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BOOK REVIEW: INDIAN CARTOONISTS ON TIBET (1950–2025)

Kamlesh Tripathi

    Indian Cartoonists on Tibet (1950–2025) is a compelling visual chronicle of Tibet’s long and painful journey, told not through conventional history but through the sharp, fearless ink of India’s most fearless and leading cartoonists.

    Spanning over seven decades, the book captures the evolving relationship between India and Tibet. It highlights moments of solidarity, silence, diplomatic and moral dilemma and the tragedy of a lost homeland. At its heart is His Holiness the XIV Dalai Lama, a spiritual leader in exile, a Nobel laureate and a global symbol of peace and compassion, whose life and legacy are reflected in these powerful illustrations. His ever smiling face has remained a remarkable expression of resilience despite the loss of his kingdom and homeland depicted grandly in the book. One can say so much about a man who kept smiling even after losing his kingdom? HH Dalai Lama’s early pictures will tell you that.

    The cartoons are far more than satire. They are acts of truth-telling. With wit and poignancy they reveal what headlines often miss: The heartbreak of displacement, the courage of resilience, the complexities of India-China relations, and the quiet strength of people who refuse to be forgotten. They also remind us that India not only lost a peaceful neighbour but also a serene Himalayan frontier.

    In a world where voices are often silenced, cartoonists become the storytellers of humanity, distilling complex realities into strokes that inform, provoke and inspire.

            The collection features 34 renowned Indian cartoonists as follows:

    Shankar, R.K. Laxman, Chandi, Ranga, Vijayan, Abu, Mario, Thackeray, Ninan, Puri, Kaak, Prriya Raj, Yesudasan, Varma, Nanda Soobben, Ravi Shankar, Ponnappa, Manjula, Morparia, Abe Gowda, Prakash Shetty, Mrityunjay, Unny, Jayanto, Shankar, Manjul, Sajith Kumar, Suku, Satish Acharya, Soumyadip Sinha, Narendra, Thommy, Krish and Eskay.

    The narration opens with an enlightened message from His Holiness the Dalai lama followed by a stimulating endorsement by Prof Samdhong Rinpoche.     The crisp foreword is by Tushar Gandhi, author and great-grandson of Mahatma Gandhi and Kasturba Gandhi. The all-encompassing preface is by French born author, researcher and Tibetologist, Claude Arpi, followed by reflections (We The People of India and Friends of Tibet!) by Medha Patkar, Social Activist and founder of Narmada Bachao Andolan. And then you have ‘Smile over Tears’ by Sethu Das, Founder and Friends of Tibet Foundation.

    Each cartoon (in all 50 plus) is accompanied by Arpi’s peppy commentary, placing the drawings within the historical and political context of Tibet, China and the complex Indo-China relationship.

    His Holiness the Dalai Lama reminds us that humour should not demean others but bring people together. The ability to laugh at oneself creates common ground and makes laughter wholesome.

    Prof. Samdhong Rinpoche calls the cartoonist a uniquely important communicator and praises the collection and commentary as excellent, noting the power of visual expression to transcend spoken language.

    Tushar Gandhi, sees the book as an engaging visual chronicle of India’s relationship with China. The early cartoons, particularly those addressing the Nehruvian era, offer direct and often unsettling criticism of diplomatic decisions. The book, he says, is also a mirror of changing political ideologies, public consciousness and India’s ethical engagement with the Tibetan cause.

    Claude Arpi describes the book as the story of the tumultuous years in the life of the Dalai Lama and the fate of Tibet. Despite the global recognition of the Dalai Lama as a man of peace, the older world order (Power, money, violence, etc.) still prevails and the fate of the Tibetan people is ignored. Claude cities Dalai Lama’s favourite quote, “If it can be remedied, there is no need to be unhappy. If it can’t be remedied, what is the use of being unhappy?”

    Medha Patkar, the founder of the Narmada Bachao Andolan, writes about, Tibet’s culture, surviving in exile and credits the Dalai Lama and his team for creating Dharamshala as a centre and symbol of the Tibetan freedom movement. She invokes the spirit of “We, the People of India and Friends of Tibet”, recalling the worldwide support for the Tibetan cause and urging continued solidarity with Tibetans.

    Says, Sethu Das, Founder of the Tibet Foundation: Friends of Tibet’s cartoon journey began with Mario Miranda (1926-2011), the celebrated cartoonist from Goa. As a steadfast supporter of the Tibetan cause, Mario served as an advisor for Friends of Tibet’s Festival of ‘Tibet 2000’ in Mumbai, inaugurated by the Dalai Lama himself. In one of our several conversations, His Holiness once asked me, “Why don’t you make your supporters laugh using cartoons instead of making them shed tears over photographs on Tibet?” It was this question that sparked the initial idea for Indian Cartoonists on Tibet.

    Published by The Alcove Publishers in association with Friends of Tibet Foundation, the book grew from a travelling exhibition into a powerful visual record. It is ultimately a tribute to art as resistance, memory and hope—and to the cartoonists who drew so that others could see.

               In these drawings, history smiles, protests, questions and sometimes grieves. And above all it remains the eternal smiling face of the Dalai Lama—a smile that says that even when a kingdom is lost, dignity, compassion and hope need not be.

(Kamlesh Tripathi is the son of the person who received HH Dalai Lama when he entered India in 1959)

Written and posted by Kamlesh Tripathi

Author, Poet, & Columnist

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