Zakir Hussain: What His Father Whispered Instead of Prayers at His Birth | – Times of India

Legendary tabla maestro, Ustad Zakir Hussain passed away on December 16, 2024, (Monday) in San Francisco after suffering from idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis. He was 73 years old. As per reports, Zakir Hussain was battling idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis for quite sometime and was hospitalised two weeks ago. However, his condition worsened and he was later admitted in the ICU.
Zakir Hussain was born on March 9, 1951, in Mumbai to tabla player Alla Rakha and Bavi Begum. He was the couple’s eldest child who grew up to be one of the greatest tabla players of all time.
Affirmations have a huge role to play in our careers, and after you get to know this story about Zakir Hussain and his father you’ll believe in it too. Zakir Hussain’s career was shaped by music and its seeds were sown at the very moment he was born. His father, Alla Rakha, had whispered something in his ears when he was a baby which became a powerful affirmation that guided his entire life and career. In one of his earlier interviews, Ustad Zakir Hussain had once shared a family anecdote. He recalled how his father, who was a Muslim by birth but a devotee of Hindu goddess Saraswati and lord Ganesha, always wanted him to be a table player just like him. So much so that when he was born, his father had recited tabla rhythms in his ears instead of prayers!
Recalling the incident, Zakir Hussain once said in an interview, “I was brought home, I was handed 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 in some good words. So he takes me in his arms, puts his lips close to my ear and recites some (tabla) rhythms in my ears. And my mother was livid and she said, ‘What are you doing? You are supposed to say your prayers and not these rhythms.’ And he said, ‘Well, these are my prayers… This is how I prayer’. He said, ‘I am the worshipper of goddess Saraswati and lord Ganesha. This is the knowledge (vidya) I got from my teachers and I want to pass it on to my son. This is exactly what he is going to do. So, why not start early and give him these prayers?”
And rightly, so! Ustad Zakir Hussain started his musical career at the of 13 and over the years went on to create his own legacy as a tabla maestro. He received the Padma Shri in 1988, a Padma Bhushan in 2002, and a Padma Vibhushan in 2023. He also won several awards, including five Grammy Awards.
Ustad Zakir Hussain is survived by his wife Antonia Minnecola, and their two daughters Anisa Qureshi and Isabella Qureshi. He also has two brothers Taufiq Qureshi and Fazal Qureshi, and a sister Khurshid Aulia.
While the legendary tabla maestro is now no more with us, his legacy will be remembered for generations to come.