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 g ...

. 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 * Pu ...

'' 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 ''Th ...

, Ranga and Kutty, he closed down the magazine during the

Emergency An emergency is an urgent, unexpected, and usually dangerous situation that poses an immediate risk to health, life, property, or environment and requires immediate action. Most emergencies require urgent intervention to prevent a worsening ...

of 25 June 1975. From then on he turned to making children laugh and enjoy life. He was awarded the

Padma Vibhushan The Padma Vibhushan ("Lotus Decoration") is the second-highest civilian award of the Republic of India, after the Bharat Ratna. Instituted on 2 January 1954, the award is given for "exceptional and distinguished service". All persons without ...

in 1976, the second highest civilian honour given by the

Govt. of India The Government of India ( ISO: ; often abbreviated as GoI), known as the Union Government or Central Government but often simply as the Centre, is the national government of the Republic of India, a federal democracy located in South Asia, ...

. 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 house ...

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 e ...

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 sec ...

, 2 August 2002.

Early life and education

Shankar was born in 1902 at Kayamkulam, Kerala. He attended schools in Kayamkulam and

Mavelikkara Mavelikkara is a taluk and municipality in the '' Onattukara'' region of Alappuzha district in the Indian state of Kerala. Located in the southern part of the district on the banks of the Achankovil River. Etymology The name Mavelikar ...

. 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 imag ...

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 Thiruvananthapuram (; ), also known by its List of renamed Indian cities and states, former name Trivandrum (), is the Capital city, capital of the Indian state of Kerala. It is the most populous city in Kerala with a population of 957,730 as ...

, in 1927, he left for Bombay (now

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 secon ...

) 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 ''The Free Press Journal'' is an Indian English-language daily newspaper that was established in 1928 by Swaminathan Sadanand, who also acted as its first editor. First produced to complement a news agency, the Free Press of India, it was a s ...

'' 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, the editor of the ''

Hindustan Times ''Hindustan Times'' is an Indian English-language daily newspaper based in Delhi. It is the flagship publication of HT Media, an entity controlled by the KK Birla family, and is owned by Shobhana Bhartia. It was founded by Sunder Singh Ly ...

'' 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 Delhi, officially the National Capital Territory (NCT) of Delhi, is a city and a union territory of India containing New Delhi, the capital of India. Straddling the Yamuna river, primarily its western or right bank, Delhi shares borders w ...

finally. Shankar's cartoons attracted even

Viceroy A viceroy () is an official who reigns over a polity in the name of and as the representative of the monarch of the territory. The term derives from the Latin prefix ''vice-'', meaning "in the place of" and the French word ''roy'', meaning " ...

s like Lord Willington and Lord Linlithgow.

Gandhi Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi (; ; 2 October 1869 – 30 January 1948), popularly known as Mahatma Gandhi, was an Indian lawyer, anti-colonial nationalist Quote: "... marks Gandhi as a hybrid cosmopolitan figure who transformed ... anti- ...

wrote a postcard to Shankar questioning one of his cartoons on

Jinnah Muhammad Ali Jinnah (, ; born Mahomedali Jinnahbhai; 25 December 1876 – 11 September 1948) was a barrister, politician, and the founder of Pakistan. Jinnah served as the leader of the All-India Muslim League from 1913 until the ...

. 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 Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitu ...

Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus ( legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...

Vienna en, Viennese , iso_code = AT-9 , registration_plate = W , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...

Geneva Geneva ( ; french: Genève ) frp, Genèva ; german: link=no, Genf ; it, Ginevra ; rm, Genevra is the second-most populous city in Switzerland (after Zürich) and the most populous city of Romandy, the French-speaking part of Switzerland. Situa ...

and

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. Si ...

. 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 Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru (; ; ; 14 November 1889 – 27 May 1964) was an Indian Anti-colonial nationalism, anti-colonial nationalist, secular humanist, social democrat— * * * * and author who was a central figure in India du ...

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,

Lal Bahadur Shastri Lal Bahadur Shastri (; 2 October 1904 – 11 January 1966) was an Indian politician and statesman who served as the 2nd Prime Minister of India from 1964 to 1966 and 6th Home Minister of India from 1961 to 1963. He promoted the White Re ...

Morarji Desai Morarji Ranchhodji Desai (29 February 1896 – 10 April 1995) was an Indian independence activist and politician who served as the 4th Prime Minister of India between 1977 to 1979 leading the government formed by the Janata Party. During his ...

Krishna Menon Vengalil Krishnan Krishna Menon (3 May 1896 – 6 October 1974) was an Indian academic, politician, and non-career diplomat. He was described by some as the second most powerful man in India, after the first list of Prime Ministers of In ...

and

Indira Gandhi Indira Priyadarshini Gandhi (; ''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 and was al ...

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 Bahadur Shah Zafar Marg is a road in Delhi, India. It is named after Bahadur Shah Zafar who was the last Mughal emperor. This road is sometimes also referred to as the (Mountain grass) Fleet Street of India,

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 The Government of India ( ISO: ; often abbreviated as GoI), known as the Union Government or Central Government but often simply as the Centre, is the national government of the Republic of India, a federal democracy located in South Asia, ...

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 ...

. 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 of India, Constit ...

sketched by him in 1949 caused "furor" in Indian Parliament, in reaction to its inclusion in

NCERT The National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT) is an autonomous organisation of the Government of India which was established in 1961 as a literary, scientific and charitable Society under the Societies Registration Act. Its he ...

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 Padma Shri ( IAST: ''padma śrī''), also spelled Padma Shree, is the fourth-highest civilian award of the Republic of India, after the Bharat Ratna, the Padma Vibhushan and the Padma Bhushan. Instituted on 2 January 1954, the award is conf ...

, 1956 *

Padma Bhushan The Padma Bhushan is the third-highest civilian award in the Republic of India, preceded by the Bharat Ratna and the Padma Vibhushan and followed by the Padma Shri. Instituted on 2 January 1954, the award is given for "distinguished service ...

, 1966Padma Bhushan Awardees
/ref> *

, 1976 * Order of the Smile (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 Delhi University (DU), formally the University of Delhi, is a collegiate central university located in New Delhi, India. It was founded in 1922 by an Act of the Central Legislative Assembly and is recognized as an Institute of Eminence (IoE ...

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