Thackeray, the cartoonist, felicitated

Shiv Sena chief Bal Thackeray will be felicitated with a lifetime achievement award this month for his contributions as a cartoonist.

The award will be given to him in Mumbai on April 29, at the Cartoon Festival of the only magazine of its kind, Cartoon Watch.

The magazine’s editor, Triambak Sharma, said that very few people knew that Thackeray was basically a cartoonist, and still dedicated to the art of the cartoon.

“We held a meeting with him and had a serious discussion about the art. He showed us his exclusive collection of cartoons, and expressed his concern about the dwindling number of dedicated cartoonists in the country,” said Sharma.

The next edition of Cartoon Watch will be centred on cartoons by Thackeray, and his caricatures drawn by different Indian cartoonists.

Cartoonists such as RK Laxman, Abid Surti, Ajit Ninan and Pran have been conferred the award by the magazine at its previous festivals.

Published for the past 16 years from Raipur, Chhattisgarh, Cartoon Watch has been included this year in the Limca Book of Records as the only bilingual cartoon magazine of the country.