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![]() 14th February 1999 |
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* Oh for an O2 puff! * Cartoonist par excellenceHe 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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