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Year 154 (CLIV) was a common year starting on Monday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Aurelius and Lateranus (or, less frequently, year 907 Ab urbe condita). The denomination 154 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 place[link]

Roman Empire[link]

• The king of Bosphorus, Eupator, pays tribute to Rome due to the threat posed by the Alani.

Asia[link]

• Last (2nd) year of Yongxing era of the Chinese Han Dynasty.

By topic[link]

Religion[link]

• Anicetus becomes pope (approximate date).
• Anicetus meets with Polycarp of Smyrna to discuss the Computus, the date of Easter in the Christian calendar.
• Change of Patriarch of Constantinople from Patriarch Euzois to Patriarch Laurence.

Births[link]

• Chen Gong (approximate date) (d. 198)
• Yuan Shao, major warlord who ruled Northern China until defeated by Cao Cao (d. 202)

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