MUMBAI: He calls himself a Management Cartoonist - that's Prriya Raj for you. Yesterday, Raj launched in Mumbai two of his latest works - Business Cartoons and Corporate Cartoons.

Both the books have a foreword from Edward De Bono and examine the more humourous and introspective side of the serious world of management. Raj's effort is to help managers understand themselves better through his cartoons.

The launch of the books was followed by a panel discussion that included Mudra Communications CEO and MD Madhukar Kamat, Hungama.com CEO and MD Neeraj Roy and ad film maker Prahalad Kakkar on the 'Whacky side of the corporate world.'

Kamat started the discussion by saying that he had survived in this corporate world by relying only on two things - common sense and a sense of humour. Kamat said, "The ability and skill that we develop to see the humourous side of any crisis is what keeps us going in life. If I am tense about something, then I try and see the brighter side of it."

As for Roy, he had this to say, "With a name like Hungama all expect a sense of style and fun at the company. We try to have an environment in the company that keeps us smiling all the time. Speaking Talking about the books, he said, "Prriya Raj's books are extremely apt. He is referred to as the Dilbert of India."

Illustrations from Prriya Raj's books
"I love junk mail. It keeps my office brimming with activity - even if there is no real work"	"Very loyal! He consults me every time he switches jobs!!"

Kakkar said, "Prriya's got his fundas right because if you don't have a sense of humour, then you won't survive. His books are a lighter way of looking at people who take themselves too seriously."

Talking about the current advertising scenario Kakkar said, "Today, advertising is the whipping boy for any controversy that arises. Whether a kid performs badly in school or Sachin Tendulkar doesn't score a century in a match - the end blame always comes on advertising."

According to Prriya Raj, in advertising humour adds to creativity. He said, "Once a creative idea comes to your mind, then you try and put logic to it. It should not be that you have a logical idea and then you try to put creativity into it."

Prriya Raj's books which treat a serious profession with humour are a sure treat to the industry. Both the books have been published by Kapil Malhotra of Vision Books and are priced at Rs 75 each.