Monday, June 15, 2020

BHAKT Magazine - Issues #1 - #5

Well, many of you asked, so here. I'm putting up all five issues of BHAKT magazine here.

I started doing this because of a few reasons :

  1. I wanted to remind myself that I hadn't lost the ability to enjoy myself doing satire, and misplaced my usual defense mechanism of laughing like an idiot when things look bad. Just wanted to dust off some old techniques and have some fun in the process, because the laughs were drying up (no booze, no #bikang. Fuck you, COVID)
  2. The BJP government makes it almost too easy. Making fun of these guys is like taking candy from a baby, or counting Devang Gandhi's match-winning international hundreds. 
  3. Some fights need fighting. This is a government that is enabling dangerous thugs who run rampant, spreading hate, lies and violence against the defenseless. We must all raise our voices in whatever way we can, and this is one of the ways I know.
I have no idea how long I'll keep this up, but will keep posting here if possible with some additional commentary and easter eggs. 

And finally, a clarification for BJP and Modi supporters : 


Yes, I disagree with this government and the BJP as a party on several issues, many fundamental. I do not think Modi is a good PM, or the current BJP government is doing a good job.

No, I do not think Rahul Gandhi or the Congress are great solutions to our problems, I remember their corrupt, inept and distastrous time in power quite clearly. I'm not congress-funded, congi or any of the other things you guys may think.

If Modi or the BJP government returns to power and do a better job, I will be glad. I have nothing personal against them as people, just their ideologies and actions in government. If someone takes their place and continues to do a poor job, I will call them out just as vocally.

I'm a satirist, and I will go after anything I believe is wrong, unjust, incompetent or absurd. I target the BJP because they happen to be in power. I will continue to target anyone in power who abuses that power.

You are,needless to say, completely free to make fun of me in return. My rule has always been "Don't dish it out if you can't take it".








The Mad King of Dillekoostan - All Strips

This is a comic strip I did on Instagram and FB a few months ago (seems like a lifetime) during the CAA-NRC protests and the subsequent Delhi pogroms.

Some of my satire output comes, like most satire, from a place of anger. But most of it comes from a place of great sadness at what human beings are capable of doing to each other when they act from fear and anger.

Luckily, I can convert that into badly drawn comics and maybe make a few people laugh, and even fewer think a little.

Here are all of the strips I drew and wrote.