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Year 156 (CLVI) was a leap year starting on Wednesday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Silvanus and Augurinus (or, less frequently, year 909 Ab urbe condita). The denomination 156 for this year has been used since the early medieval period, when the Anno Domini calendar era became the prevalent method in Europe for naming years.

Events[link]

By topic[link]

Religion[link]

• The heresiarch Montanus first appears in Ardaban (Mysia).

Births[link]

• Dong Zhao, minister of Han Dynasty (d. 236)
• Emperor Ling of Han China (d. 189)
• Lü Bu, Chinese warlord and military leader (d. 198)
• Ma Teng, general of Han Dynasty (d. 212)
• Zhang Xun (d. 199)
• Zhang Zhao, trusted adviser of Wu (d. 236)
• Zhu Zhi, general of Wu (d. 224)

Deaths[link]

References[link]

R.K.Laxman
Born	(1921-10-24) 24 October 1921 (age 90) Mysore, India
Occupation	Cartoonist, Illustrator
Signature

Rasipuram Krishnaswamy Iyer Laxman^[1] born 24 October 1921^[2], Mysore, India) is an Indian cartoonist, illustrator, and humorist. He is widely regarded as India's greatest-ever cartoonist^[3] and is best known for his creation The Common Man.

Birth and childhood[link]

R. K. Laxman was born in Mysore, in a Tamil Iyer family.^[1] His father was a headmaster and Laxman was the youngest of six sons.^[4] One of his siblings is R.K. Narayan, English language novelist.

Laxman was engrossed by the illustrations in magazines such as Strand Magazine, Punch, Bystander, Wide World and Tit-Bits, even before he could read.^[5] Soon he was drawing on his own, on the floors, walls and doors of his house and doodling caricatures of his teachers at school; praised by a teacher for his drawing of a peepal leaf, he began to think of himself as an artist in the making.^[6] Another early influence on Laxman were the cartoons of the world-renowned British cartoonist, Sir David Low (whose signature he misread as "cow" for a long time) that appeared now and then in The Hindu.^[7] Laxman notes in his autobiography, The Tunnel of Time:

Laxman was the captain of his local "Rough and Tough and Jolly" cricket team and his antics inspired the stories "Dodu the money maker" and "The Regal Cricket Club" written by his brother, Narayan.^[9] Laxman's idyllic childhood was shaken for a while when his father suffered a paralytic stroke and died around a year later, but the elders at home bore most of the increased responsibility, while Laxman continued with his schooling.^[10]

After high school, Laxman applied to the JJ School of Arts, Bombay hoping to concentrate on his lifelong interests of drawing and painting, but the dean of the school wrote to him that his drawings lacked, "the kind of talent to qualify for enrollment in our institution as a student", and refused admission.^[11] He finally graduated with a Bachelor of Arts from the University of Mysore. In the meantime he continued his freelance artistic activities and contributed cartoons to Swarajya and an animated film based on the mythological character, Narada.^[12]

Career[link]

Beginning[link]

Laxman's earliest work was for newspapers and magazines such as Swarajya and Blitz. While still at the Maharaja College of Mysore, he began to illustrate his elder brother R K Narayan's stories in The Hindu, and he drew political cartoons for the local newspapers and for the Swatantra. Laxman also drew cartoons, for the Kannada humour magazine, Koravanji. Incidentally, Koravanji was founded in 1942 by Dr M Shivaram who was a allopath and had a clinic around Majestic area in Bangalore. He started this monthly magazine, dedicating it to hilarious/satirical articles and cartoons. Dr Shivaram himself was an eminent humourist in Kannada. He encouraged Laxman quite a lot. He held a summer job at the Gemini Studios, Madras. His first full-time job was as a political cartoonist for the The Free Press Journal in Mumbai, Bal Thackeray, was his colleague. Laxman later joined The Times of India, beginning a career that has spanned for over fifty years.

Other creations[link]

He also created a popular mascot for the Asian Paints group called Gattu. Laxman has also penned a few novels. His cartoons have appeared in Hindi films such as Mr. and Mrs. 55 and a Tamil Film "KAMARAJ".

R K Laxman Chair at Symbiosis International University[link]

There is a chair named after R. K. Laxman at Symbiosis International University.^[13]

Personal life[link]

He was first married to Bharatanatyam dancer and movie actress Kamala Laxman (also known before marriage as Baby Kamala and Kumari Kamala). After a divorce, he married again and his second wife's (a children's book writer) name was also Kamala. He lives both in Mumbai and Pune. In a cartoon series named "The star I never met" in film magazine Filmfare he painted a cartoon of Kamala Laxman, with the title "The star I only met!".

In September 2003, Laxman was affected by a stroke which left him paralysed on his left side. He has partly recovered from its effects. On the evening of 20 June 2010, Laxman was admitted to Breach Candy Hospital in Mumbai after being transported by an air ambulance from Pune. His condition was said to be stable.^[14]

Awards[link]

• B.D. Goenka Award - The Indian Express
• Durga Ratan Gold Medal - Hindustan Times
• Padma Bhushan - Govt. of India
• Padma Vibhushan - Govt. of India
• Ramon Magsaysay Award for Journalism, Literature and Creative Communication Arts - 1984
• Lifetime Achievement Award for Journalism - CNN IBN TV18, 29 January 2008.

