Cartoonist with a cause

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: A cartoon exhibition showcasing the socio-economic issues discussed during the last Lok Sabha elections, organised by A Satheesh, a cartoonist and former SBI employee, at the Museum auditorium concluded on Thursday. 

The caricatures represented political leaders belonging to all the three major coalitions including the National Democratic Alliance (NDA), Left Democratic Front (LDF) and United Democratic Front (UDF).  While some frames depicted candidates jostling over election tickets, others portrayed false election promises politicians give to get votes. A particularly striking one showed a political leader being felicitated with a garland made of vegetables. The exhibition also featured caricatures of 60 political candidates who contested the last state elections. Rahul Gandhi, Kummanam Rajasekharan, Shashi Tharoor, Suresh Gopi and Innocent were some of the eye-catching caricatures on display.

Satheesh who sketched most of the cartoons when the election was underway brought his astute political acumen to his craft. His journey as a caricaturist coincided with his stint as an SBI employee. 
“My initial caricatures highlighted issues in the banking sector. I used to draw cartoons for banking journals and advertisements that promoted various schemes of SBI. My cartoons have been part of promotional campaigns for the SBI branch I worked at,” he says. Apart from sketching, Satheesh was also an actor, theatre artist and a scriptwriter. 

“Acting is my hobby, I have tried my hand at mono acting and have staged plays scripted by me”. Satheesh’s plans for the future include publishing a book of cartoons related to the recently concluded Lok Sabha elections. “I am planning to include details of all candidates. It can act as a reference book for the next elections. I have already started working on it. It will be released within three months,” says Satheesh who is in the process of sketching twenty more cartoons that will be added to the collection.
Satheesh is a recipient of the 2019 Lalit Kala Akademi award. The other notable awards won by him include SBTSRC Millennium award (2000) and Hindustan Times National Award. In 2018 he was honoured by the SBI chairman Rajaneesh Kumar for his cartoons on the SBI merger.