Evolving from black and white to colourful hand-drawn figures, cartoons can never lose their charm. There are numerous techniques and styles cartoonists use in order to showcase their talent and vast creativity, and also to tell stories, draw our attention to certain issues and convey a message to the audience.
Cartoons are also used by political parties during election campaigns, and in recent years, they have been making use of social media to post cartoons on their Facebook pages, Twitter handles and WhatsApp groups which are shared by millions.
However, to take our attention away from the hoopla of political campaigning, CartoonDol, a group of cartoonists in Kolkata, are painting the walls of the city to spread social message, highlight the common man’s problems, and keep alive the art form.
Professor and economist Dr Subhendu Dasgupta, along with seven cartoonists, formed the group in 2014. The late Chandi Lahiri, eminent cartoonist and journalist, was also part of the group. The other members included cartoonists Uday Deb, Debasish Deb, Amal Chakraborty, Anup Roy, Rituparno Basu and Upal Sengupta.
“The group started with seven members and right now, there are 17,” says Uday adding, “Most political parties and leaders use walls for election campaigning purpose, so why can’t the common people use those walls for drawing cartoons and making an impact? This is how the idea of making cartoons on the walls of Kolkata came to our mind. The political infrastructure and situation has changed a lot over the last 10 years. So we thought of projecting the common man’s problems and raise awareness about important issues. We won’t be able to give speeches like politicians but we can draw cartoons and teach people a new way of thinking.”
However, the Election Commission, has given instructions that all drawings and cartoons must be removed during the time of voting.
“The main motive of all political parties is to keep us safe and to work for our development but if development is the goal of all parties, then why is there so much internal and external conflict and trolling on social media? Television, along with social media, is misguiding the citizens by giving fake news and incorrect facts. Citizens are getting confused about their choices and whom to elect as their leader,” says Uday.
For their cartoons, CartoonDol has to choose non-political colours which restricts their palette. “Every political party has their party colour, for example, Bharatiya Janata Party has saffron, Trinamool Congress has green, so it becomes difficult for us to choose. However, we pick colours like lemon yellow to keep it neutral, and it is also the colour of our CartoonDol. Our tagline is ‘Amra Bhalor Dol’, which means ‘We are a team of good people’,” explains Uday.
People in the neighbourhood where they draw cartoons and even passers-by are very cooperative and appreciative of their work. We try to do something different every time. We have received a huge response from people all over the city, so that says a lot about our work,” he says.
Twenty-two-year-old Antara Mukherjee, who works as a journalist with a reputed Bengali daily, is also a member of the group. “I joined a few days back and I am enjoying here as through cartoons we can reach many people and give them a different point of view. We got huge support from the people, irrespective of caste and religion,” says she.
