A teacher by profession, Pankaj Thapa is better known as an illustrator and cartoonist. Educated in Shillong, he adopted scenic Sikkim as his home since he arrived in 1983. He began with illustrating his school textbooks that annoyed his teachers no end. After dabbling in journalism for a bit, he joined Sikkim Government College and retired as Associate Professor of English after almost four decades of teaching in 2021. He’s best known for his topical cartoons that were a daily feature in The Sikkim Express till recently. Post retirement, he is a full-time illustrator and graphic artist. Some of his illustration jobs are The Boy Who Had A Dream a graphic novel based on a nomadic folktale by Rinpoche Ringu Tulku, Lepcha Folktales by Yishey Doma, Nepali folktales GolSimal by Pushpa Sharma, Around the Hearth by Kynpham S Nongkynrih, Monk on a Hill by Guru T Ladakhi, and Where We Come From Where We Are Going by Uddipana Goswami. He’s a founder member of North East Writer’s Forum and Sikkim’s first environmental group Green Circle among other institutions.