| The Common Man | |
|---|---|
 The Common Man in a tribute to R. K. Laxman by Shekhar Gurera | |
| Publication information | |
| Publisher | The Times of India |
| First appearance | You Said It (1951) |
| Created by | R. K. Laxman |
| In-story information | |
| Species | Human |
| Place of origin | India |
The Common Man is a cartoon character created by Indian author and cartoonist R. K. Laxman. For over a half of a century, the Common Man has represented the hopes, aspirations, troubles and perhaps even foibles of the average Indian, through a daily comic strip, You Said It in The Times of India. The comic was started in 1951.[1]
When Laxman began to draw cartoons in The Times of India, he attempted to represent different states and cultures in India. In the rush to meet deadlines, he began to draw fewer and fewer background characters, until finally he found only one remaining—the now-familiar Common Man. The Common Man generally acts as a silent witness to all the action in the comic. According to anthropologist Ritu Gairola Khanduri, "Clad in a dhoti and a plaid jacket, the puzzled Common Man is no dupe: his sharp observations miss no detail of the political circus."[2]
