TRINITY CIRCLE:Ace cartoonist Satish Acharya has brought out Non-Striker, an unusual collection of cartoons on cricket. His cricket-themed works are now on display in Bengaluru.
A self-taught cartoonist hailing from Kundapura in coastal Karnataka, Satish (43) worked in Mumbai for 18 years before turning freelancer.
“I have published Non-Striker ahead of the World Cup tournament. Also, I wanted my cartoons produced over the last six years in one place,” he told City Express.
Satish had once considered a career in cricket, and then finance, before he made a career in cartooning. He is an MBA in finance.
“I am an avid cricket fan, I watch cricket matches, and controversies frequently break out in cricket these days,” he says.
The controversies provide grist for cartoonists, he says, but doing the funnies on cricket is not easy.
He called his book Non-Striker because the non-striker’s end is the best position to watch cricketing action.
“I have seen the game from a non-striker’s end. As cricket fans, we are all non-strikers. We are all critics, coaches, umpires and diehard fans from this position,” he explains.
Many artists and writers, including Girish Karnad and S G Vasudev, have visited his show at the Indian Institute of Cartoonists gallery on M G Road.
Satish believes a cartoon is much more than a drawing. “It is basically an idea. Today, with the advent of Photoshop and other tools, people think some software program draws the cartoons. Actually, digital tools only enhance the cartoon’s decorativeness,” he says.
Satish draws all his cartoons by hand, and uses some digital tools to colour them. “Only a human mind can generate ideas. No technology or software can do that,” he asserts.
Satish is among the handful of cartoonists who use social media extensively to reach out to their fans. “There is no distance in social media. You can reach out to everyone. Since I moved to Kundapur from Mumbai, I have used Facebook a lot,” he says.
After working for Mid Day for nine years, Satish decided to go solo in 2011. “Being independent means you have more freedom. You can choose your client and work on your own terms without any hindrance,” he says.
He admits some people are offended by cartoons. “They don’t like my cartoons and send me mails. It’s all a part of our job,” he says.
But he is aware Indian cartoonists don’t cross the ‘lakshman rekha.’ “Something like Charlie Hebdo cannot happen in India. We don’t cross the boundaries,” he says.
He advises aspiring cartoonists to focus on sketching, ideas, and attitude. “Ideas can’t come in an hour or a day. It’s a continuous process. What you read and observe gets into your work,” he says.
Many websites and print publications out there need cartoons, and job opportunities may not be so hard to come by, he reckons.
Satish adores legendary cartoonists R K Laxman and Mario Miranda. “Now, (Hemant) Morparia is a good cartoonist. Surendra is also good. In Kannada, I like P Mohamed’s style,” he says.
(Satish Acharya’s cricket cartoons are on display at the Indian Institute of Cartoonists, near Trinity Circle, M G Road, till February 14)