THE PRINCE IS DEAD, LONG LIVE THE PRINCE!
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You carry the image of some early achievers as prodigies and refuse to believe they are aging. Ustad Zakir Hussain was one such. To his credit, he looked like a twenty year old even in 1989 (when he must have been 38) as I first saw and heard him in flesh at the Mood Indigo festival of IIT Bombay during my first year. It was love at first sight for all of us freshmen while the seniors were already in love with him. For Mood Indigo was Zakir’s favourite student festival and he made it a point to attend every time he could.
And therefore I got more opportunities to watch him play over the next four years. Both solo and as accompanist to the other greats of Hindustani Classical that graced the All-Night Classical event at MI (which after our time sadly became a much curtailed version). That initiation into listening to classical music then developed into a life-long hobby. And Ustadji has had a big role it.
Why was Zakir so famous among the Indian masses unlike any other classical maestro? Why could he become the conduit to help them to the crossover from popular music into Hindustani music? Was it just his boyish looks and affable nature? Well, while those surely played a role, it was more so because of how he approached music and his performances.
As a consultant/coach convinced of the person/client-centred approach, I can now see how Zakir was ‘audience-centered’ in his performances. No other classical musician flexed his music as much as him to get to the common denominator in the audience he faced at any given time. He even resorted to gimmicks (which some purists scoffed at, but I doubt any of them could manage even if they tried) like mimicking a train on the tabla, to get the audience going with him. He’d then make them clap to the basic bols, gradually increasing the tempo and complexity to get them to a high, and eventually to a point where they couldn’t keep up with his mercurial fingers and collapsed ino a hearty laugh, with him smiling along. He could connect with you there… where you dropped your guards… and then take you on a journey that you’d not forget ever. For he was not just an entertainer, he was also an artist of the highest order. No matter what the pundits have to say about how he used the microphone to his advantage - I only see that as a sign of an artist, a professional in tune with the times. In terms of pure skill and mastery, Zakir belongs to the top echelon of Ahmed Jan Thirakwa, Chatur Lal, Alla Rakha, Kishan Maharaj, Samta Prasad but with a difference. No wonder his contemporaries and those who followed - Kumar Bose, Taufiq, Swapan Chaudhuri, Bickram Ghosh et al have followed him into a more eclectic deployment of the instrument.
The ‘Wah Taj!’ maestro kept only growing on me over the following years and decades, and continued to stay special even as my explorations of Hindustani classical artists and their music went broader and deeper. Of course the image kept updating as I got exposed to the works of Zakir, the international legend. His collaborations with some of the western world’s best musicians are second only to Ravi Shankar’s. I shall mention just two here, ‘Tabla Beats Science’ and ‘Shakti’. The Shakti Trilogy CDs are among most treasured and most played in my largish personal collection. Attending his fusion concert in Thane some 15 plus years ago at a large maidan was such a rush for someone who seldom ventured into live rock concerts (despite being a fan of classic rock).
Zakir also composed music scores for a handful of art movies. And how can one forget Sai Paranjpye’s Saaz where he also played the character of Himaan Desai, a younger love interest of the protagonist! We were all waiting to see him when the movie came on Doordarshan. He was the same goofy and adorable on screen too. Some guys live their lives to the fullest, don’t they!
And the admiration and adoration continued as the decades rolled, like for most of you. Though the maestro was now in his late seventies, the mind continued to picture him much younger. One refused to believe that the icon was aging. And therefore the news of his departure came as a shock to me, as to the crores of his followers. I didn’t want to believe the social media reports till the official confirmation came and delayed writing this eulogy by a day.
Once the wave of loss and sorrow ebbs, am sure his fans like me will continue to feel his presence and celebrate his existence like nothing changed. That’s the elixir of life exclusive for artists and writers - for we can continue to read, watch and listen to them long after they are gone. And with someone like Zakir, both his music and his personality will stay forever enshrined in our hearts.
