Keshav Shankar Pillai: The man behind ‘Ambedkar-Nehru cartoon’
The NCERT (National Council Of Educational Research And
Training) school textbook cartoon of Dr BR Ambedkar and Pandit
Jawahar Lal Nehru which created a furore in parliament was
sketched by renowned cartoonist Keshav Shankar Pillai, popularly
known as Shankar. Shankar sketched the said cartoon in the 1950s
while the Constitution of India was being framed. Shankar (31
July 1902-26 December 1989) was born in Kayamkulam, Kerala,
considered as the father of political cartooning in India,
founded the publishing house, Children’s Book Trust, in 1957. He
made number of cartoons for newspapers and magazine, in addition
with his magazine, Shankar’s Weekly. The government of India
honoured him with Padma Shri in 1956, Padma Bhushan in 1966 and
Padma Vibhushan in 1976. In his honour, the Government of India
released two postal stamps 1991. He is remembered for setting up
Children’s Book Trust established in 1957 and Shankar’s
International Dolls Museum in 19