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vgr's profile
Venkatesh Rao
Venkatesh Rao
Venkatesh Rao
@vgr

Tweets

Venkatesh Rao

@vgr

This is my conversational account. For my work follow @ribbonfarm, @breaking_smart, @artofgig. Tweets are 90% vacuous views, apathetically held. Mediocritopian.

Los Angeles, CA
venkateshrao.com
Joined August 2007

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    1. Venkatesh Rao‏ @vgr 26 Jan 2015
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      11/ Laxman was not the greatest comic. His jokes were not always funny. But The Common Man was a masterful invention.

      1 reply 0 retweets 0 likes
    2. Venkatesh Rao‏ @vgr 26 Jan 2015
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      12/ The political rhetoric of post-Independence India was ALL about 'aam aadmi': The Common Man.

      1 reply 0 retweets 0 likes
    3. Venkatesh Rao‏ @vgr 26 Jan 2015
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      13/ From Nehru to Modi and Kejriwal, all have presumed to speak for the Common Man.

      1 reply 0 retweets 0 likes
    4. Venkatesh Rao‏ @vgr 26 Jan 2015
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      14/ Laxman did not challenge this presumption directly by giving the Common Man a critical or satirical voice.

      1 reply 0 retweets 0 likes
    5. Venkatesh Rao‏ @vgr 26 Jan 2015
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      15/ Instead, he simply mirrored the hypocrisies and bullshit of the political classes by having his character bear witness to it.

      1 reply 0 retweets 1 like
    6. Venkatesh Rao‏ @vgr 26 Jan 2015
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      16/ This is what made Laxman _the_ cartoonist of post-independence India.

      1 reply 0 retweets 0 likes
    7. Venkatesh Rao‏ @vgr 26 Jan 2015
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      17/ He was not always the most politically astute. To those who do not understand his milieu, he can appear somewhat tame.

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    8. Venkatesh Rao‏ @vgr 26 Jan 2015
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      18/ His cartoon commentary was not radical. It was even pedestrian at times. But the Common Man elevated every gag panel to sublime.

      1 reply 0 retweets 0 likes
    9. Venkatesh Rao‏ @vgr 26 Jan 2015
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      19/ Laxman knew this, as his writings show. He did not claim political genius or astuteness. He knew his power lay in bearing witness

      1 reply 0 retweets 0 likes
    10. Venkatesh Rao‏ @vgr 26 Jan 2015
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      20/ In a deep way, my own writing, while lacking the brevity of cartoons, is about bearing witness. I learned that from Laxman.

      1 reply 0 retweets 0 likes
      Venkatesh Rao‏ @vgr 26 Jan 2015
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      21/ You need no genius to bear witness, nor great insight. Just the willingness to stay present and not look away.

      12:35 PM - 26 Jan 2015
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      • Emilie Whitaker Sreekumar Nikete Gen. Baimungi Marete
      2 replies 2 retweets 4 likes
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        2. Venkatesh Rao‏ @vgr 26 Jan 2015
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          22/ You do not need to even understand or challenge what is going on. The witnessed will challenge themselves.

          1 reply 2 retweets 0 likes
        3. Venkatesh Rao‏ @vgr 26 Jan 2015
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          22/ RIP R. K. Laxman, 1921-2015. The First Witness of modern India. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/R._K._Laxman …

          2 replies 1 retweet 1 like
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        1. Sreekumar‏ @krs3open 28 Jan 2015
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          @vgr Great Tribute! Thanks for expressing it so well. Also, just to bear witness without attachment tough. so look away or react unhelpfully

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