



Cartoonists have this rare and uncanny ability to look at Life from a different perspective altogether and infuse a little laughter and fun into the most serious of issues. And Mita Roy as an outstanding cartoonist – India very first lady to don the mantle – is no exception
They say a little humour can knock the wind out of the most serious situations. It gives people a chance to laugh unabashedly at the world – and at themselves. And this has always proven to be a more effective way for people to look at matters differently.
It was by a stroke of good luck that Mita and I got an opportunity to work together from 1985 for the next 7-8 years at The Pioneer, Lucknow.
At that time, I was entrusted with the task of upgrading the Pioneer’s Sunday magazine from 8 to 16 pages. Even though she was young and with little experience then, she showed remarkable aptitude, maturity and insight when asked to draw illustrations, logos, cartoons on a wide variety of subjects/topics for the magazine
Her skill and talent drew wide appreciation. Very soon she was drawing cartoons for the main newspaper as well. Together with her economy of line and strokes, Mita has always shown tremendous maturity far beyond her years in understanding national and international politics by giving it her own insightful twist.
Her cartoons have always earned her praise and admiration from all quarters. With just a few, simple strokes of her pen and brush, she creates a distinctive style of humour and magic. It requires a special bent of mind to reduce local, national and international events with just a few strokes into an image of strong visual impact with the distinctive stamp of her personality, along with its special brand of humour.
Apart from her consummate skills as a top-class cartoonist, Mita is also a gifted writer and columnist, writing stories about the environment and animals, both I English and Hindi.
I wish Mita good luck and loads of good fortune in all of her future endeavours – always.