Death of the Political Cartoon

Among those who killed it are cartoonists themselves

Though it might be a bit early to write its obituary, there are clear indications that the political cartoon in India is in steady decline. This is a matter of concern. The decline, readers above 35 or so may have noticed, started in the 90s. This coincided with India’s debut on the world stage, as it were, with the opening up of trade and other barriers under the broad rubric of ‘globalisation’. While this has had beneficial effects for many industries, including the business of publishing, there has been a concomitant decline in the art of the political cartoon. 

A mere coincidence? Maybe not. India has had a rich tradition of visual satire and wit in newspapers. A political cartoon is sometimes confused with a pictorial representation of the existing milieu in caricature form. It is not that. A good political cartoon expresses an opinion that crystallises the truth, yet unseen by most, of subliminal events. It captures the zeitgeist, preceding its popular acceptance. In short, it foresees the outcome of various forces at play and gets to the nub of the issue. In a manner that is concise, precise and incisive, with wit and panache. It’s an original view of a commentator that is ahead of its time (only to become self-evident later). 

A tall order, for sure. This was managed by several now-deceased Indian cartoonists, notably Abu Abraham and OV Vijayan. 

They were, however, working in different times. We now live in a country of over 1.1 billion people. In the field of art and culture, we boast of thousands of good musicians, hundreds of good artists, filmmakers and writers. Try to name some good cartoonists. Go on. Take your time. Okay, how did you do? Three? Five? Eight? Not more than ten, I’d bet. On an international chart of cartoonists-to-population ratio, India would be sub sub-Saharan Africa. 

We are a young nation. Cartoons are about fun, humour, laughs, rebellion, angst, insurgency—all things that appeal to the youth. Why is our track record in producing good cartoonists, in the face of being a young nation, so poor? Let us look at possible reasons:

It takes time for a budding cartoonist to get his groove. Just as it takes time for readers to ‘get’ his humour. Till such time that he becomes a daily habit, something one cannot do without, an editor needs to repose faith, invest space and time in his ‘discovery’. But this is stymied by…

The Indian editor has seen his authority erode. He no longer has the ‘second most important job in the country’. Decisions are made by committees with MBAs, and they are often made on a purely commercial basis. An independent sense of humour may clash with these interests. Sure, cartoonists with loyal followings may turn into prima donnas, but then why create such Frankenstein’s monsters in the first place? This brings us to…

Some suffer from the Lata syndrome, actively stifling potential talent. Insecure perhaps, they have continued to block posts much after their best-before dates. This is sad, since… 

Few cartoonists are really good, since creating a cartoon calls for an unusual mix of abilities as wide as humour, thinking, creativity, originality, perception, general knowledge, interest diversity, language skills and brevity, apart from an ear for dialogue and ability to think in a visual-spatial manner and draw. With no guarantee of a career, anyone endowed with these skills would be more secure selling washing machines. This is mainly because of…

These are too low to have anyone consider cartooning a real career choice. Parallel careers are common, with the other career taking precedence. This is no big surprise, given the tragic…

It’s the decline of idealism. Have you spoken to youngsters lately of their careers? Chances are, monetary prospects will loom large. The media’s embrace of corporate glories and associated pay-packets is partly to blame here. It skews youth choices. My first published cartoon in 1988 may not get a laugh today, but the amount I was paid for it, Rs 75, certainly would. But for many of today’s young eager to hop onto the treadmill of earnings and EMIs, idealism is a refuge for the unambitious. Say the word ‘idealism’, and you will be scoffed at nowadays. So what, you ask? The link with the poor state of political cartooning is simply this: political cartoons have to do with idealism, integrity and passion. One laughs on seeing a political cartoon because one, in a Kantian sense, sees the essential truth of the comment offered. Pretence and posturing don’t work in a cartoon. A cartoon can never be part of a PR exercise in image-building. Cartooning is a critical art form. Some film, book and art critics can be (and are) bought. A political cartoonist cannot be. The reader would immediately know. Which brings us to…

Over time, our skins have got thinner and thinner. The population of holy cows in our country rises every year. I wonder if a cartoon about one such (un)holy cow I could publish ten years ago would even risk entering my brain today. We live in a climate charged with the politics of indignation and taking offence. Everyone and his uncle is just waiting to have his idol or belief slighted. And attack the creator of the imagined ‘insult’. The law never takes its course here. No punishment ever follows, and the perpetrators bask in the orgy of media coverage that is bound to accompany the attack in these TRP-defined times. Guaranteed media coverage is the main reason to organise such an attack, itself a tool for every political party to further its own divisive agenda. The pen has yet to prove its strength against the lathi. This has made humorists take the easy way out and focus on ‘safe’ subjects. 

A political cartoon is as vital to a newspaper as a truly free press is to democracy. At its minimum, it serves as a safety valve to release pent up anger at the outrageous acts of our ruling classes. It may even be a stabiliser in society, if humour and laughter were considered acts that sublimate our anger. If I do not laugh, I may pick up a stone to throw…

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