Am Not Instrumental in Popularising Tabla, Says Ustad Zakir Hussain

Kolkata: Tabla maestro Ustad Zakir Hussain has denied he has been instrumental in popularising tabla in its present form and said he only harvested on a land readied by other masters.

Hussain, speaking at the 'Masterclass with the Legend' session at INFOCOM 2017 here last night, also did not agree that he could be described as the 'Godfather of fusion'. "I have reaped the harvest of the seed planted by past masters. Nothing happens instantly, there has to be a foundation laid," he said when the moderator observed he has been instrumental in popularising tabla in its present form.

"I cannot take claim (of popularising tabla). All I can take claim is making it a little bit more visible, not by playing tabla but by selling tea," he said with a chuckle alluding to a popular TV commercial featuring him. The Padma Bhusan recipient said words such as fusion and jugalbandi are thrown around as people lack a better language to best describe what musicians do.

"What we do is, we interact, we converse as musicians. We do not fight," said Hussain who had performed with masters like Pt Ravi Shankar, Ustad Vilayat Khan, Pt Hari Prasad Chaurasia, Pt Shiv Kumar Shaarma and Pt Bhimsen Joshi.

Hussain also elaborated how Indian classical music came out of the havelis of zamindars and palaces of maharajas in post-1947. Referring to Satyajit Ray's 1958 film 'Jalsaghar', he said it refers to a period when music stayed in intimate surroundings.

"But as the musicians were left to fend for themselves after 1947 (with the decline of Royals), the musicians did not know how to market the product. From performing before 70-80 connoisseurs they have to perform before thousands of people," he said. But as the artistes expected the new bigger audience to know the intricacies of their music, a big divide appeared between them and the audience, Hussain said.

"Then came musicians like V D Paluskar, Bade Ghulam Ali, Begum Akhtar among some others who developed other avenues to project the art forms to the masses. And afterwards the era of really organised young musicians began with the arrival of Ali Akbar Khan, Ravi Shankar, Pandit Bhimsen Joshi among others," he said.

So the time of Indian music being projected as entertainment art form began in 1950s, Hussain said. He also fondly recalled how as a seven-year-old boy, he accompanied his father Alla Rakha to Kolkata during winter and watch him perform in four venues in and around the city. "In that one month I learnt so much (on) how to focus on delivering a magnetic performance," he said. (PTI)