When Kolkata said ‘wah ustad’ in awe of his music

Braving the rain, Kolkatans made sure there was a packed house at Nazrul Manch on Sunday. And why not? It was an opportunity of a lifetime for them as Ustad Zakir Hussain presented an ensemble with Naveen Sharma, Ananth Krishnan and Sabir Khan at the grand finale of the

Swara Samrat Festival

.
When he took the stage amid a thunderous applause, Pt Bickram Ghosh said a few words about him.

“I have known him forever. I have hero-worshipped him and learnt a lot. For years, I kept copying him and did not succeed,” Bickram said while Zakir made some fun movements from behind him, which invited peals of laughter from the audience. Even as Bickram received a bouquet, Zakir joked, “Bolne ka payment,” and added, “Mein bolunga toh bologe ke bolta hain.” What followed was an aesthetically and technically rich musical presentation that left connoisseurs of the tabla in awe of the maestro.

Another ensemble that got a huge round of applause was the Hindustani-Carnatic flute

jugalbandi

by Pravin Godkhindi, Shashank Subramanyam, Pt

Subhankar Banerjee

and Satish Patri. The musicians were so much in sync that it was difficult to believe that it was their first full-fledged piece at any festival.
Meanwhile, the festival that was dedicated to Ustad

Ali Akbar Khan

saw his senior-most disciple — Pt Rajeev Taranath — play Raag Madanmanjari along with Pt

Yogesh Samsi

on the tabla.

“I will start with alaap but then what will happen I don’t know. Nobody knows. Only he knows — Ustad Ali Akbar Khan saab,” said the 86-year-old sarod player. Pt Venkatesh Kumar left a huge impact with his Raag Marwa and Hameer. When he sang Payoji maine on request from the audience that was not willing to let him leave the stage, the drizzle outside seemed like the rain gods were invoked through his magnificent rendition. He got a standing ovation too. Earlier in the day, Manju Mehta opened the ceremony with her sitar performance in Raag Madhumanti.