Visakhapatnam :

Well-known cartoonist Ragati Pandari (50) passed away here on Thursday while undergoing treatment for a lung disease at a private hospital. Pandari fell ill after her mother Santa Kumari’s sudden demise a month ago.

Pandari started her career as a cartoonist at the age of eight. Affected by polio as a child, Ragati could not pursue her studies and learnt to draw cartoons by sketching in books available at home. Since 1980, her cartoons have been carried in several regional and English newspapers, weekly and monthly magazines. Ragati, who drew inspiration from eminent cartoonist Jayadev, sketched more than 16,000 cartoons, pictorial stories and scripts.

The city-based cartoonist was felicitated by various organizations and received several awards, including Kalaratna by the state government. As per her last wishes, Pandari’s body was donated to a hospital and eyes donated to an eye bank.

source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / Home> City> Visakhapatnam / TNN / February 20th, 2015