Cartoonist Shekar passes away

Hyderabad: Veteran political cartoonist Shekar Kambalapally passed away here on Monday morning after a prolonged illness. He is survived by his wife and daughter. Hailing from Suryapet in Nalgonda district, Shekar completed 25 years of illustrious journey as a cartoonist only recently. Down with cancer for over a year, he had been working from home and sending his cartoons through mail to the Andhra Jyothy daily he has been working with for long.

A man with strong leftist roots, Shekar had association with People’s War Group, Praja Natya Mandali, PDSU and some other left wing groups which helped him understand the society and the struggles and lives of the underprivileged.

Shekar’s cartoons have been distinctly different and have a native Telugu flavor. He showed immense interest in Telugu literature and did M A (Literature) at Kakatiya University. “I had had the good fortune of having legends like Ketavarapu Ramkoti Sastry, Katyayani Vidmahe, Kovela bothers etc as my gurus. After reading some classics of Telugu literature, I turned to caricature the figures of familiar mythological, folk and social stories,” he had told The Hans India a few weeks before his death.

Shekar’s passion for cartoons had no bounds. Even joblessness would not stop him from pursuing this passion. To realise his dream, he shifted to Hyderabad. He organised his cartoon exhibitions in two hostel buildings of the Osmania University in his initial days and on one occasion Vinay Kumar, who later became the Editor of Prajashakti, happened to visit it. He was quite impressed with the line and offered Shekar a job in Prajashakti.

Shekar was a staunch follower of eminent cartoonist R K Lakshman. He studied not just the Lakshman rekha (line) but the way the celebrated cartoonist depicted political views in his toons. “I met him once and told him that I was his Ekalavya Shishya. He promptly retorted saying that he was not Dronacharya to take away my finger. That was Lakshman,” Shekar recalled.

Shekar preferred his cartoons and caricatures to be more thought-provoking rather than drawing instant laugh. “In fact, the very nature of political cartoons shall be thought-provoking. I love satire more than just a laughing material. You can see, ninety nine per cent of my cartoons have some degree of satire, mockery, sarcasm, comment whatever you may call. I never draw cartoons for the sake of just laughing. Cartoons are my breath, my life, my light and a source of inspiration for my life,” explained Shekar with a sense of ecstasy.

TRS chief K Chandrasekhar Rao and various journalist unions expressed their heart-felt condolences to the family members of Shekar.