THE UNFORGETTABLE MARIO MIRANDA

                                              

A Visit to Mario Miranda's Gallery in Calangute Goa.                                         

               ( Outside Mario Miranda Gallery )

In my youth, I would see cartoons of R K Laxman, Shankar( K Shankar Pillai )  and Mario Miranda ( 1926-2011). I could easily relate to Mario's observations, humour and caricaturing. Mario was born in 1926 in Daman, then a Portuguese enclave, in a Goan Roman Catholic family of Saraswat Brahmin ( Sardesai ) ancestry . His family was part of the local aristocracy as senior government officials and the senior Miranda was the Administrator of Daman. Consequently, the young lad imbibed the best of two cultures - that of distant Portugal and the Indigenous Goan ethos and this rare multi-cultural empathy is more than evident in his later work. Mario didn't formally study Art but began his career as a cartoonist for the Times of India Group in 1953. Later, he moved into illustration and fine art. A friend of  Shyam Benegal, Gopi Gajwani, Satish Gujral, Manohar Malgaonkar, Dom Mores, Vinod Mehta, Gerard da Cunha,  Marcellus Baptista, Charles  Correa, Behram Contractor, Khushwant Singh and many more, his name and fame spread from Kashmir to Kerela after Khushwant Singh brought him to The    Illustrated Weekly of India that he edited. Although he drew cartoons based on urban life, his creative output always remained the essence of Goan life with its vibrant images of markets, beaches, and everybody's busy and hectic life.

                                      

Mario's warm-hearted, often comic drawings of local characters and culture helped to popularise his native state, both across India and overseas. Besides cartooning, Mario has done murals on various buildings in Goa and other parts of the country, taking to painting, as he did, in the later years of life.

The Mario Gallery and Museum in Calangute and some other places in Goa sell and display his work. His house in the quiet village of Loutolim in South Goa is also a museum. It is roughly 10 kilometres from Margao and about 35 kilometres from Panaji. Mario's family house mirrors the traditional surroundings of Mario Miranda’s art. From the  Calangute gallery, one can buy prints of his work printed bags, wall plates,  coasters, prints on crockery, prints on tiles, prints on T-shirts and other items with prints of his work.  This is a family-managed business. A lesson for some artists to broaden their reach. Art can be made affordable and transferred to the middle class in this way as well.I bought some books of Mario, some prints and clicked photographs after due permission from the gallery manager. From his Paris drawings,   I could easily relate to Mario's sketches of Cafe de Flore, Shakespeare And Co, Pompidou Centre and Seine River ferries, the spots/ places that were visited by me in 2023. I could also relate to his wonderful sketches of Manhattan,  New York.

                                       

                                          

Among his most admired sketches,  one can include;  Man at the Corner, A Bachelor Apartment, Mangeshi Temple, The Village Bus, Strange Heaviness, and 'Street In Fountainhas'. Mario's cartoons like Miss Fonseca(A modern woman who works in an advertising agency), Bundaldass   (A minister) , Rajani Nimbupani (A Bollywood star)and Khushwant Singh Drinking became immensely popular after he drew them. He also authored books like Goa with Love, A Little World of Humour, Sketch Book and Germany in Wintertime. Besides his books, he illustrated books penned by  Dom Moraes ("A Journey to Goa"), Manohar Malgaonkar ("Inside Goa"), Mario Cabral de Sa ("Legends of Goa"), children's books authored by Uma Anand like "Dul-Dul", "The Magic Clay Horse", "The Long-tailed Langoor" and "The Adventures of Pilla the Pup".

                                      

In south Mumbai's famous Mondegar Cafe, Mario was commissioned to paint murals which adorn the cafe's walls even today. His calendars, year-planners for various publications, private and government organisations, illustrated diaries and books continue to be treasured possessions.

                                       

Though the artists’ community did not consider Mario to be one of them, it did not affect his creative urges, which found expressions in colour, pen-and-ink and charcoal. His range of styles, and command over different mediums, made him a bit of an enigma. Some believe, that though Mario gained huge popularity during his lifetime, his true genius is yet to be recognised.

An avid traveller and music lover, Mario married an artist, Habiba Hyderi. The couple has two sons: Rahul, a hairstylist in New York, and Rishad, a cartoonist based in Goa.

Like most cartoonists, Mario de Miranda appeared to be a serious, shy, no-nonsense but soft-spoken person to a first-time acquaintance but gradually warmed up. Among Mario's admirers, one can include JRD Tata, Pandit  Nehru, Indira Gandhi, Atal Bihari Vajpayee and IK Gujral. He travelled across continents. Mario was bestowed with several honours, including the Padma Shri, the Padma Bhushan and the Lifetime Achievement Award from the All India Cartoonist’s Association. He received a posthumous Padma Vibhushan in 2012, a few months after he passed away at the age of 85, he died peacefully in sleep. As per his wish, the mortal remains of Mario Miranda were consigned to the flames at a  Hindu crematorium at Pajifond in Margao in south Goa. Like her husband Mario, Habiba Miranda had also wished to be cremated. 

( Avtar Mota)

PS

Holidaying in Goa since the 15th of January 2025.

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