The legendary masterful tabla virtuoso Zakir Hussain passed for his heavenly abode on December 15 in the US. He had been battling health conditions for quite some time, and had been admitted to a hospital in San Francisco. Director Mahesh Bhatt penned a heart warming obituary to honour the legend…
He wrote, “Zakir Hussain, the masterful tabla virtuoso, was a child of Mahim, a place that pulsed with Mumbai’s pluralistic essence. I once asked him where he draws the wellspring of his music when performing on international stages like San Francisco, London, or Geneva. His answer was rooted in his beginnings: “The wells are there,” he said.
He spoke of his father, the legendary Ustad Alla Rakha, who would play tabla taap near his infant ears, embedding rhythm into his very soul. He described Mahim’s chaotic yet harmonious soundscape, where the Ganpati Bappa Morya chants, the Azaan from the Mahim Dargah (Dargah of Makhdoom Ali Mahimi), and the church bells of St. Michael’s fused seamlessly with the din of traffic. “Those are my roots,” he said, “and they continue to echo in everything I play.”
Years later, I met him at an airport in Delhi. As we waited for our flight to Mumbai, I asked him if music still had the power to transcend, to elevate the soul. He smiled wistfully and said, “Music was meant to take you to the divine, to let you soar. But today, much of it numbs you instead. That’s the schizophrenic condition of the music world now.” Yet, he believed that among the cacophony, there were still people who used music to touch their highest peaks, and they made it all worthwhile.
Zakir’s music carried the essence of his Mahim upbringing wherever he went, grounding him as he soared to global acclaim. His tabla wasn’t just an instrument—it was a vessel, a voice for the harmony of diversity, the chaos of humanity, and the memory of a home that forever sang in his veins. Rest in peace, Zakir. You were not just a maestro; you were the music itself.”
