Kutty Family Tree

Personal Details

• 🎂 Date of Birth
• 4 September 1921
• 📍 Place of Birth
• Ottapalam, Kerala, India
• 👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Family
• Father: Kayarat Narayana Menon
• Mother: Kottuthodi Lakshmi Amma
• Spouse: Gouri
• Children: Narayanan, Maya

Early Career

• 🌱 Early Life and Education
• Kutty was born in Ottapalam, Kerala.
• He completed his schooling in Ottapalam and later pursued studies at Malabar Christian College, Kozhikode.
• His artistic talent was noticed early on by the renowned Malayalam satirist Professor M. R. Nair (Sanjayan), who gave Kutty his first break by publishing his cartoon in the Malayalam humor magazine Viswaroopam in 1940.

Career Journey

• 🎨 Discovery and Training under Shankar
• Kutty’s career took a significant turn when Rao Sahib V. P. Menon, a relative of his father and a senior official in the British Imperial Secretariat, introduced him to the legendary cartoonist Shankar in New Delhi. Shankar, who was then sketching cartoons for Hindustan Times, trained Kutty for six months. During this period, Shankar recommended Kutty to Jawaharlal Nehru, who was searching for a cartoonist for his newly launched newspaper, National Herald. On 15 January 1941, Kutty’s first cartoon appeared in National Herald, marking the beginning of his professional journey.
• ⚡ Struggles During Wartime and Early Career
• When the British government shut down National Herald in 1942 following the Quit India Movement, Kutty faced uncertainty. He moved to Madras (Chennai) and worked for the Madras War Review (1943–1945). Later, he joined The Free Press Journal in Mumbai (1945–1946). In 1946, on Shankar’s advice, he relocated to New Delhi to contribute to various publications. Over the next few years, he worked for National Call, Amar Bharat (1947–48), and also contributed to Shankar’s Weekly (from 1948), collaborating with great cartoonists such as Abu Abraham and O. V. Vijayan. Between 1948 and 1951, he was associated with the Indian News Chronicle.
• 📰 Peak Career with Ananda Bazar Group
• In 1951, Kutty joined the Ananda Bazar Group of Calcutta (now Kolkata). This became the most productive phase of his career. His cartoons appeared in major publications such as: Hindustan Standard (English daily, 1951–1986), Ananda Bazar Patrika (Bengali daily, 1975–1986), Desh (Bengali literary weekly)
• His cartoons were also syndicated in Hindustan Times (1961–1962) and The Indian Express (1962–1969). Later, from 1987 to 1997, he worked for the Bengali daily Aaj Kaal and was briefly associated with Parivarthan (1986–87).
• Despite not knowing Bengali, Kutty excelled in Bengal’s media world. His simple, direct, and sharp visual style transcended language barriers. He usually wrote captions in English, which were later translated into Bengali, making his work widely accessible.
• ✍️ Later Years and Memoirs
• Kutty officially retired in 1997 and moved to Madison, Wisconsin, U.S.. In 2005, rumors of his death circulated in Kolkata, but he disproved them with a fresh cartoon published in Aaj Kaal. This rekindled admiration from his fans, though his failing eyesight soon limited his work.
• In 2009, he published his memoir Years of Laughter: Reminiscences of a Cartoonist, which captured his rich experiences as one of India’s pioneering political cartoonists.