Here’s what tabla maestro Zakir Hussain bought with his first pay check as a 7-year-old

From the moment baby Zakir was brought home, music was inseparable from his life, the late musician had revealed. As Zakir recalled, his father didn’t whisper traditional prayers into his newborn ears as per custom. Instead, Ustad Alla Rakha chose to recite tabla rhythms

“I was brought home and handed over to my dad in his arms. The tradition was that the father is supposed to recite a prayer in the baby’s ear, welcoming the baby and putting some good words. So he takes me in his arms, puts his lips to my ear, and recites the tabla rhythms into my ears. My mother was livid,” he said. “‘These are my prayers. I worship through rhythm,’” Zakir shared, recounting his father’s deep devotion to both music and the divine.

Despite his experiments with the tabla at multiple levels, Zakir Hussain assimilated compositions from the traditional solo repertoire of gharanas other than the Punjab gharana to which his father belonged. (FB/Zakir Hussain)

This unconventional blessing set the stage for Zakir’s lifelong connection to the tabla. When Zakir could finally reach the tabla with his tiny hands, his father gave him his first set. By then, the rhythms swirling in his mind found their way into tangible beats.

However, Zakir’s enthusiasm for rhythm extended beyond the instrument. “If I didn’t have my tabla, I would steal my mother’s pots and pans to play — even with food still in them,” he’d admitted with a chuckle at the time.

The maestro’s childhood wasn’t just about mastering the art of playing the tabla. It was also about understanding the cultural depth and spiritual significance his father attached to rhythm. Growing up in a home where music was both a tradition and a way of life, Zakir imbibed lessons that shaped not just his career but his philosophy, the late virtuoso had said.

His journey reminds us that greatness often begins with small, heartfelt moments nurtured by family and tradition.

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