* Cartoonist par excellence
*
* Oh for an O2 puff! *
Cartoonist par excellence
He has made Indians laugh, every morning
for the past 50 years. It's no joke and he still continues to do that.
His prescription to the young and the old is a laugh a day. It works for
most people.
He is Rashipuram Krishnaswamy Laxman, better known as R.K. Laxman the
Mysore born, Magsaysay award winner and the brother of R.K. Narayan of
Malgudi Days fame. Recently, Laxman held an auction of portraits at the
India Habitat Centre in New Delhi with sketches of Mahatma Gandhi, Jawaharlal
Nehru, Laloo Prasad Yadav, Jayalalitha and the common man amongst many
others. Portraits of Gandhi and Nehru fetched Rs. 20,000 each, Bihar Laloo
Prasad's, Rs. 10,420 and Jayalalitha's a Rs. 5,000. The highest bid of
Rs. 41,000 was reserved for Laxman's bespectacled common man with a child-
symbolising both despair and hope of the man on the street.
Speaking of the joy and agony of cartooning Laxman said he advised everybody
to be pessimistic although he was the biggest of sceptics one could come
across.
He described a cartoonist as one who cannot provide solutions to problems
but could comment. "Politicians today have no individuality. There
is no difference between the Minister of Information and the Minister of
Railways. Nowadays apart from freak cases like the former Prime Minister
Narshima Rao, none of the politicians' faces are inspiring," he lamented.
He also said Mahatma Gandhi was a God's gift to a cartoonist with his
huge ears, which could be almost made to flap and his unique attire, which
he sported whether he was in India or abroad. "Most politicians are
crooks and there is no way an honest and sincere person could survive in
that environment. I am an apolitical person and the only ideologue I follow
is common sense," he said. The much loved R.K. Laxman reiterated that
his common man cannot change because he represents an underdog and an observer.
Long live India's Laxman and India's common man.
Oh for an O2 puff!
No coke, no tea but some oxygen. That's
what you get at the 'Life Care O2 bar', India's first ever oxygen bar.
It offers fresh air, for Rs. 200 for 30 minutes and subsequent sessions,
every alternate days, costing only Rs. 100. It is top grade oxygen supplied
within the bar itself.
The oxygen supply machine has a filter, which gets rid of the pollutants
in the air and the ventilator of the air-conditioner circulates the air
within. This unique bar lined-up with mirrors has four small machines,
placed in front of luxurious leather armchairs. One can watch TV or read
a magazine while inhaling oxygen. No barman, no barmaids. No gin and tonic
but there is a doctor to give a mix of advice.
It improves the texture of the skin, gets rid of depression, cures insomnia,
heart problems, bronchial asthma and even gives relief to Migraine sufferers.
'Life Care O2 Bar ' is not any kind of place, it helps you to get rid
of one's hangovers too, the natural way. Do drop in when you come to New
Delhi, the world's fourth highest polluted city. However I will not drop
in, because I love pollution.
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