Meet the deft hands which brought alive R K Laxman’s ‘ Common Man’
2 min read
Nikitha Hebsur
Mysuru: Mention the most celebrated cartoonist of the country R K Laxman, the ‘Common Man’ will pat come into mind.
Mysuru now has the privilege of having this ‘Common Man’ for permanent, albeit in sculpture. The iconic character of Laxman who portrayed the issues with a stroke of his brush with his creation ‘The Common Man’ for generations, is the new attraction at renovated Rail Museum in the city.
The man behind this is Arun Yogiraj a Mysuru based sculptor. A fifth generation sculptor, the deft hands of Arun has given shapes to many- from divine to personalities, through his art work.
Although an MBA graduate from University of Mysore, the innate love for ancestral occupation made Arun a full-time sculptor and his artworks can be found all across the city.
His recent life size sculpture of R K Laxman’s most popular- Common Man was commissioned by the South Western Railway, Mysuru division authorities at its museum.
‘The sculpture is made of fibre and is approximately five and a half feet tall. It took me about 15 days to finish the work. The character was first in line drawing that I had to convert into 3D drawing and this process took more time than anticipated. Although it was a challenging piece of art, I was very overwhelmed to sculpt on the request of the railway authorities” said Arun.
“Adding to it, the character chosen was also very dear to me, as I grew up reading many of those cartoon strips with- Common Man”, said Arun.
Arun has sculpted many such artworks across the city. The life size statue of 25th and last Maharaja of Mysuru Jayachamaraja Wadiyar at Hardinge circle, Sri Ramakrishna Paramahamsa statue at Ramakrishna circle, a 4D twenty feet tall pillar at the entrance of Sri Chamarajendra Zoological Gardens (Mysuru Zoo) and ‘Life is a Journey’ featuring six different characters at the city railway station to name a few, are all his creations.
Over the years, Arun has sculpted nearly 300 sculptures across the country. While his prominent works take a leap across cities, he still works to make Mysuru a better and a much beautifully sculpted city.
– Team Mysoorunews
Mysooru News
