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At a time
when political parties find it hard to rule the country for
a 5-year term, creating humour for the past 10 years was an
uphill task. But despite the odds, cartoonist
Triambak Sharma made it with sheer
determination and today Cartoon Watch the only monthly
political cartoon magazine has successfully entered the
Elventh year.
After the closure of
the renowned Shankar's Weekly, Triambak Sharma filled
the much-awaited gap in 1996 when he started Cartoon
Watch. This attempt was acknowledged by the likes of
noted cartoonists Mario Miranda (Goa) and Abid Surti
(Mumbai) as the lone cartoon centric magazine, he
proudly says.
Sharma confesses profusely that the seven long year has never been
a bed of roses but one that had uncertainty and doubts lurking month after
month during the publication. But the undeterred Sharma had this steel studded
determination that saw him tide away the rough terrain and bring out every edition
of the magazine. Year after year he went on improvising the content and cartoon
stuff in the magazine, which put to rest the capabilities of the magazine in creating
humour.
In this new age of hi-fi animation
techniques and computer based cartoon drawing, what is
done by hand in the traditional way is indeed
praiseworthy. Knitting together the loose ends of the
political system and the cultural diversities in the
form of caricatures, the aim of Cartoon Watch is
to create healthy laughter stuff.
Soon his labour and sweat paved
the way for him, and he was invited for the first ever-Indian Cartoon Festival-2000 held at
Hyderabad. At the Festival his contributions were praised and awarded.
Sharma in cooperation with the
state government organised a three-day conclave of
cartoonists in October 2001 where the chief minister
Ajit Jogi inaugurated the function by drawing a cartoon
himself. As many as 30 cartoonists from across the
country gathered at the conclave and applauded the works
done by the magazine. Speaking to the founder editor of
the magazine Mrityunjay Sharma, said that the magazine
is a platform for young cartoonists to exhibit their
talents and emerge victor in this highly creative field
of art. Sharma Senior added that already cartoonists
from Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Kerala,
Bihar, Orissa, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh and home
state of Chhattisgarh are contributing their wittiest
cartoons. He summed up saying that the magazine has
recharged the veteran cartoonists like 78-year-old
Brijmohan Lal Wahi and 72-year-old Shankar Ramachandra
Tailang, which is no mean achievement.
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