Meet Syama Sundar, cartoonist whose work revolves around anti-caste themes

A couple of frogs, who seem to have been forced into an arranged marriage to ‘appease the rain gods’ say, “Our love started blooming as soon as the weather changed.” The human couple sitting by the lake nearby as it rains says, “Our love started blooming as soon as we realised we are from the same caste.”

This is a cartoon by Syama Sundar Unnamati which is typical of the incisive commentary at the core of his art. An Ambedkarite cartoonist from Andhra Pradesh’s Vijayawada whose work mainly revolves around anti-caste themes, Syama Sundar is currently pursuing his PhD from JNU’s School of Arts and Aesthetics.

“Mainstream media often doesn’t reflect issues and concerns of marginalised communities. I want to visually narrate these stories, from feminist issues to atrocities against Dalits,” says 37-year-old Syama Sundar, adding that the cartoon medium allows him to simplify ideas while retaining nuances at the same time.

Although drawing was an interest since childhood, it was in JNU that Syama Sundar began making cartoons on social issues, particularly with anti-caste themes. “I would draw funny, issue-based cartoons for campus magazines on topics like scholarships or hostel facilities.

With Facebook, the reach of my work grew wider. That’s when I started working on broader themes outside of campus,” says Syama Sundar, whose cartoons have appeared in Round Table India, academic books and publications like the Sahitya Akademi’s Indian Literature Journal.

The cartoonist has also portrayed major atrocities against Dalits in Andhra, like the Tsunduru, Karamchedu and Laxmipet massacres in the graphic format.

His work was recently exhibited at an international comic event in Switzerland. The series, titled Antarani Prema or Untouchable Love, revolves around the violence inflicted on inter-caste love. “The series depicts true incidents of caste murders. It also talks about how inter-caste relationships are often brought to an abrupt, violent end, unlike the romanticised depictions in mainstream cinema,” he says.

Syama Sundar's cartoons from his 'Untouchable Love' series 

But back in India, his art would not be recognised in mainstream art spaces, says Syama Sundar, which isn’t really surprising. “I even told the audience in Switzerland that such recognition can only happen abroad. Galleries in India wouldn’t encourage such work. They will accept all kinds of abstract and modern art, but if you show reality you can’t display your work,” he says.

Syama Sundar’s research work has also involved the history of comics and cartoons in India. While his MPhil thesis was about colonial cartoons in India on social issues, his PhD research is on the artwork in the Telugu children’s magazine Chandamama, and how the stories and morality represented feudal societies and the caste system. Syama Sundar says his research has enhanced his perspective when it comes to his own art, broadening the scope for social commentary.

Syama Sundar has also published an annotated compilation of cartoons on Ambedkar called No Laughing Matter. The book is based on Syama Sundar’s archival survey of Ambedkar cartoons, following protests against the inclusion of a cartoon in NCERT textbooks in 2012. The cartoon showed Nehru wielding a whip while Ambedkar sat on a snail named ‘Constitution’.

The cartoonist’s future projects are also centred around the history of Ambedkar’s work and the discourse around him in mainstream media. One of his independent research projects includes a documentation of the time that Ambedkar spent in south India, including speeches and meetings on visits to the Madras Presidency region, the Godavari districts, Coimbatore, Madurai, and the Mysore State.

“Ambedkar and his writings have been the biggest influence on my art and research,” he says.