Acclaimed cartoonists, RK Laxman and Bal Thackeray, to meet in Pune

They had a common entry to the world of cartooning, and while one became a legend in the field, the other moved to make a name in politics. Thursday is the day when RK Laxman and Bal Thackeray are set to come face to face.

Thackeray will meet Laxman at the latter's residence in Pune in the afternoon, a family member said.

Both Thackeray, 86, and Laxman, 90, started their careers with Mumbai’s daily, the Free Press Journal, way back in the 1950s.

“Yesterday, we got a call from Uddhav Thackeray that the family wanted to meet my husband. They are going to meet him in Pune later this afternoon,” Laxman’s wife Kamala told IANS.

There is no fixed agenda for the meeting and it is described as a "courtesy call" by the Thackerays on the Laxmans.

She said though Laxman is keeping okay “given the circumstances”, Thursday morning he developed a bout of cough.

Kamala Laxman said besides Shiv Sena chief Bal Thackeray, his son Uddhav and grandson Aditya and other family members would also come to meet the legendary cartoonist, who created the famed Common Man.

Incidentally, starting next Monday (November 28), a new television serial, RK Laxman Ki Duniya will be launched on SAB TV.

Directed by JD Majethia, veteran actor, writer and director in the Hindi and Gujarati film industries, the serial is based on Laxman’s works and the travails of the Common Man over the past six decades. Generations of Indians have grown up on these, as portrayed by Laxman through his stinging comment and subtle wit.

Pune police have made elaborate security arrangements for the Thackeray family visit to the city.