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 was best known for his creat ...

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

daily comic strip A daily strip is a newspaper comic strip format, appearing on weekdays, Monday through Saturday, as contrasted with a Sunday strip, which typically only appears on Sundays. They typically are smaller, 3–4 grids compared to the full page Sunday s ...

, ''You Said It'' in ''

The Times of India ''The Times of India'' (''TOI'') is an Indian 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, third-largest newspaper in India by circulation an ...

''. 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). Then the stamp is affixed to the f ...

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

Times of India ''The Times of India'' (''TOI'') is an Indian 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, third-largest newspaper in India by circulation an ...

'' 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 Google Doodle is a special, temporary alteration of the logo on Google's homepages intended to commemorate holidays, events, achievements, and historical figures. The first Google Doodle honored the 1998 edition of the long-running annual Bu ...

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. *The character was adapted into the Indian television series '' Wagle Ki Duniya'' on

DD National DD National (formerly DD1) is an Indian state-owned entertainment television channel, founded by the Government of India, owned by the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting (India), Ministry of Information and Broadcasting. It is the flagshi ...

and '' R K Laxman Ki Duniya'' on

SAB TV Sony SAB is an Indian Hindi-language general entertainment pay television Pay television, also known as subscription television, premium television or, when referring to an individual service, a premium channel, refers to Subscription busi ...

. *

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

, who grew up in

Bombay Mumbai ( ; ), also known as Bombay ( ; its official name until 1995), is the capital city of the Indian States and union territories of India, state of Maharashtra. Mumbai is the financial centre, financial capital and the list of cities i ...

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'' and his 2012 autobiography, Joseph Anton.

Statues

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

Pune Pune ( ; , ISO 15919, ISO: ), previously spelled in English as Poona (List of renamed Indian cities and states#Maharashtra, the official name until 1978), is a city in the state of Maharashtra in the Deccan Plateau, Deccan plateau in Western ...

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,

Mumbai Mumbai ( ; ), also known as Bombay ( ; its official name until 1995), is the capital city of the Indian state of Maharashtra. Mumbai is the financial capital and the most populous city proper of India with an estimated population of 12 ...

. * A statue of The Common Man is erected at the entrance of R. K. Laxman Museum at Balewadi,

References

External links

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 was founded as a weekly publication in 1878 by the Triplicane Six, becoming a daily in 1889. It is one of the India ...

'' * ''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