Genesis

As soon as I entered the room I could hear the sound of loud sobbing and crying of a woman. The room was not a big one, but it was large enough to accommodate a double bed, a sofa, a TV and an almirah. All the furniture’s were stuffed in that room, inside that room a group of women were sitting (some on floor, resting their back on the sofa and some on the bed). The center of attention was a woman sobbing uncontrollably. She just lost her husband, who died due to a sudden heart attack. She is the daughter of one of the brother of my father. She said, “There are a lot of doctors in our family, but none could save my husband”. Her father was a doctor himself. My father a prominent medicine specialist was sitting nearby on a chair; I looked at him to know his reaction, but couldn’t guess what was running in his mind. May be he knew he is helpless; he tried to cover his helplessness through a grim facial expression. At that moment I thought how difficult it is for a doctor to realize that...

Rasipuram Krishnaswamy Laxman better known as R K Laxman, passed away peacefully on 26th Jan 2015. He was 94 year old. R K Laxman was a cartoonist for the Times of India (TOI) for many decades. He had no formal training but his work speaks for itself. He groomed a "common man" (a character from his cartoon strip, "You Said It"). His brother was legendary writer R K Narayan. R K Laxman drew cartoon for Malgudi Days (written by his brother). R K Laxman worked with TOI till 2010 (He was 89 years then). When he suffered yet another stroke, which left him paralysed, he stopped cartooning. This was the only way he could have been stopped from his passion of cartooning. I have a special link with the legend. As early as I remember, TOI comes to our house and I always look for the comic strip in the right hand side of the front page. In my early days though I couldn't understand the deep political satire (Laxman sir was master in it), the cartoon would make my day. My...