Mario Miranda

• Name — Mario Miranda • Birth Name — Mário João Carlos do Rosário de Brito Miranda • Born — 2 May 1926 • Birthplace — Damão, Portuguese India • Died — 11 December 2011 • Place of death — Loutolim, Goa, India • Education — * St Joseph's Boys' High School • St. Xavier's College (B.A.) • Awards — * Padma Shri (1988) • Padma Bhushan (2002) • Padma Vibhushan (2012) • Known for — Cartoonist for The Illustrated Weekly of India • Occupation — * Cartoonist • painter • Spouse — Habiba Hyderi de Miranda • Family — Tyabji–Hydari family (through wife) • Website — mariodemiranda.com • Children — 2

Mário João Carlos do Rosário de Brito Miranda was born on 2 May 1926, in Damão, Portuguese India, to Goan Catholic parents. At an early age, he would draw caricatures and sketch on the walls of his home, until his mother brought him a blank book. He then began making personalised postcards for his friends, charging them a token amount, in the 1930s and 1940s. He even started getting into trouble at school, for sketching Catholic priests. Miranda's early cartoons presented vignettes of Goan village life, a theme he is best known for even today. He would maintain diaries from the age of 10, sketching the life around him. Miranda studied at St. Joseph's Boys' High School, Bangalore and then did a B.A. in history at St. Xavier's College, Mumbai, while focusing on the Indian Administrative Service (IAS). Thereafter he started studying architecture at the behest of his parents, though he soon lost interest. He then began getting small commissions and would sketch people in his private diaries in 1949. He loved good food and red wine in moderation but would mainly visit eateries and taverns to document the lives of the patrons.

Miranda started his career in an advertising studio, where he worked for four years, before taking up cartooning full-time. He got his first job as a cartoonist with The Illustrated Weekly of India which published a few of his works. His drawings & cartoons also brought him an offer to work at the Current magazine. A year later, the Times of India offered him a slot, even though they had rejected him at first. Thereafter, his creations, such as Miss Nimbupani and Miss Fonseca, appeared on a regular basis in Femina, Economic Times, and The Illustrated Weekly of India. Mario then won a grant by the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation and lived in Portugal for year, helping him "broaden his horizons". He then moved to London, working for different newspapers and even working in television animation. During his five years spent there, his caricatures were published in magazines like Mad, Lilliput and Punch. He then travelled to many countries, either working or conducting exhibitions.

Miranda returned to India for good in the late 1980s and was offered back his old job with the Times of India in Mumbai, where he worked with noted cartoonist, R.K. Laxman. Thereafter, Miranda met artist Habiba Hydari, who was part of the Hyderabadi Tyabji–Hydari family and grand-daughter of Akbar Hydari. They got married and had two sons, Rahul and Rishad.

• Illustration — Miranda on a 2026 stamp of India Miranda's big break came in 1974, when, at the invitation of the United States Information Services, he travelled to America, which enabled him to promote his art and interact with other cartoonists in the United States and also got a chance to work with Charles M. Schulz, the creator of Peanuts) and met Herblock, the editorial cartoonist of the Washington Post. He held solo exhibitions in over 22 countries, including the United States, Japan, Brazil, Australia, Singapore, France, Yugoslavia, and Portugal.

After retirement, Miranda lived in his ancestral home, at Loutolim, a village in Salcete, Goa, with his wife Habiba. Even after he retired, Miranda's work was seen regularly in Mumbai publications, and he was invited to travel to countries such as Mauritius and Spain, and draw their local cultures. On 11 December 2011, Miranda died of natural causes at his home in Loutolim. Mario's body was then taken to the Hindu crematorium at Pajifond in Margao, where his pyre was lit by his younger son Rishaad as per his wishes. Indian cartoonist Graphi and fine artist, Vijay N Seth (Vins) paid tribute to Miranda, whom he considered as a mentor:

• Illustration — A cartoon by Miranda According to Aaron Renier (who created the Google Doodle commemorating Miranda on his 90th birth anniversary in 2016), Miranda's most popular style of cartooning was "very flat with criss-crossing interactions". Renier went on to explain: Miranda's cartoons often indulged in sexist stereotypes, with the women being drawn as curvaceous and having bulging eyes. He would observe people everywhere (like eateries, taverns, weddings, the bus stop, the post office) and document their social life. However, he always stayed away from drawing political cartoons. Art critic Uma Nair describes how all his work was subtly witty. Describing his drawing style, she finds that his tales were told through cubism and the nature of the contours of his work, stating that his "geometric jiggles" coupled with subtle colours helped convey the emotions of the characters. His works would include people from all walks of life interacting with one another. Additionally, he would capture the essence of Goan life. She goes on to describe:

Besides cartooning, Miranda's murals are present on various buildings in Goa and other parts of India. Late in life he took to paintings which received wide response. Over the years, he published several books, including Laugh it Off, Goa with Love, and Germany in Wintertime. Besides his own books, he illustrated books by Dom Moraes (A Journey to Goa), Manohar Malgonkar (Inside Goa) and Mario Cabral e Sa (Legends of Goa). He also illustrated many children's books, including Dul-Dul, The Magic Clay Horse (1968), The Adventures of Pilla the Pup (1969), and Lumbdoom, The Long-Tailed Langoor (1968), all written by Uma Anand and published by India Book House, Mumbai, under its Echo imprint. He also illustrated for Balbharati textbooks by MSBTPCR in the 1970s. In 1951, he collaborated with Sanskrit scholar Jose Pereira and IAS officer Alban Couto (Maria Aurora Couto's husband) to publish a special issue of Marg on Goan art and culture. Miranda was the creative assistant during the filming of The Sea Wolves. He loved to travel and listening to music and it was his ambition to experiment further with water colours and to write memories of his early years in Goa, on retirement. He was not able to fulfil these two latter ambitions. In the 1990s, Rushi Yazdegardi (then owner) of Café Mondegar asked Mario Miranda to draw murals (cartoons) on two opposite walls. Both walls have different themes. Whilst one wall is dedicated to the Life in Mumbai, the other wall is dedicated to Atmosphere in the Café. • Illustration — Cafe bar with murals • Illustration — Murals on restaurant walls When the new municipal market of Panjim was inaugurated in 2004, Miranda was invited to paint a mural on its walls by then Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar. Delighted with how the new complex had turned out, he refused to charge fees from the government for his work.