In the mid-1980s, I happened to spot Zakir Hussain in a well-known store in Bombay's Taj Mahal Hotel. I had not met him formally before that day, but he appeared to be an approachable kind of person, despite being a world-famous musician. However, greeting him without any introduction seemed an invasion of his privacy. And, after all, what could I say? That he played the tabla brilliantly, his dexterity and skill were magical to watch on stage, that I loved his music? Instead, I discreetly followed his movements around the shop from the corner of my eye, but just as he was about to leave the store, he gave me a lovely smile and said hello. Even though some forty years have passed since that random encounter, I can still recall his warmth and friendliness.
Since that time, and in many cities of the world, I have seen Zakir Hussain perform with a variety of musicians, both Indian and international. His extraordinary playing and the extreme sense of rigour that he brings to his art are clearly manifest.
Among the many cherished evenings with Zakir's music, a most memorable one was seeing the path-breaking Shakti on stage in the 1970s. The Shakti sound was so exhilarating that I felt I was on an airport runway and my heart was about to take off.
The training that Zakir Hussain received under his father, the extraordinary Allarakha, started at a very young age, but it was not long before he began to receive acclaim for his own sound and style. As a musician, Zakir Hussain was considered a child prodigy; today he is considered a genius. Despite the international reputation and huge following that he now has, he wears his fame lightly. He remains a man of tehzeeb and humility. Zakir has broken many records and won many awards, but is always the first to credit the 'Holy Trinity' of tabla players, Pandit Samta Prasad, Pandit Kishan Maharaj and his father, for their groundbreaking contribution to music, and for the fact that they elevated the very status of the tabla in the first place.
Having worked on a number of conversation-based books with the leading names of Indian cinema, I felt bold enough to try and approach this gifted musician with the idea of doing a similar book. Although I am neither a musicologist nor a music expert, I believe the discipline and passion that drive many artists to keep growing, whether as film-makers or musicians, are much the same. And so I convinced myself that even if my questions were not those of an expert, Zakir Hussain's answers would help music lovers like myself to better understand his music and to discover the path his life has taken. There is so much to learn from Zakir Hussain.
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