming wit & sardonic humor was that it was never vicious, malicious or insulting.A master of his craft. #rklaxman
— Sanjay Jha (@JhaSanjay) January 26, 2015To meet #RKLaxman ji was ofcourse an honour, bt to see my grandfather meet him, was to travel in a time machine to see mutual love n respect
— Aaditya Thackeray (@AUThackeray) January 26, 2015A legend is no more. The common man has gone out of our lives on R day: RK Laxman RIP.
— Rajdeep Sardesai (@sardesairajdeep) January 26, 2015With inputs for IANS