Chandi Lahiri was not just a renowned cartoonist but a historian of the form and one of India’s most observant chroniclers of its post-independent life. In 1952, he had stepped into journalism with Daily Loksevak, and later joined Hindustan Standard and then Ananda Bazar Patrika as a cartoonist, where he worked till 1990. Through these years, Chandi’s work was like the weathercock of Bengal’s political and social life, each frame of his alive with sentience and humour. Lahiri, the quintessential Bengali cartoonist, was a critic of the follies and foibles of Bengali life, probing and questioning every aspect of middle-class Bengali existence through his inimitable images. Chandi’s unsparing brush found expression in his pocket cartoon column ‘Tirjak’ which had a long runtime at Anandabazar Patrika. The artist also illustrated for children’s books and freelanced for newspapers and publications. For readers outside Bengal, his column ‘Third Eye View’ in Hindustan Times was where Chandi revealed his talent. He also authored The History of Cartoons in India, a pioneering work of research. His collection of cartoons Chandi Looks Around and Visit India with Chandi are sources of perennial mirth and self-reflection of the middle class. “When India got freedom, two cartoonists, Shankar of Delhi and Piciel of Kolkata were producing their best. I have tried to follow in their footsteps and their impressions were my guiding force. Cartoons are good records of events and they tell untold stories”, wrote Chandi, in the foreword of his cartoon album Since Freedom (1994), where he uniquely chronicled the post-Independence years, from the early liberation pangs to the destruction of Babri Masjid and the arrival of the age of neoliberal consumerism. “I never wished to write history. I have simply interpreted the news as a cartoonist”, Lahiri had said. The beloved Chandi-da closed his cartoon shop forever at the age of 87, active till the very end.
