The Common Man is a cartoon character created by Indian author and cartoonist

R. K. Laxman Rasipuram Krishnaswami Laxman ''Pg. 11 in the source says that Laxman & his brother Narayan were Tamil Iyer Brahmins.'' (24 October 1921 – 26 January 2015) was an Indian cartoonist, illustrator, and humorist. He is best known for his creation ...

. For over a half of a century, the Common Man has represented the hopes, aspirations, troubles and perhaps even foibles of the average

Indian Indian or Indians may refer to: Peoples South Asia * Indian people, people of Indian nationality, or people who have an Indian ancestor ** Non-resident Indian, a citizen of India who has temporarily emigrated to another country * South Asia ...

, through a daily comic strip, ''You Said It'' in ''

The Times of India ''The Times of India'', also known by its abbreviation ''TOI'', is an Indian English-language daily newspaper and digital news media owned and managed by The Times Group. It is the third-largest newspaper in India by circulation and largest ...

''. The comic was started in 1951. When Laxman began to draw cartoons in ''The Times of India'', he attempted to represent different states and cultures in India. In the rush to meet deadlines, he began to draw fewer and fewer background characters, until finally he found only one remaining—the now-familiar Common Man. The Common Man generally acts as a silent witness to all the action in the comic. According to anthropologist Ritu Gairola Khanduri, "Clad in a dhoti and a plaid jacket, the puzzled Common Man is no dupe: his sharp observations miss no detail of the political circus."

Other depictions

*The Common Man featured in a commemorative

postage stamp A postage stamp is a small piece of paper issued by a post office, postal administration, or other authorized vendors to customers who pay postage (the cost involved in moving, insuring, or registering mail), who then affix the stamp to the fa ...

released by the Indian Postal Service on the 150th anniversary of the ''

Times of India ''The Times of India'', also known by its abbreviation ''TOI'', is an Indian English language, English-language daily newspaper and digital news media owned and managed by The Times Group. It is the List of newspapers in India by circulation, t ...

'' in 1988. It became one of the most recognised feature on ''The Times of India'' the largest-circulation English language daily broadsheet newspaper in the world. *On 24 October 2015, Google featured the Common Man on a Google Doodle to honour R. K. Laxman on the occasion of his 94th birthday. *The Common Man was the mascot for the low budget airline

Air Deccan Air Deccan is an Indian regional airline currently operating from Ahmedabad, Gujarat. It flies to a total of four destinations using Beech 1900D aircraft, as of November 2019. As of October 2021, the airline has temporarily suspended operatio ...

. *The character was adapted into the Indian television series ''

Wagle Ki Duniya ''Wagle Ki Duniya'' () is an Indian sitcom that aired on DD National from 1988 to 1990. It was produced by Durga Khote, directed by Kundan Shah, and was based on characters created by noted cartoonist, R. K. Laxman, especially "the common man" a ...

'' on

DD National DD National (formerly DD1) is a state-owned public entertainment television channel in India. It is the flagship channel of Doordarshan, India's public service broadcaster, and the oldest and most widely available terrestrial television channel ...

and '' R K Laxman Ki Duniya'' on SAB TV. *

Salman Rushdie Sir Ahmed Salman Rushdie (; born 19 June 1947) is an Indian-born British-American novelist. His work often combines magic realism with historical fiction and primarily deals with connections, disruptions, and migrations between Eastern and Wes ...

, who grew up in

Bombay Mumbai (, ; also known as Bombay — the official name until 1995) is the capital city of the Indian state of Maharashtra and the ''de facto'' financial centre of India. According to the United Nations, as of 2018, Mumbai is the second- ...

on a daily fare of Laxman's pocket cartoons, mentions the Common Man in two of his books—his 1995 novel ''

The Moor's Last Sigh ''The Moor's Last Sigh'' is the fifth novel by Salman Rushdie, published in 1995. It is set in the Indian cities of Bombay and Cochin. Title and influences The title is taken from the story of Muhammad XII of Granada, Boabdil, the last Moor ...

'' and his 2012 autobiography,

Joseph Anton ''Joseph Anton: A Memoir'' is an autobiography, autobiographical book by the British Indian writer Salman Rushdie, first published in September 2012 by Random House. Rushdie recounts his time in hiding from The Satanic Verses controversy#Recepti ...

Statues

*An 8.2 feet high bronze statue of "The Common Man" has been erected at the

Symbiosis Institute Symbiosis International (Deemed University), is a multi-campus private deemed university located in the city of Pune, India. The university has more than 30 academic institutions spread over various campuses in Pune, Bangalore, Hyderabad ...

Pune Pune (; ; also known as Poona, (List of renamed Indian cities and states#Maharashtra, the official name from 1818 until 1978) is one of the most important industrial and educational hubs of India, with an estimated population of 7.4 million ...

in front of its Vishwabhavan building. The Common Man has a wisp of white hair that is perpetually standing, leaving him with a bewildered look. * A statue of The Common man, created by the sculptor Suresh Sakpal, was installed in 2007 along the sea face on Khan Abdul Ghaffar Khan road,

Worli seaface Worli (ISO: ''Varaḷī'', �əɾ(ə)ɭiː is a locality in South Mumbai, Maharashtra, India. It is one of the four peninsulas of Mumbai while the other being Colaba, Bandra and Malabar Hill. The sea connects it with Bandra via the Band ...

Mumbai Mumbai (, ; also known as Bombay — the official name until 1995) is the capital city of the Indian state of Maharashtra and the ''de facto'' financial centre of India. According to the United Nations, as of 2018, Mumbai is the second- ...

References

Genesis of "The Common Man"
''

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 ...

'' * ''Frontline'' magazine The Times of India 1951 comics debuts Gag-a-day comics Humor comics Comics characters introduced in 1951 Fictional Indian people Male characters in comics {{India-newspaper-stub