A slice of life inside Ajit Ninan’s world

He was unflappable, except on this particular occasion. He was a bit lost with his eyes fixed on the latest full-page cartoon he was creating for the upcoming issue of the India Today magazine. The cartoon featured the shenanigans of an Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister in the early 2000s. Then, quite unexpectedly, he began whistling.

With a grin, he said, “Hawkins ki seeti baj gayee; the cartoon will be ready in two minutes.” He strolled over to his cubicle to add the finishing touches to yet another masterpiece.

Later in the day, he explained the conflict: “My cartoons have to appeal to the Doon School types as much as to the ‘Goon School’ types.”

“Are you talking about our two editors?”

“I didn’t say that,” he said with a broad and mischievous smile. This was just an hour in the life of Ajit Ninan.

Ninan, whose work spanned five decades, passed away at his Mysuru residence in the early hours of September 8. He was 68. His brain was always brimming with cartoon ideas, waiting to rain down on you with just a gentle tap. I was one of the lucky ones to have been at the receiving end of his outburst of ideas.

Unlike many cartoonists whose humour is often restricted to their work, Ninan was a walking talking humour machine.The standout feature of his work was “silent, entertaining illustrations”.

Since his cartoons would go in multiple language editions of India Today, his messaging had to be almost 100 per cent visual with little or no text. With time, this became his biggest strength. A JJ College of Arts professor told his students in the 1990s that Ninan understands human brains better than neurosurgeons.

His work for the India Today Group spanned 30 years, ranging from ‘Detective Moochwala’ in the children’s magazine Target, to conceptualisation of animated politoons, So Sorry. He created thousands of cartoons and illustrations for publications across the group.

Here, we present some of his cartoons that provide a small glimpse of his special talent.

Some of his most popular works:

BJP’s Ram Mandir versus Congress 'Ma'm Mandir':

The Congress party’s Gandhi-centric existence would regale Ninan and he let it show in his work.

Musharraf’s mischiefs:

He had special affection for Pakistani dictator Pervez Musharraf, who was master of pretending to work for peace, while working on exactly the opposite.

Political blackmails:

NDA one was a coalition of over 20 parties. Managing it was the then Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee's perpetual headache. If that wasn’t enough, he also had to battle saffron outfits like VHP and RSS.

Popularity illusion:

This one cartoon of Ninan captured NDA-1’s fall and UPA’s eventual rise in 2003 better than many articles and opinions on the subject did. He also foresaw a coming ‘NDA vs DNA’ debate ahead of the times.

Commoners’ cartoonist:

Although Ninan enjoyed political cartooning, his heart was in drawing illustrations that spoke of the common persons' woes. Here’s a sample of his work highlighting income taxpayers’ pains.

(Rohit Saran is Editorial Advisor to the India Today Group.)