![]() The names of the contributors, after all these years, still slip off the tongue easily: Mort Drucker for his superb drawings in the movie spoofs (‘ The Oddfather’, ‘ Botch Casually and the Somedunce Kid’, ‘ Antenna on the Roof’), Al Jaffee on his fold-ins, Dave Berg for a wry look at the American way of life, Sergio Aragones and his marginals, ‘ Spy vs. “ What, me worry?” was his catch line and our slogan – he was telling us that the only way to understand the world was to look at it upside down. Neuman, with his gap-toothed grin, somewhat goofy but with quiet intelligence in the eyes, as if he was laughing at the absurdity of it all but still harboured hope. The children, in turn, loved MAD for its juvenilia and biting satire that spared nobody.Īlso read: As NYT Ends Daily Political Cartoons, Is the Writing on the Wall for the Art Form? It was not exactly trash – far from it, and looking at those issues now, one realises how intelligently put together it was – but it was certainly not edifying enough for adults who would have wanted their children to read more high-minded stuff. ![]() Many homes subscribed to Readers’ Digest and even perhaps National Geographic, but while these were worthy in their own way, a younger person craved for something more popular, even trashy. The voracious reader did not need to spend money to buy books – every neighbourhood had a ‘circulating library’ which stocked bestsellers, pulp crime novels and foreign magazines, which were expensive or simply not available. But books were a solitary pleasure, opening up a private universe to dive into. TV sets were expensive and everyone landed up uninvited at the home of the better-off neighbour who had acquired one. TV broadcasts started in Mumbai (then Bombay) though Delhi already enjoyed a few hours of programming. In that quite obviously pre-internet era, books were a lifeline for those interested in the world. (These are now called ‘graphic novels’ with the accompanying gravitas). Yet, childhood and adolescence were about simple pleasures, such as games, movies (with ice cream), books and the most wonderful of them all, comics. The political turmoil, the economic sluggishness and the social upheaval all loomed large and cast a shadow in the background, but at the same time, life was more innocent, with a lot of time for leisurely pursuits.Īdults talked about agitating students and political splits and there was no escaping food shortages and other economic hardships even for the salaried classes. Photo: Wikimedia Commonsįor a schoolboy growing up in urban India, the 1970s were a mixed bag. A postcard with the “me worry?” face that later inspired MAD magazine’s Alfred E.
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