Zakir Hussain in Interview: Sleeping in School, Learning Music at Night and Melding Traditions

Zakir Hussain was playing at a Mumbai concert at 3.30 am with Ravi Shankar – his father the legendary Allah Rakha seated in the front row – when news of him receiving the Padma Shri arrived from the nearby Times of India offices.

Hussain saw the buzz off stage and thought somebody had died. Once Shankar was done playing, the announcer whispered into Shankar’s ears. Shankar smiled and said, “Ladies and gentlemen, Ustad Zakir Hussain has won the Padma Shri.”

This was the first time Shankar had called Hussain an ‘Ustad’. His father was soon up on the stage with a garland. It was a special and emotional experience for Hussain, he says in his BBC ‘Face-to-Face’ interview with Karan Thapar.

The tabla maestro passed at San Francisco in the US on December 15. He was 73. Watch the 2000 interview for more stories from his life.