One should take one’s work seriously but not oneself seriously. The brainy quote is no brainer for those who have the ability to look at life, things in an open way and not get bogged down when things don’t go as intended.
Perhaps this attitude has what guided the bureaucrat B.P. Acharya, Special Chief Secretary – Planning, in Telangana government, all through his career spanning over three decades. To step back and record for posterity the contradictions one sees in public life, personal as well as social interactions with people, colleagues and politicians and point them out with a dose of humour.
Mr.Acharya, an officer known for giving his all to any assignment entrusted to him has also this ability to look at the funny as well as ironical side to events in his work as well as life around in general.
Cartoon show
He put on display several cartoons out of thousands he had drawn over the decades capturing the funny side of mundane events and dealings of a civil servant recently to mark the Civil Services Week . The cartoons and also some poems under the caption ‘Obtuse Angle’ are on display at Goethe-Zentrium, Road No.3, Banjara Hills till May 2.
“These cartoons, juxtaposed with a few of my poems trace a civil servant’s journey and attempt to capture the twists and turns of this eventful itinerary....” he says. Why the caption ‘Obtuse Angle’?. “We often tend to look at things from an acute angle, that is with a critical look. But in every event there is perhaps an ‘Obtuse angle’ that a cartoonist tries to look for, a funny and humorous side, if you will,” he elaborates.
Inspired by the work and master strokes of R.K.Laxman, Kutty, Mario and others, Acharya continued his hobby even after joining service and captured mostly what he witnessed as a probationer and later on as an IAS officer. “I did not try to make value judgements with these drawings but they are based on real incidents and not some abstract ideas,” he says. But they are indeed a telling commentary on what we see, don’t see and ignore at times. The cartoons come back again and again to the mind to prick the conscience even as they bring out a smile.
