@90, strokes of humour endear him to one and all

KOCHI: Renowned cartoonist and satirist S Sukumaran Potti, popularly known as Sukumar, will turn 90 on Saturday. The celebrations will take place on his star (Uthram) birthday which falls on July 6 since ‘Navathi’ is considered an auspicious occasion according to the Hindu tradition.

 Sukumar was born on July 9, 1932, to Attingal Subrayan Potti and Krishnammal. Since childhood, he had a keen interest in drawing. In fact, there is an interesting story behind his first drawing. The very first cartoon he drew was of his paternal uncle. When his father showed it to his brother, he got so angry that he stopped talking to his family for five years. 

“Most of my family members have big noses and when achan (father) drew his valyachan (uncle) with a large protruding nose in a comic way, he got angry,” says Sukumar’s daughter Suma. Sukumar’s first cartoon was published when he was 16 and that is when he understood the power of cartoons. He learnt the art, like ‘Ekalavyan’, from K S Pillai by following and repeating the latter’s artworks.

After completing his higher education at University College, Thrivunanthapuram, he joined the police department. Sukumar says his job was “CID work”, which involved writing “top-secret reports” for the chief minister’s office. “C Achutha Menon and K Karunakaran were quite fond of me,” he recalls. “Those days, politicians appreciated satirical barbs. They weren’t as touchy as the ones we see now.” 

He started his career as a cartoonist in Kerala Kaumudi and later devoted himself to becoming a full-fledged satirist and writer. Sukumar has written 52 books so far, the latest being ‘Sukruthi’ (2019). He has also served as the president of Narma Kairali and the chairman of Kerala Cartoon Academy. 

According to Sukumar, humour is an art. “Not everyone has a sense of humour. Humour had always been there in my intellect. All I had to do was to let it out,” he says. “However, it is important to understand that there is a lot of preparation behind this spontaneity.”  

For many decades, Sukumar has made people laugh and ponder through his cartoons, writings and speeches. He has won several awards including the Kerala Sahitya Academy Award in 1996 for his work ‘Vayil Vannathu Kothakku Pattu’ which includes his opinions about the poetic trends of the 1960s. 
Besides this, he also got into the Guinness Book of Records in 2012 for presenting his jokes tirelessly for almost 12 hours straight.

However, the satirist struck a poignant note as we wrapped up the interview. “The ink in my pen has dried up,” he says. “I think it’s time I stopped writing. It feels like the sense of humour is slowly leaving me. If it comes back, I will definitely finish the works I have started.”

It is important for people to turn back and look at their lives, with gratitude, he adds. “My message is that being a professional comes second. Being a good human being is paramount,” says Sukumar, who currently resides with Suma in Kochi.