Mesmerising Zakir Hussain

The phone rang at 5:30p.m. IST. It was Dad. He told us to scurry to Nazrul mancha within an hour as he had managed to get hold of tickets to the Zakir Hussain solo performance to be held there that evening.

Zakir Hussain Program, Nazrul Mancha

A surge of adrenaline ran through my blood. My mother, sister and me were ready in 15 minutes and we hit the road. We reached just in time. The gates opened and we were in Nazrul Mancha.The view perfect. As Ustad Zakir Hussain walked upon stage the audience gave a standing ovation to the maestro. He was awarded the Ustad Karamatulla Khan Music Award 2014.

After the speeches of the dignitaries Ustad ji dawned the stage. To accompany him was present Sabir Khan from the Sikar Gharana School of Music playing the Sarangi. What followed cannot be expressed by words..
It was mesmerising to hear the Tabla played by the best Tabla player in the world. The magic he created with the tabla was nothing short of miracles.

While playing certain 'Boles' the way he painted the stories were amazing. While playing a certain 'Bol' he compared the slower beats and the faster beats with our solar system. The slower beats signified the outer planets which move slower around the sun while the inner planets move faster around the Sun signifying the faster beat. It seemed Ustad Ji is from another galaxy altogether.
The audience was captivated and spell bound by music at its purest and best form.

The program ended five hours back but as I write about it I still hear the deep bass and mind blowing tabla playing in my ear.

Zakir Hussain ji thank you for enthralling us and make us believe with your humility and genius the beauty of Indian Classical Music.

Happy Beginning

Time does fly. I remember the start of 2013 vividly as if it were 5-6 months back. But time is moving in 4th gear. Another year has passed.

It was a good beginning to 2014. My cousins Muchku and Chotku had come over. We had a musical start to the new year with Chotku playing a Bach prelude on his guitar. Muchku was drowsy but lightened up seeing a Jonathan Stroud book(Heroes of the Valley). After the musical session with my sister, Mithi,  on the keyboard and Chotku on the Guitar we decided to watch a horror movie. El Orfanato. The fun and challenging part was convincing Mithi to watch the movie. Muchku and me succeeded on our endeavour and it was a good watch with Mithi getting scared at times.
Moving on, played cricket in the afternoon followed by lunch and an evening siesta. The hilarious honest trailers were great #Muchku suggested it.
The day is coming to a close as the new year kick starts I hope it turns out to be a good one.

Lets remember the lessons the past year taught us and lets strive to be better human beings and make the world a better place in our own ways.
Cheers everyone have a great 2K14!

The cousin gang..
Chotku, Muchku, Mithi, Me(from left)