Hyderabad was treated to soothing tabla beats by arguably one of the greatest living artistes of the instrument — Zakir Hussain last weekend at Shilpa Kala Vedika auditorium to a packed crowd.
Sixty-four year-old San Francisco resident and Padma Bhushan awardee, Hussain in his inimitable style engaged the audience, despite being a bit under the weather as he explained his delay in commencing the performance. But the next 90 minutes was nothing short of magic, with newly discovered sounds effortlessly interspersing with tried and tested tabla beats and a soothing sarangi as an accompaniment.
Dubbed a solo performance, Zakir Hussain graciously and generously showered praise on his much younger supporting artiste — one of India’s rising sarangi stars – Sabir Khan, son of another legendary name, the late Ustad Sultan Khan.
Hussain explained a beat routine in chaste Hindi at the height of a musical trance – “ aaiye, baithiye, chai peejiye, table sunte hue aaram Keejiye, aur phir ghar vaapas jaaye ” – all on the tabla!
As the unforgettable ad that many Indians grew up watching on Doordarshan goes – Wah Ustaad Wah!
