October 24, 2019, marks the 98th birth anniversary of arguably India's greatest cartoonist RK Laxman. Born on this day in 1921, RK Laxman's full name is Rasipuram Krishnaswami Iyer Laxman. He was a cartoonist and humorist par excellence. His magnum opus remains to be "The Common Man" as well as "You Said It" in The Times of India, which continued to amaze readers for decades, after it was first published in 1951.

Starting his career as a cartoonist who drew only when he liked or part-time, he worked for local newspapers as well as small magazines. His elder brother, RK Narayan, was a popular novelist and famous short story writer. He drew illustrations based on them in The Hindu.

He started his real professional career as a political cartoonist for The Free Press Journal. The office was located in Mumbai. It was after the Free Press Journal that Laxman joined The Times of India and created "The Common Man", changing the face of illustrations and cartooning in India.

"I drew objects that caught my eye outside the window of my room – the dry twigs, leaves and lizard-like creatures crawling about, the servant chopping firewood and, of course, and number of crows in various postures on the rooftops of the buildings opposite," said Laxman on his craft, when asked to elaborate on his philosophy. He was also awarded with India's second highest civilian honour the Padma Vibhushan. He also won the Ramon Magsaysay award in 1984. Laxman died at the age of 93 on January 26, 2015, in Pune.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Oct 24, 2019 08:35 AM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).