Cartoonist Satish Acharya stumbled into the world of caricatures quite by accident.

Cartoonist Satish Acharya stumbled into the world of caricatures quite by accident.

Growing up in the pre-internet era in the small town of Kundapur, near Udupi, Acharya like most of his peers decided to study commerce and then did his MBA in finance.

But he never could stop himself from doodling or making funny faces on paper. "It wasn't a deliberate attempt to become a cartoonist.

It just happened that drawing gave me lots of happiness. The cartooning side of the art attracted me since my school days, thanks to Mario Miranda's stylish cartoons that used to appear in Illustrated Weekly.
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I could barely understand the opinion side of those cartoons, but the sheer beauty of Miranda's illustrations, filled with so much detail, was a feast," Acharya said in an email interview

Doodle star

In town this week for an exhibition of his works organised by the Indian Institute of Cartoonists, Acharya's long association with MiD Day through his daily cartoons will be on display.

When asked about some of his favourite cartoons that will be on display, Acharya said, "It's tough to choose.
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There are days when I'm proud of the cartoons that I've done. There are days when I feel miserable about my work. I always enjoy doing political cartoons."

His personal favourites are the cartoons on Shiv Sena and the Thackeray Parivar because they add so much fun to the dry politics of Maharashtra.

He asks visitors to the show to look out for a cartoon on Rahul Gandhi's Mumbai visit, where he took a ride in Mumbai locals and derailed Shiv Sena's agitation plans and another one on the time after Smita Thackeray quit Shiv Sena.

A long association

After his MBA degree, Acharya landed up in Mumbai to work in an advertising agency as an accounts executive. But his regular 9-5 job bored him and he desperately wanted to get into cartooning as a career.

Acharya's long association with MiD Day started from 1993 when he joined as an illustrator cum designer.

He said, "The then-editor Aakar Patel saw some potential in my cartoons and I managed to get a daily column in MiD Day. The column is totally my own space, with absolute freedom and no interference."

Method to madness?

According to Acharya the best thing about cartooning is that there's absolutely no method to approach a cartoon.

He said, "Sometimes you want to do a cartoon on a hot topic or issue of the day. On some days you suddenly get an idea reading a piece of news or watching a news channel."

The toughest part however is getting an idea and then thinking on how to present it through trial and error on paper.

This process is the most crucial because this is where a good cartoon may or may not become an outstanding one.

A funny opinion

A cartoon is as good or bad as the cartoonist's viewpoint is what Acharya said when asked about using his art to convey an opinion.
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According to him, cartoonists today are not restricted to just saying what they feel through the print medium.
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The Internet plays a huge role in creating a strong platform to reach unbiased readers.
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Through blogs and social networking websites, cartoonists can spread their opinion that can reach out to unbelievable number of readers.

At Indian Cartoon Gallery, MG Road
Onu00a0 from May 6 to May 19, 11.30 am
Call 4175 8540