Rasipuram Krishnaswamy Laxman (1921-2015) was born and educated in Mysore. He started contributing as a cartoonist to college magazines, his brother R.K. Narayan's books, publications such as Koravanji, and also Gemini Studio. He initially worked at Blitz (Mumbai) and the Free Press Journal and, six months later, he joined Times of India, where he enjoyed a long and prolific career. He created India's most beloved and iconic cartoon character, 'The Common Man'.

Laxman's books include Idle Hours (later retitled The Distorted Mirror), The Hotel Riviera, The Messenger and Servants of India. The Tunnel of Time is Laxman's autobiography, and several collections of his cartoons are part of the series The Best of Laxman and Laugh with Laxman.

R.K. Laxman was awarded the prestigious Padma Bhushan (1973) and the Padma Vibhushan (2005). He was a recipient of the Ramon Magsaysay Award (1984) and CNN IBN TV18's Lifetime Achievement Award for Journalism (2008) as well as several honorary docorates by prestigious universities.