The veteran cartoonist, S. Gopalan, popularly known as Gopulu, who passed away recently at the age of 91, had a great sense of humour. When a friend came visiting him in hospital in 2002, to which he had been admitted after a paralytic stroke, he joked, “Maybe it was my obsession with strokes that led to my brush with a stroke.” The stroke left his right hand paralysed. But Gopulu was not the one to give up. He taught himself to draw with his left hand (he was 78 then) and became an ambidextrous artist.

Gopulu.

Born in the temple town of Tanjore in 1924, he studied at the Kumbakonam School of Art. In 1941, He met the legendary artist Mali of Ananda Vikatan, who commissioned a number of paintings by Gopulu for the magazine‘s Deepavali specials. He also used him as a freelance artist. Gopulu formally joined Ananda Vikatan as a cartoonist in 1948. Gopulu’s creativity encompassed jokes, cartoons and illustrations which were social, historical and mythological in nature. His series of silent jokes (cartoons without captions) appeared regularly in Ananda Vikatan from 1951 to 1968, delighting readers week after week.

As a humorous illustrator Gopulu worked on several popular serials in Ananda Vikatan, including Thillana Mohanambal and Washingtonil Thirumanam. He teamed with the legendary editor Devan of Ananda Vikatan to create the famous caricature of Sambu in Thuppariyum Sambu, the story of a bumbling detective penned by Devan and serialised in the magazine. It was later performed on stage by Stage Creations with ‘Kathadi’ Ramamurthy playing the role of Sambu. And still later it was telecast as a serial in Doordarshan.

A Gopulu contribution to a Tamil journal on the tradition of the half-yearly castor oil dose.

As a humorous critic, Gopulu also did political cartoons. But some of his cartoons hurt politicians who started complaining to the editor of Ananda Vikatan, which eventually led to his quitting the magazine and seek greener pastures. He chose to move into Advertising.

After a brief stint with Madras-based advertising agencies like Efficient Publicities and F D Stewart’s, he started his own advertising agency, Adwave Advertising P Ltd. in association with Mrs. Vimala, his erstwhile colleague at F D Stewart’s. He was to be actively involved in Advertising for more than three decades. However, he continued to do freelance illustration work for magazines. His full page cartoons and paintings were a regular feature in the Deepavali specials of some Tamil magazines.

As an advertising man, he designed logos for Sun TV and Kunkumam magazine. And, of course, the emblem of the little man with a briefcase in one hand for the Madras-based Shriram Chits was his creation and is still being used by the Shriram Group. His association with Shriram Group continued for over three decades.

One of his most memorable campaigns was a corporate campaign he did for Lakshmi Mills of Coimbatore. The series of advertisements in newspapers and magazines featured caricatures by him of heroes from our epics, like Mahabharata, Ramayana etc. Other notable campaigns he did were for Kali Mark beverages, Narasu‘s Coffee, Lakshmi Vilas Bank, Spic, Madras Cements (Ramco brand), etc.

Restricted by his talent for a specific type of humour and humorous drawings, his agency was also restricted to handling work only for Tamil Nadu-based advertisers.

It is significant to note that Adwave was the first advertising agency in Madras to have its own building in the city. Called Adwave House, it still houses the office of the agency now being run by a group of old staff members.

While Gopulu was not averse to the use of technology and devices by the young illustrators to draw cartoons and illustrations, he himself preferred using his hand to create his drawings till the end.

Among the many awards that Gopulu won during his long career was the Kalaimamani Award by the Government of Tamil Nadu in 1991 and the lifetime achievement award in 2001 from the Bangalore-based Indian Institute of Cartoonists.

But the one award he cherished the most was the Distinguished Service Award that Advertising Club, Madras, conferred on him during its Golden Jubilee celebrations in 2006. This I learnt when I met him at a function held last year to honour him.

He told me, while we chatted, “While I have got several awards for my drawing abilities I was touched by the gesture of the Advertising Club, Madras, to recognise me for my long association with the advertising business.” I was happy to hear this from Gopulu because, as the Chairman of the Golden Jubilee Celebrations Committee of the Club, I had a role to play in including his name in the list of awardees.

At the end of the meeting, he asked me to drop in his house for a chat sometime. My regret is that even before I could fulfil my promise to him, he passed away.

Gopulu for all his talent as a cartoonist, for all the name and fame he achieved, remained till the end a humble, jovial and friendly person. He was humility personified. The world of art and artists and advertising will surely miss him.