Tabla Maestro Zakir Hussain Was Everyone’s Best Friend
Zakir Hussain was a walking remembrance of the divine said Amira Dvorah, at event honoring Zakirji’s memory at Asia Society, New York
(Photo: Ravi Shankar, Zakir Hussain, and Amira Dvorah, from left. Drexel University, Philadelphia, 1991. © Amira Dvorah.)
February 11, 2025
By Amira Dvorah
On February 1, 2025, Asia Society, New York, honored the memory of tabla maestro Zakir Hussain with music and stories about him. Here are the remarks by Amira Dvorah, a friend of Zakirji. She is a musician and artist who lives in Philadelphia.
It’s such an honor to be here. We came up from Philadelphia, just minutes before everything started. I was asked to say a few words about my early days of knowing Zakirji. I just have funny stories. I don't know how many to tell.
I first met Zakirji at (Grateful Dead band percussionist) Mickey Hart's ranch (near San Francisco). I don't even know how I got there or why I was there, but some friends were there organizing a Grateful Dead benefit concert. “OK, I'll come.”
I remember getting out of the Volkswagen bus, looking around, and the most interesting music I ever heard was coming out of the barn and just floating through the whole area. I thought well, you know that is a little bit Indian, but a little bit not. And that was one of the earlier recording days of Shanti (a group of Indian and Western musicians with Zakir Hussain). That was one of the first fusion bands that was happening. It must have been 1971.
So, I looked around and I saw all these beautiful horses were just walking wherever they wanted to: on the porch, in the pasture. And I said “Mickey, can I ride a horse, can I ride one of your horses?” He said, “Sure, if you can catch one, you can ride one.” In those days I did a lot of horseback riding, so that wasn't a problem. I found a beautiful horse and saddled him up and spent my day listening to this divinely beautiful music coming out of the barn and just meandering with that horse all around the property.
Then the band took a break. They all came out. I was still on the horse. Zakir came up to me and grabbed the horse and held him by the reins. He looked up at me and said “You know… he threw me.” And that was the beginning of a beautiful friendship.
(Later on, I noticed the horse looked just like the one named McJagger on a Stephen Stills album cover. I never had a chance to fact check though. Stephen Stills, of the musical band Crosby, Stills, Nash, and Young.)
This was the 70s. It was the Bay Area of California.
(Photo: Zakir Hussain being patted on the head by his father and teacher Alla Rakha. Vedic Heritage Inc., Hempstead, New York. © Amira Dvorah.)
One time, Zakirji decided he wanted to borrow my car. I had an old Mercedes and I don't know even how I managed that. But it was a cool car. And I said “OK, you can have the car for a couple of days.” And days go by, and I don't know where my car is … and finally he shows up tells me all these amazing stories that happened which made him go back over the (San Francisco Oakland Bay) bridge again and not come to Berkeley where I was. I looked at him and said “You could just ask me to have the car longer, it's OK.”
Later, I moved to the East Coast. And then I was the tambura player that was available for any concert in the New York and Philadelphia area.
I loved doing that …so I was the tambura player and the driver. And so, it would be going to the airport and picking up Zakirji, taking him to the concert, getting ready for tambura playing, taking him back somewhere else. It was hilarious, I was privileged to hear many incredible never-recorded solos on my dashboard as we were driving here and there. So, you know, just so many stories like this.
I have to say one of the most interesting stories was the very last story that happened on January 27th. That was a week ago. In the Sufi Islamic tradition, 40 days after somebody passes is a very special celebration of their life. It is a time for the people who are mourning to celebrate that person and time for the person to feel free to go to the next thing they have to do. That's the 40th day celebration.
And so, I counted the days (starting with the burial day) and it was Monday the 27th. Which was also was the special holiday on the Islamic calendar called Mi’raj which happens on a slightly different day every year. The basic meaning of that holiday is the Prophet Muhammad (May peace and blessings be upon him) wanted to meet the invisible God and not have to die to do it…you know, he wanted to meet the invisible God as a being, that was still a being on earth. And so, it's celebrated that he rode a beautiful-winged beast, (called a Barak) to go meet God. And that's what's celebrated. People stay up and pray all night.
And I thought, only Zakir-ji would have his 40th day on this holiday. I mean how extraordinary that was.
We all miss him. Everyone who knew him considered him their best friend and he was everybody's most beloved friend and most humble. And I'll say also the meaning of Zakir in the Arabic language is after the prayer called “Zikr”, which is “remembrance of God.” And he was just born that way, you know. He was a walking remembrance of the divine and we all appreciated his path.
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