Kesava Shankar Pillai, better known as Shankar, was an Indian cartoonist. In India, he is known as the founder of political cartooning. In 1948, he established Shankar's Weekly, India's Punch. In addition to producing cartoonists such as Abu Abraham, Ranga, and Kutty, Shankar's Weekly was shut down by the publisher on June 25, 1975, during the Emergency. He started making kids laugh and have fun with life after that. In 1976, he received the Padma Vibhushan, the second-highest civilian decoration bestowed by the Indian government. He is best known now for founding the Shankar's International Dolls Museum in 1965 and the Children's Book Trust in 1957. Shankar was the recipient of several awards—Padma Shri (1956); Padma Bhushan (1966); Padma Vibhushan (1976); the Order of Smile (1977), an honour from a committee of Polish children; the Hamilton branch of the United Nations Association in Canada conferred on him a citation and a pin for his dedicated service to the children of the world; in (1979), the Hungarian Institute of Cultural Relations awarded him a Commemorative Medal in appreciation of his activities and contribution to children (1980); Order de Saint Fortunat from the Federal Republic of Germany in recognition of his dedication to children’s cause; a gold medal from the Government of Czechoslovakia for the promotion of Indo-Czech friendship; conferred with the D. Litt (honoris causa) by the University of Delhi. Shankar passed away on December 26, 1989.