Kesava Shankar Pillai (31 July 1902 – 26 December 1989), better known as Shankar, was an Indian

cartoonist A cartoonist is a visual artist who specializes in both drawing and writing cartoons (individual images) or comics (sequential images). Cartoonists differ from comics writers or comic book illustrators in that they produce both the literary and ...

. He is considered the father of political cartooning in India. He founded ''

Shankar's Weekly ''Shankar's Weekly'' was an Indian satirical magazine published between 1948 and 1975. It was founded and run by Keshav Shankar Pillai, a pioneering political cartoonist. The magazine has been compared to the UK's ''Punch''. The weekly printed i ...

'', India's ''

Punch Punch commonly refers to: * Punch (combat), a strike made using the hand closed into a fist * Punch (drink), a wide assortment of drinks, non-alcoholic or alcoholic, generally containing fruit or fruit juice Punch may also refer to: Places * Pun ...

'' in 1948. ''Shankar's Weekly'' also produced cartoonists like

Abu Abraham Attupurathu Mathew Abraham (11 June 1924 – 1 December 2002), pen name ''Abu'', was an Indian cartoonist, journalist, and author. In a career spanning 40 years, Abu Abraham worked for various national and international newspapers including ''T ...

, Ranga and Kutty, he closed down the magazine during the Emergency of 25 June 1975. From then on he turned to making children laugh and enjoy life. He was awarded the Padma Vibhushan in 1976, the second highest civilian honour given by the Govt. of India. Today he is most remembered for setting up

Children's Book Trust Children's Book Trust (CBT) is an Indian children and young adult book publisher. It was founded by cartoonist K. Shankar Pillai, popularly known as Shankar, in 1957 and was inaugurated by the President of India Dr. S. Radhakrishnan. It is hous ...

established 1957 and

Shankar's International Dolls Museum The International Dolls Museum is a large collection of dolls in Delhi, India. It was set up by K. Shankar Pillai, a political cartoonist. Housed in the Children's Book Trust building on Bahadur Shah Zafar Marg, accessed through a separate ent ...

in 1965.Tribute to Shankar

The Hindu ''The Hindu'' is an Indian English-language daily newspaper owned by The Hindu Group, headquartered in Chennai, Tamil Nadu. It began as a weekly in 1878 and became a daily in 1889. It is one of the Indian newspapers of record and the secon ...

, 2 August 2002.

Early life and education

Shankar was born in 1902 at Kayamkulam, Kerala. He attended schools in Kayamkulam and Mavelikkara. The sleeping posture of one of his teachers in the classroom was his first

cartoon A cartoon is a type of visual art that is typically drawn, frequently animated, in an unrealistic or semi-realistic style. The specific meaning has evolved over time, but the modern usage usually refers to either: an image or series of images ...

which got him into trouble. He was encouraged by his uncle who saw in him a great potential as a cartoonist. After schooling, he studied painting at Ravi Varma School of Painting at Mavelikara (

Raja Ravi Varma College of Fine Arts Raja Ravi Varma College of Fine Arts is located in Mavelikkara, Kerala, India. The college offers undergraduate degree course in fine arts, including in sculpture, painting and applied arts. This government institution is affiliated with the U ...

). Shankar took keen interest in dramas, scouting, literary activities etc. He amazingly did good campaign for the collection of funds towards flood relief. This concern for the poor and the distressed people continued all through his life and reflected in his cartoons. After graduating from the Maharaja's College of Science (now University College), Trivandrum, in 1927, he left for Bombay (now Mumbai) for higher studies and joined the Law College, but quit his law studies midway and started working.

Career

Shankar's cartoons were published in '' The Free Press Journal'' and ''

The Bombay Chronicle ''The Bombay Chronicle'' was an English-language newspaper, published from Mumbai (then Bombay), started in 1910 by Sir Pherozeshah Mehta (1845-1915), a prominent lawyer, who later became the president of the Indian National Congress in 1890, a ...

''.

Pothan Joseph Pothan Joseph (1892–1972) was a journalist in 20th-century India whose career spanned the twenty years before and twenty years after India's independence. He worked with notable people of the time such as Muhammad Ali Jinnah, Annie Besant, Ma ...

, the editor of the '' Hindustan Times'' brought him to Delhi as a staff cartoonist, in 1932 andhe continued as its staff cartoonist till 1946. Thus he and his family settled in Delhi finally. Shankar's cartoons attracted even Viceroys like Lord Willington and

Lord Linlithgow Marquess of Linlithgow, in the County of Linlithgow or West Lothian, is a title in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. It was created on 23 October 1902 for John Hope, 7th Earl of Hopetoun. The current holder of the title is Adrian Hope. This ...

