Architect Gerard da Cunha began to collaborate with the legendary illustrator Mario Miranda about 14 years ago, just after he'd branched out into publishing to bring out a sumptuous book on Goan houses.

"The book was successful and this was when Mario came to me," da Cunha said. "He had done a book called Inside Goa, and wanted my help in rewriting and redrawing it. After that was done, he asked me if I could do a book on his work. It was also very successful. I ended up doing five books on Mario, along with two diaries.”

Mario Miranda is, of course, a legend in the world of cartooning. He received a posthumous Padma Vibhushan in 2012, a few months after he passed away at the age of 85. For two decades, his cartoons capitivated readers of The Economic Times and The Illustrated Weekly of India. But the books he published with da Cunha's firm show another side of his talents: gentler, meditative illustrations about life around the world.

This month, da Cunha put 10,000 of Miranda's works on display as he opened the Mario Gallery in Panjim, in the reception area of his architectural studio. The gallery will sell original drawings as well as merchandise such as prints, cards, mugs, tiles and books. This is the second gallery dedicated to Miranda in Goa; the first one is located in Porvorim.

Scroll.in asked da Cunha to pick out his five favourite Mario works. It wasn't easy, he said, to choose only five from the tens of thousands the illustrator created over his long career. But here's what he narrowed down on.

1. The bachelor apartment



“This is one of my favourites,” says da Cunha. “It was done originally for a magazine called Cocktail in Bombay. It’s done on yellow paper and it's got a wonderful detail about it: the kind of magazines that the man is looking at, the books and the overall mess in the apartment.”

2. Man at the corner



“This was done by him when he was in New York for an exhibition. Once Mario stopped working for The Times of India in the eighties, he became a freelancer. He was taken to New York by the United States Information Services for a month to draw whatever he wanted to. It is here that this water-colour painting was realised. He did a wonderful series of pictures there, which reflected the spirit of New York. This one is one of my favourites in that series.”

3. Mangeshi Temple



“I chose this because it is a hot favourite among his illustrations. The Mangeshi Temple is the most famous temple in Goa. It's a straightforward, pure sketch: it's got these beautiful buildings and has a symbolic significance to Goa.”

4. Village bus



“This is a crazy one! It's based on the old Goan buses he used to travel in till about 20-25 years ago. This bus scene is something he used to draw from childhood as he was very amused by it. He’s drawn himself sitting on a seat with two big-breasted women sitting next to him. He was always looking at things and exaggerating them.”

5. Strange heaviness



"This one is just a cartoon which expresses his deadpan humour very well.”