If you’re a Tamil-speaking Chennaite, you’re already probably following the king of mokkai cartoons on social media — Lakshman’s Cartoons. To the rest of the non-Tamil speaking group of Chennaites, mokka (lame) jokes typically refer to jokes that are a bit silly. What people love about Lakshman Balaji’s hand-drawn cartoons are that he uses Tamil wordplay that is hilariously punny. And it’s so relatable especially to us people from the South.
Once you’re done, browsing through the Lakshman Cartoons’ Facebook page, laughing at his comics (our favourite has to be the one where the only way to make an auto driver laugh is to ask him to turn on the meter — how relatable is that?!), you can even get in touch with him for a personal caricature or a gift to a friend! He’s worked on a lot of caricatures for his friends, a couple celebrating their anniversary and even caricatures of the leads of a movie, he tells us.
He charges based on how much time it takes to make them, so you can just drop a message on his Facebook page and let him know what your requirements are. He prefers it when the subject is unaware that they’re being observed, so he can capture their resting features in a more relaxed setting. So maybe when you get a friend’s caricature done, call them to a restaurant and just ask Lakshman to hide behind another table? We’re kidding, we’re kidding!
But why not come up with a cool scenario and get Lakshman to put your friends in it and frame a really cool comic? Add in some Tamil puns and make your machan‘s or machi‘s day! We can’t think of any better gift if you love puns and comics.