Hyderabad

A legend occupies a glass box at the end of the office corridor. Subhani is the cartoonist of the Deccan Chronicle in Hyderabad and has fans in all of southern India. Every day, the 40-year old comments on current political events on the first page.

Sometimes the Deccan Chronicle also places one of his caricatures inside the newspaper. "Over the past 21 years I have never taken more than one week off work at a time," says Subhani. If he cannot be in the office for one day, he produces a cartoon in advance. When on holiday or should he become ill, he sends the cartoons to the editorial office by email. A drawing by Subhani has appeared every day in the Deccan Chronicle since 1991.

Whether payoffs, corruption, seedy real estate deals, or a fistfight between Bollywood stars, there is always plenty of material with which Subhani can work. The city of eight million offers stories no end. Nonetheless, "the hardest part is finding an idea," says Subhani. Once he has found it, the cartoon is completed within about an hour. "Every morning I leaf through 15 newspapers. And in a pinch, I can always use my sketchbook," says Subhani and slaps a worn calendar lying on his desk. The artist carries it with him wherever he goes to collect ideas for his next cartoons. "I observe people in cafés or get the decisive idea during a conversation. Sometimes it hits me like lightning."

Subhani always begins his pictures by drawing the nose of the main character. "It’s the centre," he says and draws a nose with rapid strokes, which a few seconds later belongs to the face of India’s prime minister Manmohan Singh. Two minutes later the drawing is finished: Singh as a marionette in the hands of Sonia Gandhi. "Having ideas is my job," says Subhani, leaning back in his office chair. If this drawing were to appear in tomorrow’s Deccan Chronicle, his next step would be to scan it and colour it in Photoshop.

"These rapid zigzag strokes are crucial," says Subhani and points with his roller ball pen at his figures’ legs, which look like little bolts of lightning. "That’s my trademark." Subhani smiles a looks at his drawing fondly. "The readers react immediately to every good cartoon. I really enjoy my job."