Rasipuram remembers legendary cartoonist R.K. Laxman
RASIPURAM: Shock over the demise of legendary cartoonist Rasipuram Krishnaswami Laxman, a son of the soil, has sunk into local residents.
People representing various walks of life, including political leaders, offered floral tributes to the portrait of late R.K. Laxman at the old bus stand on Tuesday during an initiative of Makkal Koottamaippu Rasipuram.
R.K. Laxman’s paternal grandfather Karivaradaraja Aiyar and his father Krishnaswami Aiyer, had lived in Rasipuram town before moving to the then Madras.The residents of the town are proud that both R.K. Laxman and his novelist brother R.K. Narayan added the tag ‘Rasipuram’ to their names, making the place popular the world over.
Late Laxman was said to have visited Rasipuram about three decades ago, and a retired teacher who met him then is believed to be the only living person in the town to have seen him.His granddaughter visited the town a few years ago in search of roots to the place where her forefathers lived, according to ‘Pachal’ A. Srinivasan, convener of the Koottamaippu.
Speaking at the condolence meeting, Mr. Srinivasan regretted that the people of Rasipuram had missed out on honouring the great cartoonist, who had won umpteen national and international awards, during his lifetime. Nalvinai Viswaraj, secretary of the Koottamaippu and representatives of AIADMK, DMK, Congress, DMDK, IJK were among those who paid floral tributes.
Meanwhile, the students of Sri Vidya Mandir Matriculation Higher Secondary School, Ammapettai, Salem city, also paid floral tributes to the portrait of Laxman at a brief function held in the school on Wednesday.
