Pune Noted city-based cartoonist and humourist Mangesh Tendulkar passed away late Monday night after a brief illness at a private hospital here. He was 82.
He was battling bladder cancer for the past few years and was admitted to Ruby Hall Clinic on July 9 after he complained of pain and discomfort. Doctors said that the veteran cartoonist developed pulmonary embolism (artery blockage in the lungs) and died at around 11 p.m. on Monday.
Mangesh, active as a caricaturist for more than six decades beginning with his earliest sketches in 1954, presented the foibles of the human condition in an evolving Pune, chronicling the city through its steady transformation from a ‘sleepy’ township to a bustling city with metropolis pretensions.
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Known for his powerful visuals,through his social and political cartoons, he effortlessly exemplified the big truth that a picture is worth a thousand words.
He was the younger brother of the late dramatist Vijay Tendulkar and credited the latter for his guidance in achieving success as a cartoonist. At an exhibition dedicated to his brother at the city’s Balgandharva Kaladalan a few years back, Mangesh had said that it was a volume by a French cartoonist in his brother’s collection that spurred him on his vocation.
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What distinguished Mangesh from his peers was his keen civic sense and the deployment of his talents as a weapon to foster civic empathy among Pune’s denizens.
This was best illustrated by his ‘Diwali drives’, which the indefatigable Mangesh undertook every year in the late 1990s to spread traffic awareness by distributing thousands of postcards of his caricatures with festival wishes sketched by him.
Enduring contributions
As a result, one of his enduring contributions remains the fostering of an awareness of road safety, especially in the backdrop of a hyper-burgeoning Pune riven with traffic lawlessness. The Pune traffic police took note of the cartoons and actively used them in their awareness drives.
Last year, the city-based Automotive Research Association of India (ARAI) had used Mangesh’s talents to draw images in their drive to promote road safety.
In a series of 100 cartoons, he set forth his concerns about the city and the preservation of Pune’s once-leafy environs with his trademark good-humoured, gentle sçepticism.
Besides his prolific cartoons, Mangesh also authored collections of satirical sketches accompanied by his caricatures in works like Bhuichakra and Sunday Mood . An avid theatre lover, he also documented Pune’s theatre scene in incisive articles and books.
He is survived by his wife, a son, and a daughter. The last rites were performed at the Vaikunth crematorium.