The Mind Creative
Mario Miranda was awarded the Padma Shri in 1988, the Padma
Bhushan in 2002 and All India Cartoonists's Association honoured
him with a lifetime achievement award.
The King of Spain, Juan Carlos, conferred on Mario the highest
civilian honour of "Cross of the Order of Isabel the Catholic" which
was presented to him on 11th November 2009 at his family home
in Loutulim.
On 29th December 2009, Portugal (under the President of the
Republic, Aníbal António Cavaco Silva), made him ‘Commander
of the Order of Prince Henry’, a Portuguese National Order of
knighthood.
Mario Miranda was posthumously awarded the Padma Vibhushan,
the second highest civilian award in the Republic of India, by the
President on 4 April 2012.
Miranda’s cartoons have been exhibited in over 22 countries. Over
the years, he also published many books including Laugh It off,
Goa With Love and Germany in Winter Time and illustrated
numerous books. After retirement, Miranda lived in his ancestral
home, at Loutolim, a village in Salcete, Goa, with his wife,
younger son and their pets.
On 11 December 2011, Mario Miranda died of natural causes at
his home in Loutolim, Goa.
Perhaps, Mario Miranda is best summed up by Indian cartoonist
Vijay Seth who considered Miranda to be his mentor: “With pen
and ink that were at his command to churn out lines that every
nib would be jealous of, he brushed aside the old school of
cartooning using the brush, and set a new norm to use the nib
pen and to master it for this branch of art. Mario created
characters that gave his daily audience their quota of a smile
without malice. His trips around the globe produced subtle close
observations of the local musings – a fitting example of how far
can one stretch the parameters of this branch of neglected art.”
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