Vins (cartoonist)
Vijay Narain Seth (10 March 1944 – 26 June 2014), pen name Vins, was an Indian cartoonist and illustrator. Career. Vins graduated from the J. J. School of Fine Arts, Mumbai, in 1968. While still a student, he went across to the Times of Indiafrom J.J.school of art all most next door to meet and watch cartoonist Mario Miranda (whom he considered a mentor) at work. He also started freelancing as a cartoonist for "Caravan" and "Himmat" magazines while a student. He was a political cartoonist for the news magazine "Himmat" weekly from 1965 to 1981, contributing the pocket  cartoon "Chalta Hai" weekly, and from 1969 adding two other cartoons with national and international comment. Later he started to freelance, doing cartoons on other themes such as science, computers, business, and social issues. He was the first Indian contributing cartoonist for the Indian edition of "Reader's Digest" in 1976 when Rahul Singh was its chief editor. Subsequently, he was a freelance cartoonist for the business magazines "Business India" and "Business World" and the Indian Express group's business publications. He also contributed to publications such as "Science Today", a "Times of India" publication (1971–1984) and the Swiss satirical  weekly "Nebelspalter". From 1978–1982, he was requested to contribute cartoons to a fortnightly, "Treffpunkt", (editor Heidi Rudolf, published in Zurich, Switzerland 1978–1987). His work appears in "The Penguin Book of Indian cartoons" (1988). His cartoons have been exhibited in Hungary, Belgium, France, Portugal, Israel, Korea, and Japan (1998). 21 of his satirical cartoons are now part of the online cartoon museum of Aydin Dogan Wakfi in Istanbul, Turkey. Travels. Vins travelled extensively in Europe and met several internationally renowned graphic artists - such as the French cartoonist Andre Francois - whom he counted as influences. He has participated in many international cartoon  festivals and exhibited in Europe in the 1990s. Collections. His cartoons have been made part of the permanent collection at the International Cartoon Museum and the Karikatur & Cartoon Museum, Basel in Switzerland.