Bibliography[link]

• The Eloquent Brush: A Selection of Cartoons from Nehru to Rajiv
• 50 Years of Independence through the eyes of R.K.Laxman
• The Best of Laxman series
• Hotel Riviera
• The Messenger
• Servants of India
• The Tunnel of Time (autobiography)
• His autobiography Lakshmanrekha is published in Marathi.
• The Reel World [cartoons]published by Marwah Studios
• Brushing Up The Years- A Cartoonist's History of India- 1947 to the Present- Penguin Books

Multi-media[link]

• India Through The Eyes of R. K. Laxman - Then To Now (CD-ROM).
• Laxman Rekhas-A TOI Publication

Notes[link]

References[link]

• Laxman, R. K. (1998). The tunnel of time. India: Penguin Books. 
• Laxman's-eye view Frontline Magazine - 18–31 July 1998

The Cockroaches was an Australian pop rock band which achieved reasonable success in the 1980s and 1990s. The band took its name from an obscure nom de plume favoured by The Rolling Stones during the 1960s.

The band is today best known as a precursor to the internationally successful children's musical group The Wiggles. Two of the Wiggles, Anthony Field and Jeff Fatt, were members of the Cockroaches (lead guitar and keyboards), Cockroaches' lead singer Paul Field is the Wiggles' manager and guitarist John Field is a frequent songwriter for the Wiggles. Cockroaches' drummer Tony Henry and bassist Paul Dunworth have also played on numerous Wiggles recordings.

Biography[link]

The Field brothers (Paul, John and Anthony) started the group in 1979 while still at boarding school, St. Joseph's College, Hunters Hill. The band regularly played at school dances and pubs. The Cockroaches began writing their own music and issued a string of singles on a variety of independent labels. In 1986 the band signed a deal with Regular Records.

The band's first single on Regular, 'Wait Up'/`Henry's Lizard' (September 1986), became a national Top 40 hit and #13 in Sydney. The band's debut album, The Cockroaches (March 1987) produced three further singles, 'She's the One'/'Can in the Hand' (January), 'Some Kind of Girl'/`Dr Richmond' (May) and 'Double Shot (Of My Baby's Love)'/'Something Good' (August). The Cockroaches reached #9 on the national chart, on its way to selling over 100,000 copies and 'She's the One' became the band's biggest hit when it peaked at #7 during April 1987. 'Some Kind of Girl' and 'Double Shot (of My Baby's Love)' also made the Top 30. The Cockroaches' self-titled album received a platinum record award in 1988.^[1]

Peter Mackie replaced Phil Robinson before the band recorded its second album, Fingertips. In early 1989, The Cockroaches undertook a national tour. The band's third album, Positive (June 1991), included a cover of Brenda Lee's "Here Comes the Feeling" (August), which also appeared on the soundtrack to the feature film The Crossing, starring Russell Crowe and Danielle Spencer. By the end of the year, however, The Cockroaches as a band concept had run its course. To add to the stress, Paul Field's seven month-old daughter died from SIDS while touring.^[2]

In the early 1990s, Anthony Field studied early childhood education at Macquarie University.^[3] He eventually started The Wiggles with Jeff Fatt, Murray Cook (guitar) and Greg Page (vocals), which became extraordinarily successful in Australia, the USA and parts of Asia in children's entertainment and early learning. John Field joined The Honeymen with Sean Sennett. The pair released two singles "Felt Like A Kiss" and "Motorbike Of Love". John went on to write the musical 'Evie And The Birdman' and fronts The John Field Band.^[4]

Personnel[link]

The original line-up of the band was:

• Paul Field - lead vocals (1979–91)
• John Field - rhythm guitar, vocals (1979–91)
• Anthony (Tony) Field - lead guitar, vocals (1979–91)
• Jeff Fatt - keyboard (1981-91)
• Paul Dunworth - bass guitar (1979–81)
• Tony Henry - drums (1979-91)
• Phil Robinson - bass (1981–88)
• Peter Mackie - bass (1988–91)
• Joseph Hallion - Sax (1979-1985)

Discography[link]

Albums[link]

• The Cockroaches - Regular (L 38709) (March, 1987)
• Fingertips - Regular (TVL93270) (1988)
• Positive - Regular (D 19737) (June, 1991)
• St. Patrick's Day 10am - Independent (CD ROACH 001) (March, 1994)
• Hey Let’s Go – The Best of the Cockroaches - Festival (D26394) (1999)

Singles[link]

• "I Want a Leather Jacket"/"Blue Moon of Kentucky" (R.D.S. 004) (June 1980)
• "Through with Her"/"Bingo Bango" (PRS13096) (June 1981)
• "Used to Be"/"She Goes On and On" (August 1981)
• "Empty Heart"/"Apartment #9" - EMI (Custom 13233) (October 1981)
• "Shake Jump and Shout"/"Last Night"/"Empty Heart" - Phantom (PH-16) (11 November 1982)
• "See You in Spain"/"I've Been Thinking About You" - Powderworks (POW 0200) (June 1984)
• "My Whole World's Falling Down"/"Groovin’ in the Graveyard" - Possum (POS 1529) (June 1985)
• "Another Night Alone"/"Just Can't Stop" - Possum (POS 1589) (December 1985)
• "Wait Up"/"Henry's Lizard" - Regular (K72) (September 1986)
• "She's The One"/"Can in Hand" - Regular (K212) (January 1987)
• "Some Kind of Girl"/"Dr Richmond" - Regular (K277) (May 1987)
• "Double Shot (Of My Baby's Love)/"Something Good" - Regular (K388) (August 1987)
• "You and Me"/"So Wild" - Regular (K639) (1988)
• "Hey What Now!"/"Marie" - Regular (K533) (June 1988)
• "Permanently Single"/"Rudolph Had a Baby" - Regular (K769) (January 1989)
• "Another Saturday Night"/"I've Got to Hang On" - Regular (K894) (August 1989)
• "Hope"/Soul To Soul" (August 1990)

References[link]

External links[link]