S. D. Phadnis (aka Shivram Dattatreya Phadnis, or "Shi Da" to friends) is the legendary Indian cartoonist who's been quietly cracking people up since 1945—without ever needing a single word balloon!
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| All images from the website of SD Phadnis |
Born in a small Karnataka village in 1925, he turned what started as "just for fun" doodling into a full-blown career after acing commercial art at Sir J.J. School of Art in Mumbai. His specialty? Gorgeous, full-color, captionless cartoons that look like little paintings but deliver big laughs—usually poking gentle fun at middle-class life, everyday mishaps, and those universal "oh, that's so true!" moments.
He famously kicked off a trend with a cheeky 1952 Diwali magazine cover (man in mouse shirt meets woman in cat sari—romance meets chaos!), and went on to create the delightful Laughing Gallery and Miskil Gallery series, illustrate kid-friendly math books (because who says numbers can't giggle?), and hold court with exhibitions that toured India, the US, and UK.
He has been drawing the Diwali cover for Mohini magazine for 73 consecutive years. To put that in perspective: he started that job before NASA was founded, before the Beatles met, and before most of his current fans’ parents were born.
Now over 100 years young (yes, he hit the century mark in 2025 and is still sketching in Pune), he's proof that great humor never retires—and apparently, neither does he.