Bihar Floods: When Schools Go Underwater, So Does Education | Cartoon

 

When the School Goes Underwater, So Does the Mathematics

Floods have a peculiar way of exposing the difference between textbook mathematics and real life.

The cartoon captures that perfectly. A man looks at a school submerged in floodwater and asks a brutally simple question: if a school is nine feet high and three feet of it is underwater, how much is left above the water?

The answer, of course, is six feet.

But for the children who are supposed to study there, the problem is not really about subtraction. It is about whether there is a school left to walk into at all.

When floodwater enters classrooms, the blackboard becomes irrelevant, benches become floating furniture, and the morning assembly is replaced by the weather forecast. The biggest lesson of the day is no longer mathematics or science, but figuring out how to reach school without needing a boat.

The irony becomes sharper when we talk about education in areas repeatedly affected by floods. A school building may technically still exist, but if classrooms, playgrounds and access roads are underwater, education is effectively suspended. For children, every lost school day can mean another gap in learning.

And then comes the familiar Indian instinct: “At least the building is still standing.”

Perhaps. But a school is more than four walls and a roof. It needs teachers, students, books, electricity, safe access and an environment where children can actually sit down and learn.

The cartoon's little arithmetic problem therefore has a much bigger answer.

A Birthday Blessing: Cartoon on 'Ashirwad ka Diya Campaign'

 

A Birthday Blessing… and a Helicopter Tour!

A birthday is usually about cakes, candles and blessings. But in the world of politics, even a birthday can come with an official campaign, a little symbolism—and, apparently, an aerial survey.

The cartoon takes a cheeky look at the appeal to light an “Ashirwad Ka Diya” on Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s birthday, juxtaposing it with the situation in flood-affected areas. While the message talks about blessings and service, the cartoon asks a rather uncomfortable question: When people are struggling with floods, will the leaders actually walk through the affected areas?
Cartoon by:  Kirtish Bhatt

UPI Charges on Transactions Above ₹2,000: सब माया है

 

About Cartoon:

We all love UPI because it is fast, easy, and completely free. It changed the way we buy everything from groceries to clothes. But lately, there has been a lot of talk about adding a 0.4% charge on merchant payments over ₹2,000. This has started a big debate across the country.

My cartoon, "सब माया है" (It's all an illusion), takes a funny look at this situation. First, everyone is told to stop using cash and switch to digital payments. But once everyone actually changes their habits, the rules start to change, and new fees get introduced.

Why this is a big deal for regular people:

• Small Businesses Suffer: While regular people can still send money to friends for free, shopkeepers have to pay the price. A 0.4% fee might sound small, but for a small business doing many transactions a day, it really cuts into their hard-earned daily profits.
• Cash Might Come Back: The main point of UPI was to get rid of cash. But if big digital bills start coming with extra fees, people and businesses might just go back to using paper money to save cash.
• The Extra Cost: If shopkeepers get tired of paying these fees, they will eventually pass the cost onto the customers by raising prices. In the end, the common man is the one who pays.

This cartoon is all about that awkward moment when a free service we all depend on starts turning into a regular business with hidden costs. It reminds us that in the digital world, "free" things don't stay free forever.

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Cartoon by Kirtish Bhatt.

UPI Charges: Pay Tum Karo... | Cartoon by Kirtish Bhatt

 

About the Cartoon

India’s UPI has made everyday payments incredibly simple—scan a QR code, enter the amount and you’re done. But the story gets a little less simple for merchants when transaction charges enter the picture. The debate over UPI charges, MDR and payments above ₹2,000 is really about who should pay for the convenience of digital payments. Customers want UPI to remain free, while businesses naturally don’t want payment costs eating into their margins. For a small shopkeeper, even a tiny charge can add up over hundreds of transactions. After making “cash nahi hai” almost irrelevant, UPI may have given shopkeepers a new headache: “Charge kitna lagega?”

Cartoon by Kirtish Bhatt

BRICS Summit and Slums: When Poverty Is Hidden Behind a Curtain | Cartoon

 

When Poverty Is Hidden Behind a Curtain, the Problem Doesn't Disappear

During an international summit, the world gets a carefully prepared view of a city. Roads are cleaned, buildings are decorated, security is tightened and everything possible is done to make the surroundings look presentable.

But what happens when the people living in poverty are part of the scenery?

The cartoon takes a sharp look at the controversy over slums being screened from view during the BRICS Summit. Instead of showing the reality of urban poverty, the uncomfortable parts of the city can simply be covered up—quite literally.

In the cartoon, a child is struggling beneath a huge covering while the conversation above it continues as if everything is perfectly normal. The visual irony is hard to miss: the poor may be hidden from the visitors, but they haven't disappeared.

There is something almost magical about the idea. If a problem looks unpleasant, put a curtain in front of it. If the poverty isn't visible, perhaps the city can appear prosperous. And if the international guests don't see it, maybe nobody needs to talk about it.

Except, of course, the people underneath the curtain can still see it very clearly.

Cities hosting major international events naturally want to present their best face. Infrastructure, cleanliness and civic improvements are legitimate priorities. But there is a difference between improving living conditions and simply improving the view.

A screen can hide a slum for a few hours. It cannot hide the reasons why the slum exists.

And that is where the cartoon's humour turns into a more uncomfortable question: Are we trying to remove poverty—or merely remove it from the frame?

Perhaps the real achievement would not be making poverty invisible during an international summit. It would be making poverty unnecessary in the first place.

Until then, a curtain is just a curtain.

It doesn't solve the problem.

It only makes sure that the problem doesn't appear in the photograph.

Cartoon by : Kirtish Bhatt

If Women Have to Step Aside, What Happens to the Statue of Liberty? l Cartoon

 

If Women Have to Step Aside, What Happens to the Statue of Liberty?

The Eiffel Tower is usually a symbol of Paris, romance and the universal appeal of France. But during a recent visit by a Hindu religious delegation, it found itself at the centre of a very different conversation.

The controversy arose after female employees at the Eiffel Tower were reportedly asked to leave their workstations or stay out of sight during a private visit by a BAPS Hindu delegation. Some women were reportedly replaced by male colleagues. The incident led to a staff protest and an investigation by Paris authorities. BAPS later apologised for any pain or inconvenience caused.

The cartoon takes that episode and gives it an international punchline.

The Statue of Liberty looks rather worried and asks, in effect: “Thank goodness they didn't visit me. Otherwise, where would I go?”

It is the kind of question only a cartoon can ask without needing a diplomatic briefing.

After all, Lady Liberty is one of the world's most recognisable symbols of freedom. She has been standing there for generations, holding her torch high and welcoming people from across the globe.

So imagine her concern when another landmark suddenly finds itself having to explain why its female employees were asked to step aside.

The irony is almost too perfect.

Religious traditions may have their own rules and practices, but when those practices affect workers in a public institution, the question inevitably becomes bigger than one private visit: Where does accommodation end and discrimination begin?

Perhaps the Statue of Liberty is simply relieved that nobody has asked her to move out of the frame.

After all, she has been standing there for more than a century.

And she probably intends to stay.

Cartoon by : Kirtish Bhatt