Cartoons, like news, should be instant, says political satirist Neelabh

A cartoon titled ‘The Battle for Bihar’ shows a distraught villager, with an empty plate in his hands and his family behind him, flanked by seasoned politicians like Nitish Kumar, Lalu Prasad Yadav, Narendra Modi, Sonia Gandhi and a tiny Rahul Gandhi lurking somewhere behind. The netas greedily look upon the poor farmer and his family. Created by political cartoonist Neelabh Banerjee, the toon sums up the lead-up to the Bihar Assembly Election.

They are back.... #BiharPolls #BattleForBihar pic.twitter.com/9Px8jzRx1i

— Neelabh (@NeelabhToons) September 9, 2015

Apart from his creative flair, this new age cartoonist also races against the clock.

“My digital cartoons follow all headlines closely and (my) reactions are within a very short time. For example, if at 4 pm Kejriwal is trending on social media and TV, the cartoon will be on that and if at 8pm it is Bihar polls, a quick cartoon will follow,” Neelabh told Firstpost.

The Jagran Lakecity University in Bhopal conferred honorary degrees to Neelabh and Japanese spiritual leader Daisaku Ikeda on Sunday (20 September).

Cartoonist, illustrator @NeelabhToons conferred honorary degree, Doctor of Arts, for exemplary work in digital humorhttps://t.co/o3i6jalXBp

— News18 (@CNNnews18) September 20, 2015

Political cartooning and satire is not too common in the Indian media and very few publications or channels invest in these witty comic strips. But Neelabh thinks more youngsters are getting interested in the field because, “Humour is a serious business after all”.

Known for his political satire, Neelabh started his career as a sub-editor and a crime reporter at The Pioneer in Lucknow but later joined Target magazine as a cartoonist. His reporting days helped him to execute his cartoons better. Neelabh said, “My assignments, which included crime stories, exposed me to different slices and contrasts of our society, and how we live in a conflicted world, with various divides — between rich and poor, empowered and non-powered, communal and secular and equals and first-among-equals. My days as a reporter and sub-editor was a learning time to look at things in a different way… a funny way.”

And it is this funny way of looking at things that led Neelabh to take a break from critiquing the world and make fun of himself in this cartoon below that was made exclusively for Firstpost.

Neelabh is among the first few mainstream cartoonists who have ventured into the digital medium. Reminiscing about his days in the print media, Neelabh said that even though he is a hardcore product of print, digital media is vast and exciting. “People from different streams are setting out every moment to explore possibilities in this ether world be it education or retail.”

After having a successful run with The Times of India for 25 years, Neelabh is currently the national creative director for Reliance Industries (which owns Network18 and Firstpost) and he makes his cartoons available for the public for free via his Twitter handle @NeelabhToons. With news becoming a 24x7 affair, Neelabh said that it is imperative that you are on top of your game as anything can happen anytime. “It is entirely a new game. When I joined the media, I used to see cartoonists doing their political commentary and sealing the toon by 6 pm. These were mostly cartoons based on afternoon headlines. This used to appear the next day and remain in place for another 24 hours. Now, news has this habit of happening at any time, so why shouldn’t humourous reactions be more active? My digital cartoons follow all headlines closely and (my) reactions are within a very short time.”

Quick reactions connect better with the audience as it is on top of their minds at any given moment, Neelabh further added. “I remember when (APJ Abdul) Kalam saheb passed away, my condolence visual was released at 11.30 pm and it got lakhs of shares and connectivity. TV carried it for two days and we were the first to have it up.”

Neelabh learnt and worked with the best. In his initial years at The Times of India, Neelabh worked under RK Laxman. After he joined the newspaper in 1989, Neelabh was given some slots earlier served by Laxman and he says he learnt a lot from the master. “When asked for tips he used to point towards his cartoons… what a wonderful way… Now I realise that only cartoons can teach a cartoonist. He used to ask me why I drew my noses so long? Once I had the prudence to send my answer in a fax that read, ‘Sir, my characters in toons are nosey parkers, why else should they be there?’” adds Neelabh.

Even after over 25 years in the industry, Neelabh says that the high point of his career is yet to come but the cartoonist adds that when he was given the opportunity of bringing Laxman’s Common Man, born in the fifties, to 2014, it was the most memorable moment. “The Times of India wanted to celebrate the past and look forward to the coming 175 years. And this gave me an opportunity to convert the then Common Man to today’s Aam Aadmi. My converted character wore a shirt and a trouser and had a cell phone. We felt then that even icons need to be updated to have a valid connect. This new Common Man was well-received and appreciated, so much so, that the morphed image of old and new Common Man became the face of The Times of India 175 years stamp released by the President of India Pranab Mukherjee.”

Talk about leaving a stamp on the world.