Back in the 80s when B P Acharya was serving his initial days as an IAS officer, he was advised not to make political comments. But the man had grown up reading the Amrit Bazaar Patrika, emulating works of popular cartoonists like Amar, R K Laxman and Mario Miranda. The man was a literature-connoisseur too, having edited books with authors Larry Collins and Dominique Lapierre besides managing a journal titled Spectrum during his Mussorie stint. Armed with wit and an ability to draw, Acharya therefore wanted to to present the witty side of being a civil servant through cartoons. All the earlier literary and cartoon influences lend a unique quality to the exhibition at Goethe Zentrum titled ‘Obtuse Angle’ comprising his witty cartoons and select poems.
The exhibition not only elaborates on the travails of a civil servant, but also serves as a window into the past. For instance, the camera-like devices named Bharat Darshan that takes us through popular landmarks across the country.
There are cartoons on VVIP protocols, the G20-Summit with chairs placed corresponding to year wise growth rates, one on a meteorological department predicting a monsoon only to witness abundant sunshine.
All strokes are in black and white. He was so popular with his cartoons that an editor of a popular publication even offered him a job as a political cartoonist, but he’d loved his job too much to give it up.
“I was probably 8 or 9 in 1969, where there was regular news on border issues surrounding Bangladesh and other international events, like other youngsters around me, I was keen on being aware about these. That’s when the love for cartoons began,” he says.
While Acharya says that his poems, so personalised in their style, are images of a kind, the cartoons incidentally ensure wry humour. Some of his inspirations were the problems of probationers, who couldn’t enter the building without a tie and a jacket each time.
It took time for him to be convinced to host a exhibition, but he’s happy with the reception it has got. He plans to digitise thousands of cartoons he has made over the years into and make a book out of it soon.
“The frequency with which I used to draw earlier has certainly come down. While the world has moved on with technology, I still prefer to do my cartoons using my hand.”
Acharya has even penned a book on the ‘History of Kakatiyas.’ It’s important to look at history from a wider perspective. Obtuse Angle is on at Goethe Zentrum, Hyderabad till May 2.
