Anuradha Pal on guru Ustad Zakir Hussain's death: I am still in shock; he helped me shine in a male-dominated space

Tabla player Anuradha Pal explains how losing her guru, Ustad Zakir Hussain, is a personal loss; recalls how he would ensure she aced the craft of tabla playing

For Anuradha Pal, tabla maestro Ustad Zakir Hussain’s death is a personal loss. The Limca Book of Records holder for being the world’s first professional female tabla player, Pal trained under Hussain and is still in shock. “Zakir bhai was my guru, father, brother and friend. I met him when I was five, when I just started playing his tabla in the green room at a concert organised by my family. When he saw me do that, he asked me if I wanted to play the tabla. I emphatically said, ‘Yes’. So he made me sit on his lap, put my hands on the tabla and taught me the basics. That’s how my journey as a tabla player started. My formal training continued with both Abba ji (Ustad Allarakha Khan; tabla maestro and Zakir Hussain’s father) and Zakir bhai and I became their ganda-bandhan disciple,” shares Pal, as she talks about Hussain, who passed away on December 15.

Anuradha Pal with Ustad Zakir Hussain

She goes on to recall the “lifetime of wonderful memories with him”. Pal shares: “The way he taught me, my conversations with him on music, the tabla and life will always stay with me. Indian classical music is based on improvisation and spontaneity, and he taught me to be adaptable and ready to take up any challenge - be it playing a 15-beat rhythm cycle with him without learning the taal or expecting me to accompany any vocalist, instrumentalist or dancer with ease, without any rehearsal. When I would press his legs after the concert, he would give me a composition and expect it to be ready by next morning. That ensured that I practised all night to play the right sound, with balance and tonality. I would send him recordings of all the concerts I played. He would listen to them and give me honest feedback and dressing-down, whenever needed.”