By Keshmahinder Singh | Malaysia |
I met Zakir Hussain ji in Detroit for the first time 1989 at a long weekend musical concert. This show was organized by a sitar maestro cum music teacher, Ustad Rajan Sachdeva.
Zakir ji performed magnificently that weekend and it was a dream come true just watching him perform with many performers including the late Ustad Rashid Khan, the vocalist who was a young man then.
I remember asking him, “Ustad ji, do you have classes in the Bay Area? He said yes I do. Mostly in the Summer and Fall”. I somehow whipped up some courage and asked him, Ustad ji, can I attend your classes? His response was, yes sure. How long have you been playing the tabla? I said, about 11 years. Then, he said, “Maynu sunao, ki vaja sakday ho?” I quickly got a tabla and played one kaida and payshkaar in teen taal, 16 beats.
He looked up and said, ok good. Come and join my advanced class in UC Berkeley, in California the next summer 1990. I was elated that he deemed me worthy of his advance class but my excitement got a reality check on the first day at class on campus. There were students at his class that already been with him for more than a decade. But the high of spending a few hours a week with him amongst his advance students was a life long memory to cherish. At one of his classes, his late father Ustad Allah Rakha Khan ji also came by and taught the students that evening. What a great blessing.
He’s so sharing as a Master Teacher and a mesmerising performer on stage. Zakir ji’s legacy shall live forever.
(KeshMahinder Singh, a founder and CEO of Malaysia-based Kollect Systems, is also an active Sikh volunteer in Malaysia)
RELATED STORY:
Tabla virtuoso Zakir Hussain passes away (Asia Samachar, 19 Dec 2024)
ASIA SAMACHAR is an online newspaper for Sikhs / Punjabis in Southeast Asia and beyond. You can leave your comments at our website, Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. We will delete comments we deem offensive or potentially libelous. You can reach us via WhatsApp +6017-335-1399 or email: asia.samachar@gmail.com. For obituary announcements, click here
