The death of Cartoonist P.K.S. Kutty (90), who hailed from here, was condoled by his friends and other Cartoonists here on Sunday.
The veteran Cartoonist of international repute passed away at Madison (U.S.A.) on Saturday. Puthukodi Kottuthody Shankaran Kutty, popularly known as Cartoonist Kutty, was born at Ottapalam on the banks of Bharathapuzha.
He had his schooling at Ottapalam Government High School and College education at Malabar Christian College in Kozhikode. He left Ottapalam for Delhi in 1941 and joined as a Cartoonist in `National Herald’ run by Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru. Kutty had training under famous Cartoonist Shankar. He was one of the trio of Indian cartoonist along with Shankar and Abu Abraham.
Later he joined Ananda Bazar Patrika, a leading Bengali Daily. A neighbour of Mr. Kutty at Ottapalam, P.T. Narendra Menon, writer and cultural activist, remembered that the late Cartoonist used to visit Ottapalam frequently till the death of his sister Kalyanikutty Amma and her husband Narayana Kurup, a leader of the erstwhile Praja Socialist Party (PSP) 20 years back.
Mr. Menon said that when he used to visit Delhi he made it a point to meet Mr. Kutty at his residence. Mr. Kutty was eager to know about his home town and his relatives and friends, Mr. Menon said.
But for the last ten years Mr. Kutty was living in U.S.A, Mr. Menon said. Cartoonist Unni described Mr. Kutty as the doyen of Cartoonists in the country. He was the last link of famous Cartoonist like Sanjayan, Shankar etc., Mr. Unni said.
The Indian Journalists Union (IJU) in a statement here on Sunday has condoled the death of one of the greatest Cartoonists of the country. IJU President Suresh Akhouri said Mr. Kutty was a prominent personality among the doyens of Indian media persons.
His Cartoons were liked by both the intellectuals and the common men alike. He was a talented and gifted Cartoonist who kept the standards of journalistic ethics and principles very high, Mr. Akhouri said.
