Ustad Zakir Hussain took tabla to global level

Chhatrapati Sambhajiangar: Legendary tabla maestro Ustad Zakir Hussain passed away. His death has left music lovers and fans in mourning in the world. The admirers started expressing their condolences and sharing their memories with him. This newspaper also spoke with some of his admirers and fans from the city.

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Tabla legend dedicated 1 day early for city

Rajas Upadhye (organiser, SwaraZankar): We organised four programmes of Ustad Zakir Hussain in the city from 2013 to 2023. Earlier, he used to perform only in Mumbai and Pune. We requested to him that the audience from other places like Chhatrapati Sambhajingar, Nashik and Goa, are eager to listen to him. He (Zakir Hussain) gladly accepted the request.

The tabla maestro decided to give one day in a year for the audience of the city. When the first show was held in 2013, the audience from Nanded, Amravati and Jalgaon attended the programme. The audience literally requested us to allow them to stand, at least, in the hall as there were no seats left. The last programme was ‘Hazir’ (Hariharan Zakir) held in 2020. He stopped coming to the city in the post-Covid situation. We were very fortunate to meet and listen to him. People of the city will always remember in days to come.

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Ustad Zakir– My Bhaisahab

Sanjeev Shelar (ardent fan): The Swarjhankar programme started in the city in 2012. It used to be a three-day programme yearly. In 2016, a programme of Pandit Shivkumar Sharma and Ustad Zakirbhai Hussain was organised in a ‘Legends in Concert programme.

As one of the organisers of this programme, I was excited and curious to meet Zakir Hussain. My friends (organisers) and I went to the airport in the city to receive him at that time. Seeing him, I started to bow to him, but he stopped me halfway, took both my hands in his hands and said, “How are you? Have you been waiting for a long time?” I was completely taken aback by this. He told me to not call him as Ustadji or Pandiat, as Bhaisahab is the best. In just half a minute, this man had made me feel like I was meeting a family member. In another incident, Bhaisaab himself brought his instruments on stage. He did not allow us to take his tabla and other instruments to the stage and just said, “Ye meri Saraswati hai, she will get angry.” I became completely cold. I have never seen an artist like his. This showed why he became so great.