Eminent cartoonist Sudhir Tailang succumbed to brain cancer on Saturday after battling it for almost two years.
Eminent cartoonist Sudhir Tailang succumbed to brain cancer on Saturday after battling it for almost two years. Tailang, who was associated with The Asian Age and Deccan Chronicle, would have turned 56 on February 26. Survived by his wife and daughter, Tailang — who captured the ups and downs as well as wit and humour of a nation’s socio-political milieu — had been under treatment for brain cancer since 2014 and breathed his last at his East Delhi residence in Mayur Vihar.
The cartoonist, who had a long association with a number of newspapers, was admitted to Medanta Medicity Hospital in Gurgaon in December but was brought home around a month ago. Tailang was awarded a Padma Shri in 2004.
As a cartoonist, many politicians, including Indira Gandhi, Rajiv Gandhi, Atal Behari Vajpayee, P.V. Narasimha Rao, Manmohan Singh and Narendra Modi, bore the brunt of his brush.
“He was fighting brain cancer since 2014 very bravely. However, after last Diwali, he started keeping unwell and was admitted to Medanta hospital. We brought him home in mid-January when the doctors said there is nothing more they could do. He passed away at 1 pm today,” said Aditi, Tailang’s daughter.
Tailang, who was born in Rajasthan’s Bikaner on February 26, 1960, had his first cartoon published in a newspaper at the age of 10 in 1970. It was in 1982, when he got his first major break in Illustrated Weekly of India, Mumbai.
As a child, Tailang was fascinated by comics such as Tintin, Phantom and Blondie, which is known to have encouraged him to go for drawing cartoons. He had his first cartoon published in a newspaper at the age of 10 in 1970. In 1983, he joined the NavBharat Times in Delhi.
For several years he was with HT and also worked for the Indian Express and ToI. He was with the The Asian Age and Deccan Chronicle as Associate Editor and Political Cartoonist when he died.
In 2009, he had come out with a book of cartoons titled No, Prime Minister, which carried cartoons on Manmohan Singh drawn during first stint of his prime ministership.
Congress President Sonia Gandhi condoled the passing away of noted political cartoonist. “Saddened at his untimely death, Ms Gandhi said that his depiction of contemporary events through cartoons and fearless commitment to the right to artistic expression will be forever remembered,” the AICC tweeted.
Former Jammu and Kashmir CM Omar Abdullah also expressed grief over the passing away of Tailang. “Very sorry to hear about cartoonist Sudhir Tailang. Was a big fan of his tongue-in cheek-humour. May he rest in peace,” he tweeted.
