Biography

- Manohar Malgaonkar

The Times Group was a venerable institution, with its own printing press and an office building which was a city landmark. Aside from its flagship daily, The Times of India which had a national circulation, it published at least three other dailies, the Maharashtra Times (Marathi), The Economic Times, The Evening News and the highly popular The Illustrated Weekly of India. Then there was Femina, a woman’s magazine and Filmfare a Bollywood favourite. Aside from The Times itself which had its own iconic cartoonist R K Laxman, Mario had a number of publications for which he could provide illustrations.

Mario jumped at the offer but has remained touchingly grateful to The Current and its editor, Karaka. More than fifty years later when Mario Miranda had already become known as one of his country’s foremost cartoonists, he described the most memorable moment of his life as: “When I got my start with The Current as its staff cartoonist.”

The Weekly published at least one short story every week, and Mario began to illustrate these stories with one, or at times two drawings. But very soon the other newspapers and magazines of the Group too, such as Femina, Filmfare, and The Economic Times, began to use his drawings.

The work that he had to do professionally did not leave him with much time or appetite for keeping his diaries too. He soon gave up keeping them altogether confining himself to just taking along a sketch pad and pens whenever he went out of his house.
Mario Miranda was in his mid-twenties. He was firmly launched on the career of his choice. He enjoyed the work. A new life was opening to him.