Laxman was the youngest of seven siblings, and he developed an affinity for drawing at an early age. While at Maharaja’s College in Mysore, he illustrated his elder brother’s stories in The Hindu newspaper. He subsequently turned to political cartoons, which he drew for local newspapers. He worked at The Free Press Journal in Mumbai (Bombay) with Bal Thackeray, who was a cartoonist before founding the Shiv Sena party. Laxman then moved to The Times of India, where he would spend the rest of his career. There he created You Said It, a strip that would adorn the newspaper’s cover into the 21st century. Laxman’s “common man” was witty and sarcastic but never venomous, and his outlook was said to represent that of countless average Indians.

Laxman published numerous short stories, essays, and travel articles, some of which were collected in The Distorted Mirror (2003). He also wrote the novels The Hotel Riviera (1988) and The Messenger (1993), the short-story collection Servants of India (2000), and an autobiography, The Tunnel of Time (1998). In addition, numerous collections of Laxman’s cartoons have been published. In 2005 he was awarded the Padma Vibhushan, India’s second highest civilian honour.