After
high school, Laxman applied to the JJ School of Art, Mumbai hoping
to concentrate on his lifelong interests of drawing and painting, but the dean
of the school wrote to him that his drawings lacked, ‘the kind of talent to
qualify for enrollment in our institution as a student’, and refused admission.
R K Laxman, died today at the
age of 93 at Dinanath Mangeshkar Hospital in Pune. The JJ School and every Art
School uses his cartoons as a learning tool not just because of his unique
style but because he was able to say things matter-of-factly without ever
becoming disagreeable.
And that indeed is a lesson
worth emulating. To say what we ‘want’ to say but saying it in the way that it ‘needs’
to be said. Communication must not be an unbridled outlet but a responsible and
responsive stimulus that keeps the scope for a continuous dialogue. And for
that we must note all factors.
R K Laxman never minced words,
yet he was prudent in his choice of expression. His ‘common man’ said such a
lot without ever saying anything. He lives on in our collective memory as one
of the finest examples of uniting indignation, criticism and irritation with the
dignity of controlled wit.
‘Unite to impact’ all the factors, pay heed...
Say what you ‘want’, but do mind the ‘need’
- Pravin K. Sabnis
Goa, India.
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