Soft spoken, laidback and an exceptional cartoonist who made memorable delectable characters like Miss Fonseca and others. Mario Miranda’s works will be on display from 3rd October at the IISC.



Indian Institute of Cartoonists is organizing an exhibition of cartoons by eminent Cartoonist Mario Miranda at the Cartoon Gallery. Mario Miranda, was born in Goa but went to school at St. Joseph’s High School, Bangalore and then St.Xavier’s Mumbai for college.

He is a recipient of the Padmashri, Padma Bhushan Awards  and has also been felicitated with the “Lifetime Achievement Award” by the IIC in 2001. he had decide as a young boy that he wanted to draw and after making merry on his home walls, his mother bought him a drawing book that he christened his “Diary”. During his school days , as he drew up wicked caricatures of the priests and Fathers’ at the school his popularity was sure to always remain intact and this later went on to be a source of some serious pocket money.



Mario did not train formally in art, but his natural talent saw him freelancing as a cartoonist and illustrator while he was an undergrad at St. Xavier’s , Mumbai. His first break came when The Illustrated Weekly of India accepted a few of his cartoons. Then came heartache when The Times of India rejected his work the first time he approached them. However, a year later the paper was soon taken in by Mario’s skill and the wicked charm of his artistry. In 1959 , he travelled to Lisbon and was awarded the Gulbentuan Scholarship. He then worked in London for a couple of years and is known to have even washed dishes when finances got a bit tight. Post, this, fresh with his experiences in London is landed a stint with Charles Schulz the creator of the “Peanuts”, after this he came back home to The Times of India and its sister publications.

Mario, who has held exhibitions in several cities globally, does not limit himself to cartooning for Dailies. His sketches and paintings have featured on book covers of authors like Dom Moraes, Khushwant Singh, Manohar Malgaonkar and even Ruskin Bond. Not to mention illustration for Children’s books for India Book House. His drawings of Mumbai, Bangalore, Goa and Mysore are most famous.



When asked what is a must for a cartoonist, apart from the ability to draw and Mario says,”  solid background of books. You might be able to draw, but it is the reading that gives you the background.” One thing Mario likes to stay away from is politics but has learnt to deal with it stoically, citing it as a “professional hazard!”

The exhibition of his works will be open from 3rd to 24th October at the Indian Institute of Cartoonists.