If the names “Chacha Chaudhury”, “Shrimatiji”, “Billoo” and “Pinki” ring a bell, and if you want to take a trip down Nostalgia Street to see those “comics” again, you could head to a cartoon exhibition currently on in the city.
“Remembering Vins, Pran and Bapu”, a joint exhibition of select cartoons by three noted cartoonists who passed away recently, has been organised by the Indian Institute of Cartoonists. The exhibition began on Monday. It showcases cartoons by Vijay Narain Seth (Vins), Pran Kumar Sharma (Pran) and Sattiraju Lakshmi Narayan (Bapu).
The cartoons by Vins are sketches with watercolours. They are self explanatory, frequently with no text. One shows Indian snake charmers on a golf course with one of them using a snake as a club to strike a golf ball. Another shows a clever schoolchild who has fixed a wheel on to his heavy schoolbag to save his back from the burden. In another cartoon, a bullock cart driver reads out instructions from a computer to guide the cart around his field. In yet another, a bullock cart driver has a helmet on his head, as he is surrounded by tall trucks amidst heavy traffic on a city road.
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Bapu’s cartoons reflect the everyday lives of people. One shows an entire household in tears, sniffling while watching a TV serial. The cartoons are in Hindi, English and Telugu. Some have no text but still manage to make the onlooker smile.’ Over the years, the ideas and words used in them have changed (goggles are shades today).
The exhibition is on till October 18 and entry is free.