Born in Mysuru on Oct. 24, 1921, R.K. Laxman grew up in the old locality of Laxmipuram and was always enthralled by the sights and soul of the city. It was the charm of the old Mysuru that moulded Laxman’s simple yet fascinating world view and honed his eye for details.

He used to visit his old haunts like the Devaraja Market, Clock Tower and Sayyaji Rao road whenever he used to visit Mysuru.

R.K. Laxman shared a great bond with Maharaja’s College where he had studied Politics, Economics and Philosophy from 1942 to 1944. During one of his recent visits to the city, Laxman visited his college more as an alumnus rather than as a guest. He had searched for an etching he had made in one of the class-rooms and had found the scribble “RKL” on one of the walls along with ‘RKS’ (R.K. Srinivasan), ‘RKP’ (R.K. Pattabhi) and ‘RKN’ (R.K. Narayan) — his brothers. Laxman had also recalled that it was his English lecturer, B.S. Keshavan, who had encouraged him to draw cartoons.

The last time Laxman visited Mysuru was in 2009. He was bound to a wheel-chair and had visited Maharaja’s College with his wife Kamala. When asked by a student what his connection with Mysuru was, since he was not living here, Laxman had said, “I always miss Mysuru and Maharaja’s College.”

Dignitaries tweet tributes

Prime Minister Narendra Modi: “India will miss you R.K. Laxman. We are grateful to you for adding the much needed humour in our lives & always bringing smiles on our faces. My condolences to the family & countless well-wishers of a legend whose demise leaves a major void in our lives. RIP R.K. Laxman.”

Sonia Gandhi: “Shri Laxman’s ‘Common Man’, for more than one generation, represented India, served as conscience-keeper of establishment. His death is passing away of an institution.”

Sachin Tendulkar: “The man who expressed so much for and as the Common Man is no more. Deepest condolences to his family and friends.”

Ramachandra Guha: “R.K. Laxman was the greatest member of a great Mysore generation — among them M.N. Srinivas, R.K. Narayan, T.S. Satyan, A.K. Ramanujan…”

source: http://www.starofmysore.com / Star of Mysore / Home> General News / Tuesday – January 27th, 2015