Life and career
Hathrasi was born as Prabhu Lal Garg. 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.[1][2] 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. Sangeet is the only periodical on Indian classical music and dance that has been continuously published for over 78 years.[3][4]
He was awarded Padma Shri by the government of India in 1985.[1] Today, each year, the Delhi-based "Hindi Academy" awards the annual Kaka Hathrasi Award for outstanding contribution in the literary field.[5][6][7]
