Sir,

This has reference to ‘Abracadabra’ by KBG in SOM  dated Feb. 13, 2017.  I am not a cartoonist nor am I good at drawing. Hence I thought I would write about a Common Man of India-2017, in words which may interest a few.

The Common Man of 2017 has a disappointed face and at the same time wears a look of wonder as to what is happening in India. He wonders why people have lost or losing gradually all cultured ways of living and hence appear strange.

He wears colourful dress which he can afford to buy from pavement sellers. He no longer wears torn clothes and coats as drawn by R. K. Laxman. Instead of a coat, he wears a jerkin which helps him to cover his head and face partially. Also he wears colourful shoes that are not damaged but full of dust.

In one hand, he has a number of caste certificates which he can produce as and when required by officials who grant benefits depending on the caste. He has certificates of different castes.

In the other hand, he has a number of cards required to identify himself in Government offices. They are all identity cards, but different offices require different types of identity cards. He also has to produce copies of his identity cards in banks. He has to deposit whatever little money he has got in the banks. Then he has to stand in queue to withdraw money. Otherwise he has to be at the mercy of shop owners who may not agree for e-transactions for which he has to burden his memory with numbers and passwords.

In one of the several pockets in his jerkin are currency notes peeping out to give an indication that he is prepared to give some money for  getting his work done in Govt. offices and other semi-government offices.

In an another pocket, is a peeping mobile phone quite old enough so that no one will snatch it away.

Sometimes the common man talks to himself, rehearsing what to say when he has to approach others for favours. It may be possible to see common man live in a mobile phone.

– Dr. M.C. Subba Ramu, Siddarthanagar, 20.2.2017