When a Common Man gave back to his Creator

A photo of Laxman at the wheel of his beloved car; (right) fan Ballal Atre and Usha Laxman, chairperson of the R K Laxman Foundation, with the late cartoonist’s former car

Legendary late cartoonist R K Laxman, whose creation ‘The Common Man' cast a keen eye on daily goings-on and political shenanigans with gentle wit and wisdom, has a museum dedicated to his life and work at Balewadi in Pune.

Laxman passed away in 2015. A new and delightful addition rolled into the space on Dussehra (Tuesday) to go with the treasure trove of Laxman memorabilia. Ballal Atre a Laxman fan, donated his black Ambassador, formerly R K Laxman's car, to the museum. Atre drove the car from his Thane residence to the R K Laxman Museum in Balewadi on Dussehra day.

Atre said, "I bought this black Ambassador from an Andheri dealer in January 2007. I was crazy about Enfield Bullet bikes and Ambassador cars. I knew that this was R K Laxmanji's car. First, I loved Ambassadors and secondly, it had been none other than the iconic cartoonist's car. I was so keen to have it. I went to the dealership and bought the black Ambassador at the quoted price."

R K Laxman's political cartoons on display at the museum

"The car was given to the cartoonist by his employer. After some years, it was auctioned and replaced by a new, black Ambassador. That is probably how it landed up at a dealer," explained Usha.

After that buy, Atre, 57, said, "I took it to my friend's workshop in Girgaon and we worked on oiling etc. Just a little that was needed to get the car in mint condition. I then took it to my home."

Since then, the bank employee set to retire next year has been driving the car. "I am the quintessential Laxman Common Man," he laughed.

Ballal Atre

He said, "I could feel the spirit of Laxmanji when I sat in the driver's seat. I had grown up on the Common Man cartoons. When I was little, my grandfather would actually explain the meaning of some of them," he laughed.

Atre added, "I say the simple, solid Ambassador as a car mirrored R K Laxmanji's work: direct and yet packing a punch."

Usha Laxman laughed as she said, "I guess that sums it up nicely." Usha is the chairperson of the R K Laxman Foundation which also manages the museum. She explained, "I had put up on the Facebook page that we were looking for memorabilia for the museum. Soon after I was alerted by a message stating words to the effect: ‘Have sir's car'. That is how we got in touch with Atre, and this entire story unfolded. On Dussehra, he actually drove from Thane to Pune and donated the car. We were so touched. It has pride of place in the museum."

Loved driving

Usha, who is R K Laxman's daughter-in-law, added, "Dad [R K Laxman] loved black Ambassadors. Not white, which was the more common colour; it was always black for him." He had a few black Ambassadors in his lifetime. She also recalled that, "Dad always drove the car himself, till of course, he got a stroke in 2003 and could not drive after that. Before, he would not employ a driver. He loved driving. We, as a family, have also travelled all the way to Mysore in Dad's black Ambassador with him at the wheel!"

Usha also remembered the Ambassador once breaking down on the road between Mumbai and Pune. "I recall dad giving the car keys to a roadside mechanic and telling him: my family and I are taking a taxi home, you repair the car and bring it to my place. That is how trusting he was of people. His trenchant cartoons may make you think he was cynical but he always told us that we must trust people," said Usha.

Ambi cool

Atre said, "The black Ambassador is ‘chak-a-chak' [shiny] and well-maintained. I just had a problem with parking; I had to park it outside of my building on the road because of the space crunch. I found it challenging to manoeuvre out of the little lane in which it was parked since it is a big car. Then, a couple of months ago, I saw an ‘ad' on social media for the museum. I decided to donate the car, this is how this has come about."

Many collectors have a passion; others are at times driven by commerce, buying up a famous person's memorabilia hoping for some good returns later. Atre's though was a donation. "I wanted nothing for the car. Just the elation on the faces of those who saw me come into view first with the car was my reward. I do not have the vocabulary to describe the joy they felt."

Usha acknowledged too that Atre had donated the car, "that was really splendid and he brought it himself. A true-blue fan," she ended.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated the R K Laxman Museum on March 6, 2022. It tells the story of the iconic illustrator, highlighting the journey of his career with sketches, cartoons and caricatures.

2007
Year Atre bought Ambassador from dealer