Friday, April 08, 2016

Caricaturist’s dream / nightmare

Caricature - a picture, description, or imitation of a person in which certain striking characteristics are exaggerated in order to create a comic or grotesque effect.
The above is the meaning I would use in this post.
Indira Gandhi was caricatured by her pointed, “beaked” nose (“Kili Mookku” in Tamil). Karunanidhi, his dark glasses (over time the darkness seems to have been diluted – if only you could understand what I mean!). Lalu Prasad Yadav, hair in his ear lobes (yuck)! Michael Gorbachev had his large reddish mole on his head. …
Though the prospects are dimming (and there is an urgency in my posting this, before the prospects truly disappear), the caricature of The Donald, the leading candidate in the US primary election (the circus that it is) of the GOP has thus far been the blond frills not falling on his forehead. In all the cartoonish images what I see is something that defines the parasols that architects (like Le Corbusier) used in their buildings.


Yet, this does not do justice to the colorful character The Donald is. Here are my suggestions, sourced from a number of news sites on the Net.












(The space above to be filled up by readers)
OK, there can be an argument against having more than one caricature image for a single personality. To wit, the personality may have multiple personalities. Then, multiple caricatures are justified. This is the case with The Donald; would anyone argue?
The following are my suggestions for the caricaturist to use during the upcoming debates with Hillary Clinton.
The first photo – when he says, as he is wont to, “Look at the face” referring to Hillary as he did with, if I am not mistaken, Carly Fiorina (by the way, his face is nothing to Instagram!)
The second photo – The Donald abuses Mexicans and Pakistanis in the debate with Hillary (and this definitely will not be the face he wears when meeting with leaders of Mexico/Pakistan, to be sure) 
The third photo – the slant eyed pose, in meetings with Chinese/Japanese leaders.
The fourth photo – when the debate gets too hot and The Donald blurts out something about blood coming out of … (is he looking at the blood?)
Of course, as is evident, the ubiquitous parasol is the theme of all caricatures!
Raghuram Ekambaram



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