Theaudacious
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Karnika Mishra is a 33-year-old cartoonist from Lucknow, India who uses her cartoons to voice opinions on social and political issues affecting women in India. After the brutal 2012 Delhi gang rape case and subsequent comments justifying the attack, Mishra created the character Karnika Kahen, an "ordinary girl" who fights social injustice. Mishra's work challenging religious figures and speaking out against violence against women led to threats but she persisted with support from her husband. She was awarded the "Award for Courage in Editorial Cartooning" in 2014. Mishra finds cartoons the best medium to express anger at injustice and finds inspiration working from home on cloudy
Theaudacious
- 1. Womans Era October (Second) 2014 89 The 併Aam ladki兵 who decided to become 併khaas.兵 By Megha Jetley The strength of a woman is not measured by the impact that all her hardships in life have had on her; but the strength of a woman is measured by the extent of her refusal to allow those hardships to dictate her and who she becomes. C. JoyBell C. B orn and brought up in Lucknow she started working as a cartoonist even before completing her bachelors. Confident enough to voice her opinions aloud not just about talking on issues related to women but also to represent the opinion of Indian women on social and political issues. Karnika Mishra, a 33-year-old cartoonist, got provoked into creating Karnika Kahen, an 併aam ladki併 (female equivalent of the common man) who fights social injustice. With her efforts and hard work the Mumbai-based cartoonist, has won the Award for Courage in Editorial Cartooning for 2014 and an invitation to visit San Francisco to collect the award in annual convention of The Association of American Editorial Cartoonists by Dr Robert Bro Russell of Cartoonists Rights Network International. After the Nirbhaya case the so-called god- man Asaram Bapu made a statement saying, Only five or six people are not the culprits. The victim is as guilty as her rapistsShe should have called the culprits 併brothers兵 and begged before them to stopThis could have saved her dignity and life. Later when Bapu was found accused of raping a 16-year-old girl, karnika got provoked and she chose the medium of cartoons to show her anger. Excerpts from an interview: How did the idea of showing anger through cartoons strike in your mind? Nirbhaya faced such brutality and ultimately died and some religious gurus make such heinous comments which were shameful and when the news came that police was searching for Asaram Bapu for allegedly raping a minor girl, I just wanted to express myself, my anger. I have cartooned since I was a kid and drew on the floor and the walls and being an artist, cartoon was the best medium for me to show my annoyance. Being threatened many times to be killed? What kept you going forward? It all depends on your will power and stubbornness that push you forward once you determine to fight back. Thanks to my husband who stood by me everytime. How do you see the sense of humour for cartoons in Indians? We Indians do not have sense of humour and are so insecure that we get offended on everything. Cartoo- ning made me happy in a way that nothing else did. But what if I couldn't sell? Now, I have thousands of cartoons on hundreds of subjects. I find people who agree with my sense of humour and sometimes not. What's your perfect work environment? What really gets your creativity going? The perfect work environment is at home, a cloudy day, a cup of tea in my hand and no one calling on the phone. What are your thoughts on stand-up comedians? George Carlin and Bill Hicks are my favourite stand-up comedians. They raise issues of society and try to create awareness. THE AUDACIOUS SHE Karnika Mishra We The best revenge is massive success. Frank Sinatra