Cartoons with a Cause: Rohan Chakravarty’s Wild Ride from Pulling Teeth to Drawing Laughs

Rohan, during his interview with teens during the Media-Makers Fellowship

“I just draw about these things.”

That’s all Rohan Chakravarty claims, like it’s no big deal. Never mind that his cartoons have poked policymakers, shaken up eco-conversations, and basically wormed their way into every nook of India. The dude behind Green Humour sat down with a bunch of sharp young students, sharing the real story—how he ditched drilling teeth for doodling, and found something way bigger than a career: actual purpose.

A Nagpur Kid, Nothing Fancy

First up, 12-year-old Vihaan from Hyderabad tossed out the classic: “What was your childhood like?”

“Grew up in Nagpur,” Rohan answered, sounding pretty nostalgic. “Middle-class family—dad sold shoes, mom did everything under the sun: teacher, lawyer, journo. My brother? Total brainiac, top bat scientist now.”

Life was chill. Normal. Grounded. Then, bam—he saw a tiger in Nagzira. One look, and his whole life hit a new track.

Dentist? Nope. Cartoonist? Yup.

Next, Adrika brought up the dentist thing. Seriously, dentist? Why bail?

Rohan didn’t sugarcoat it. “I’m not a conservationist,” he shrugged. “They fight the real fights. I just draw what they go through. But yeah, that tigress? She flipped a switch inside me.”

He did the nature trail thing, led kids through the wild, got all geeky about wildlife. Tried his hand at animation design—picked up some skills, a bit of guts, and then just went for it. In 2014, he dropped dentistry for good and started cartooning full-time. Parents must’ve been thrilled, right?

Green Humour Gets Born

Ridhi from Bangalore wanted to know: why Green Humour?

“Tiger again,” he grinned. “But honestly, there was this massive wall between ecologists and regular people. Cartoons? They break walls. They’re fun, they teach. Win-win.”

Humor? For Real?

“It’s a heavy topic,” Hariharan from Chennai pointed out. “So why jokes?”

“That’s exactly why!” Rohan cracked up. “All that technical mumbo-jumbo just scares folks off. Humor? It sneaks in the message. People actually pay attention when they’re laughing—or at least smirking.”

He’s not pretending it’s easy, though. “Mixing science with jokes? Harder than it looks. I’ve screwed up, but you learn. That’s life.”

Not Just for Giggles

So, has he actually changed stuff?

“Yeah, I think so,” Rohan smiled, proud but not braggy. He rattled off stories: one comic on seashells got people to stop hoarding them; another on green period products convinced women to switch (even though he was nervous about the backlash).

His real “whoa” moment? The EIA 2020 protests. One comic blew up online—six lakh signatures later, art had done its thing.

He even co-wrote a book on human-elephant conflict with Wildlife Trust of India. “That book’s gone everywhere. Kids are reading it, feeling something for elephants instead of just seeing them as news headlines.”

Dream Collab? Not What You’d Expect

Then came a wildcard question: “Who would you want to team up with, living or dead, for a comic series?”

Rohan got real. “I’m not a big collab guy. But if I had to? J. Vijaya, this legendary herpetologist from the ’80s. Drawing the world through her eyes? That’d be nuts.”

He went on about how her deep knowledge of reptiles and amphibians would totally level up his art. “Seeing nature the way she does? My comics would get way sharper. I’d love that.”

Not Just Cartoons—It’s a Whole Movement

From GoComics and Tinkle to books like Bird Business and The Great Indian Nature Trail, Rohan’s pen has been busy stirring things up. He won’t call himself a hero—just a communicator. But honestly, his work? It shouts for itself—loud, hilarious, and kinda vital.

Inspiring kids, nudging people to live a little greener, making eco-stuff actually cool—Green Humour is proof that when art’s got a mission, it can shake the world. Or at least make you chuckle while you rethink your plastic addiction.

Written by Pragyan Chaudhary

Pragyan wrote this article after conducting an interview with award-winning cartoonist and creator of the Green Humour comics, Rohan Chakravarty.

This article was created as part of the Media-Makers Fellowship's May'25 cohort.