HYDERABAD: The Hyderabad book fair paid homage to an artist whose cartoons are worth a thousand words. ‘Remembering Mario’ was organized at the People’s Plaza on Necklace Road on Monday evening to share and celebrate the contribution of Mario de Miranda to the art of illustration in the country. The boisterous frames of Mario which filled every pixel filled in for the artist who passed away on December 11 this year. For all those, who came to share their Mario-moments, the connection went back to the days of the Illustrated Weekly, which opened the doors to his vibrant snapshots for readers and inspired many to take up illustration and art as a career option.“My first brush with Mario was when I was 11-12 years old. I was in the 5th standard and bought a candy with a wrapper which could be used for tracing out his works from the Illustrated Weekly. My school text-books were filled with these impressions and my science teacher noticed it,” shared eminent illustrator MS Ramakrishna. Later in life when he met Mario in 1976, he was delighted to be recognized by him as ‘Hubby’, the title of his full-page cartoon.A documentary film on cartooning legends directed by Shankar Kumar or cartoonist Sanku as he is popularly known, was screened at the meet. It captured the essence of Mario’s inspiration, the bustling life of the then-Bombay and the idyllic frames of Goa.Readers too shared their experiences of coming across Mario’s distinct style and wit for the first time in the Illustrated Weekly. Hosted by Rampa, the event was attended by city’s well-known cartoonists Subhani Shaik, Sarasi, Bachi and Lepakshi Reddy among others.
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