. Gandhi wrote a postcard to Shankar questioning one of his cartoons on Jinnah. There were other occasions too when Congress leaders disputed Shankar's cartoons. During this time, Shankar had a chance of training in London for about 14 months. He spent the period in various Art schools, using the opportunity to study the advanced techniques in cartooning. He also visited Berlin, Rome, Vienna, Geneva and Paris. When he returned to India, the country was in the thick of freedom struggle. The dawn of independence also favoured Shankar's dreams for a separate periodical. The idea came true when Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru released ''

'', edited by Shankar himself. However his cartoon also remained neutral often critical to his work, notable a cartoon published on 17 May 1964, just 10 days before Pandit Nehru death, showed an emaciated and exhausted Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru, with a torch in hand, running the final leg of a race, with party leaders

Gulzari Lal Nanda Gulzarilal Nanda (4 July 1898 – 15 January 1998) was an Indian politician and economist who specialized in labour issues. He was the Interim Prime Minister of India for two 13-day tenures following the deaths of Jawaharlal Nehru in 1964 and ...

, Lal Bahadur Shastri, Morarji Desai, Krishna Menon and

Indira Gandhi Indira Priyadarshini Gandhi (; Given name, ''née'' Nehru; 19 November 1917 – 31 October 1984) was an Indian politician and a central figure of the Indian National Congress. She was elected as third prime minister of India in 1966 ...

in tow, to which Nehru remarked, "Don't spare me, Shankar". Shankar loved kids and organised Shankar started the Shankar's International Children's Competition in 1949, and as a part of it, the Shankar's On-the-Spot Painting Competition for Children in 1952. He instituted an annual Competition for Writers of Children's Books in 1978. Beginning with English this competition is now held in Hindi too. It later began drawing children from all over the world. Annual awards from ''Shankar's Weekly'' were presented by prime ministers. He also founded the

in Nehru House on Bahadur Shah Zafar Marg in New Delhi in 1957. Later in 1965, the International Dolls Museum too came to be located here. Thus Nehru House became a 'must visit' item for kids going to New Delhi. It has now a children's library and reading room, known as Dr. B.C. Roy Memorial Children's Library and Reading Room and Library and a Doll development and production centre.

Personal life

The name of Shankar's wife was Thankam. He had two sons and three daughters. The Government of India released two postal stamps in 1991, depicting two of his cartoons. He was a member of Kerala Lalit Kala Academy. He also published an autobiographical work, 'Life with my Grandfather'in 1965, a

publication.

Legacy

In 2002, 'A Symphony of Dreams', an exhibition to commemorate his birth centenary year, was organised at the

Lalit Kala Academy The Lalit Kala Akademi or National Academy of Art (LKA) is India's national academy of fine arts. It is an autonomous organisation, established in New Delhi in 1954 by Government of India to promote and propagate understanding of Indian art, ...

, Delhi. In May 2012, a cartoon of

Bhimrao Ambedkar Bhimrao Ramji Ambedkar (14 April 1891 – 6 December 1956) was an Indian jurist, economist, social reformer and political leader who headed the committee drafting the Constitution of India from the Constituent Assembly debates, served a ...

sketched by him in 1949 caused "furor" in Indian Parliament, in reaction to its inclusion in NCERT education material, resulting in resignation of concerned NCERT personnel. Individuals claiming to belong to "Republican Panthers" protested against the cartoon.

Honors and awards

* Padma Shri, 1956 * Padma Bhushan, 1966Padma Bhushan Awardees
/ref> * Padma Vibhushan, 1976 *

Order of the Smile The Order of the Smile (Polish: ''Order Uśmiechu'') is an international award given by children to adults distinguished in their love, care and aid for children. History The idea of the Order of the Smile was established in 1968 by the Polis ...

(1977), an honour from a committee of Polish children *

D. Litt. Doctor of Letters (D.Litt., Litt.D., Latin: ' or ') is a terminal degree in the humanities that, depending on the country, is a higher doctorate after the Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.) degree or equivalent to a higher doctorate, such as the Doctor ...

(honoris causa) by the University of Delhi.

Bibliography

* Shankar (1937),
101 Cartoons from the Hindustan Times
'. Delhi: Printed at the Hindustan Times Press. One hundred and one cartoons from the Hindustan Times; With a foreword by Jawaharlal Nehru. * Shankar (1965),
Life with grandfather
'. New Delhi, Children's Book Trust. Written and illustrated by Shankar: An orphan Indian boy being raised by his grandparents tells stories about his life. * Shankar (1983),
Don't spare me Shankar: Jawaharlal Nehru
'. New Delhi: Children's Book Trust. Reproduction of 400 selected cartoons from the Shankar's weekly, 20 June 1948 – 17 May 1964. * Khanduri. 2014. Caricaturing Culture in India: Cartoons and History of the Modern World. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. http://www.cambridge.org/us/academic/authors/246935

References

External links

*Shankar a
Children's Book Trust

Shankar's Works at WorldCat
{{DEFAULTSORT:Pillai, K. Shankar 1902 births 1989 deaths People from Alappuzha district Malayali people Journalists from Kerala Indian cartoonists Indian magazine editors 20th-century Indian journalists Indian male journalists Indian political writers University College Thiruvananthapuram alumni Recipients of the Padma Vibhushan in arts Recipients of the Padma Bhushan in arts Recipients of the Padma Shri in literature & education