Malayalam's popular cartoonist Toms no more

Toms, a household name in Kerala for the past half century and more for his cartoon siblings Boban and Molly, is no more. He was 87.

Few knew him as V.T. Thomas, born to V.T. Kunjuthomman and Cicily Thomas in the Kuttanad in 1929, for he was for a whole generation just 'Toms', the creator of 'Bobanum Moliyum', the back-page cartoon series published in Malayala Manorama weekly for nearly three decades.

Besides 'Bobanum Mollyum' Toms created and communicated to the Malayali milieu through several characters like Kunchukurup, Appy Hippy, Unnikuttan, Chettan and Chettathi, representing an entire neighbourhood. Each of his characters found a special place in the hearts of the Malayalis and a part of Malayalam popular culture.

When asked by a young fan about the genesis of Boban and Molly, Toms said he had named them after two children in the neighbourhood who one day came to him and asked him to draw their picture. In their web page, the Indian Institute of Cartoonists quotes Toms as having said: “This took place after these two naughty children thwarted every attempt of mine to prevent them from jumping the fence around my house and walking through the kitchen, on their way to school.”