PrashantNews
Two virtuosos Zakir Hussain and Pt Shiv Kumar Sharma passed away in a short span of two years creating a deep void in the Indian classical music.
Both the music greats left behind a timeless rhythmic legacy that will inspire generations.
At the age of 72, Hussain succumbed to a debilitating respiratory condition idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) on Sunday in San Francisco in the US.
On May 10, 2022, santoor maestro and composer Pandit Shivkumar Sharma had passed away at the age of 84 in Mumbai due to a heart attack. The next day, Sharma was cremated with full state honours surrounded by his family members, friends and admirers.
Among those grieving for the demise of Pt Sharma at the cremation ground was the tabla maestro, whose moving tribute as a pallbearer encapsulated decades of camaraderie, mutual respect and a shared journey in Indian classic music. A moving picture of Hussain who stood sadly and witnessed his friend’s cremation went viral at that time.
The great bond between the two legendary figures was their strong links with Jammu. In fact, both the music greats were Dogras. While Pt Sharma was born in Jammu shair, Hussain’s father and great exponent Alla Rakha was also born in Ghagwal in Jammu region.
Paying tributes to Hussain, H C Gupta, an Indian classical music enthusiast said Ustad Allah Rakha, Pandit Shiv Kumar Sharma and today with the demise of Ustad Zakir Hussain, Jammu has lost all her greatest artists, one by one. As the son of Ustad Alla Rakha, he carried forward his father’s legacy, becoming one of the most celebrated tabla players of his generation.
They were all proud sons of the soil. Once when recalling the thunderous applause received by him and Pt Shiv Kumar Sharma during their music concert in USA, Alla Rakha had quipped that it was bound to happen because after-all, it was two Dogras performing together.
“A terrible loss to the Indian Classical Music, indeed! May he attain a place in Jannat- e- Firdaus!,” Gupta said.