Kaka Hathrasi

Prabhu Lal Garg

Born:18 September 1906

Died:18 September 1995

He was a Hindi satirist and humorist poet of India.
He wrote under the pen name Kaka Hathrasi. He chose “Kaka”, as he played the character in a play which made him popular, and “Hathrasi” after the name of his hometown Hathras.
He has 42 works to his credit, comprising a collection of humorous and satirical poems, prose and plays published by various publishers.
He also wrote three books on Indian classical music under the pen name “Vasant”.
In 1932, he established Sangeet Karyalaya (initially Garg and Co.), a publishing house for the books on Indian classical music and dance and started publishing a monthly magazine Sangeet in 1935.
Kaka Hathrasi had many talents – as a writer, poet, musician, musicologist, actor and a fine painter.
He was a regular performer of Hindi Kavi Sammelan. In fact, he was one of the poets who established Hasya (comic) Kavi on Kavi Sammelan stage.
He was awarded Padma Shri by the government of India in 1985.
The Delhi-based “Hindi Academy” awards the annual Kaka Hathrasi Award for outstanding contribution in the literary field.