Kaak

Who is Kaak?

Harish Chandra Shukla, pen name Kaak, is an Indian cartoonist who works in the Hindi language. He is the foremost Hindi cartoonist, having worked with leading newspapers such as Jansatta, Navbharat Times, Dainik Jagran, Rajasthan Patrika, and others, in a career spanning several decades His pen-name Kaak means ‘crow’, which according to a Hindi proverb, is the bird that raises its raucous voice when someone tells a lie.

Kaak was born 16 March 1940, at village Pura, Unnao, Uttar Pradesh, the son of a freedom fighter. He trained to work as a mechnaical engineer, but gave up the field to pursue cartooning. His first cartoon was published in Dainik Jagran in 1967. He has worked as an editorial cartoonist with Jansatta from 1983 to 1985 and with Navbharat Times from July 1985 to Jan 1999. He has also published in Dinman, Shankar's Weekly, Current, Blitz, Ravivar, Itwari Patrika, Dharamyug, and Saptahik Hindustan. National Hindi dailies such as Dainik Jagran, Aaj, Navjeevan, Rajasthan Patrika, and Amar Ujala have carried his work. At present he contributes to Rashtriya Sahara and his cartoon website kaakdrishti.com, besides publishing a tabloid, Kaaktoons