The week started off on a rather heartbreaking note, as the world woke up to the shocking news of tabla maestro Ustad Zakir Hussain’s unfortunate demise. While the music world comes to terms with this unfathomable loss, we take a look at his meteoric rise from humble beginnings to becoming arguably the greatest tabla player of his generation! bollywood news | entertainment news live | latest bollywood news | bollywood | news18 | n18oc_moviesLiked the video? Please press the thumbs up icon and leave a comment. Subscribe to Showsha YouTube channel and never miss a video: https://www.youtube.com/c/SHOWSHAIndiaFollow Showsha on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/showsha_/Follow Showsha on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/showshaFollow Showsha on X: https://x.com/news18showshaFollow Showsha on Snapchat: https://snapchat.com/t/6YeotZeyMore entertainment and lifestyle news and updates on:https://www.news18.com/entertainment

The tabla fell silent as Ustad Zakir Hussain, one of the greatest players of the Indian drums known for his ‘dancing fingers’, died at the age of 73 in a San Francisco hospital on Monday. The tabla maestro was suffering from complications due to a chronic lung disease, his family said in a statement.

“He leaves behind an extraordinary legacy cherished by countless music lovers around the globe, with an influence that will resonate for generations to come,” the statement read.

Zakir Hussain had been in hospital for the past two weeks and was shifted to the intensive care unit (ICU) after his condition deteriorated.

According to his sister, Khurshid Aulia, the music legend passed away “very peacefully”.

Zakir Hussain is the eldest son of legendary tabla player Ustad Alla Rakha.

A child prodigy, the tabla virtuoso began his professional career at the age of 12 accompanying Indian classical musicians. By the age of 18, he was touring internationally, winning acclaim for his accompaniment, dazzling solo performances, and pioneering collaborative work with world musicians that elevated the status of the tabla in India and across the world.

He has collaborated with well-known musicians such as George Harrison, cellist Yo-Yo Ma, and jazz musician Herbie Hancock.

Zakir Hussain was also nominated for seven Grammy awards and has won four. He has also received the Sangeet Natak Akademi Award, India’s highest honour for artists.

The Prime Minister’s Museum and Library (PMML) has appealed to Congress leader Rahul Gandhi to return the collection of historical letters belonging to former Prime Minister, Jawaharlal Nehru. These letters were removed from public access in 2008 at the request of Sonia Gandhi, the then-chairperson of the United Progressive Alliance (UPA), and have since been stored privately.

The collection, originally transferred to the PMML, formerly the Nehru Memorial Museum and Library, in 1971 by the Jawaharlal Nehru Memorial Fund, comprises 51 boxes containing personal correspondences PM Nehru exchanged with some of the 20th century’s most prominent figures. Among them are letters to Albert Einstein, Jayaprakash Narayan, Edwina Mountbatten, Padmaja Naidu, Vijaya Lakshmi Pandit, Aruna Asaf Ali, and Babu Jagjivan Ram. 

“We understand that these documents may hold personal significance for the ‘Nehru family.’ However, the PMML believes that making these historical materials, more widely accessible would greatly benefit scholars and researchers. We would be grateful for your collaboration in exploring possible solutions,” the PMML’s letter reads. 

The letter to Mr Gandhi follows an earlier correspondence to Sonia Gandhi in September 2024, in which she was requested to return or digitisation of the documents. 

“In September 2024, I wrote a letter to Sonia Gandhi requesting that the 51 cartoons from approximately eight different sections, which were part of the Nehru collections at the Prime Ministers’ Museum (formerly the Nehru Memorial), be either returned to the institution, or we be granted permission to scan them, or provided with their scanned copies. This would allow us to study them and facilitate research by various scholars,” said Rizwan Kadri, historian and author Rizwan Kadri who is among the 29 members of the PMML Society, which Prime Minister Narendra Modi heads. 

The PMML was originally established in PM Nehru’s former residence, the Teen Murti Bhavan in New Delhi.