ADose of Laughter

Rasipuram Krishnaswamy Laxman (1921-2015) was born and educated in Mysore. He started contributing as a cartoonist to college magazines, his brother R.K. Narayan's books, publications such as Koravanji, and also Gemini Studio. He initially worked at Blitz (Mumbai) and the Free Press Journal and, six months later, he joined Times of India, where he enjoyed a long and prolific career. He created India's most beloved and iconic cartoon character, 'The Common Man'.

Laxman's books include Idle Hours (later retitled The Distorted Mirror), The Hotel Riviera, The Messenger and Servants of India. The Tunnel of Time is Laxman's autobiography, and several collections of his cartoons are part of the series The Best of Laxman and Laugh with Laxman.

R.K. Laxman was awarded the prestigious Padma Bhushan (1973) and the Padma Vibhushan (2005). He was a recipient of the Ramon Magsaysay Award (1984) and CNN IBN TV18's Lifetime Achievement Award for Journalism (2008) as well as several honorary docorates by prestigious universities.

A humorous look at doctors and their ilk by India's best-loved cartoonist

Laughter, they say, is the best medicine. It is therefore fitting that the world's most honourable profession should have a great deal of fun made at its expense. Humour directed at physicians and medicine has sustained many a suffering patient through the bleakest of times. A Dose of Laughter is an exhilarating collection of cartoons and jokes about doctors and their practices that will bring a smile to the lips of those who wield the stethoscope as well as those who yield to it.

This book contains 100 cartoons about the world of doctors, hospitals, laboratories, ailments, maladies, health schemes and hygiene that show R.K. Laxman at his inimitable best. These are accompanied by a hundred of the funniest jokes about doctors and the medical profession collected from all over the world. Together, these make for a witty, perceptive look at the unequal effort doctors make to combat disease and bring succour to their fellow humans. This is a book that can be dipped into at random, or read from cover to cover. In either case, it is guaranteed to provide a great deal of unadulterated merriment and laughter.