Zakir Hussain was a mentor for every musician my age, says flautist Rakesh Chaurasiya who won two Grammy awards with him

Flautist Rakesh Chaurasia with tabla maestro Zakir Hussain

I came to know that he wasn't feeling well at one concert, but I didn't know when it became a critical situation. Before the tour, he looked fine. I don't know what happened as far as his health is concerned. The last time I met him was in India, before he went to the US. Three weeks ago, I was in Italy. He was supposed to be in the same town in Rome. When that got cancelled, I got worried.

I used to [watch him] and wonder if I would ever get the chance to play with him. Once, in Scotland, he called me and said [we should] play together. I couldn't believe it. Subsequently, we started playing together, and when we were on tour, each day spent with him on stage was a learning process.

When I'd ask him questions, the information he had transcended the knowledge of the tabla alone. He was a mentor for every musician of my age. When we'd head out to walk and indulge in conversation, I could see he had a great way of thinking. He wanted to bring all the young talent on stage. He had a big audience, and they also wanted the upcoming Indian artistes to be given a platform. He was an amazing human being and musician. The tabla starts from ‘A', that is Alla Rakha [Hussain's father], and ends with ‘Z' Zakir Hussain.

At times, while playing with him, I'd say, ‘This is too difficult'. He'd respond saying, ‘I will not consider you a child. I will not come to your standard; you need to come to my standard. I have my audience [to play for]. He'd make you realise that if he has called you, he has seen a fire in you, and you had to work to excel. He was an amazing person who made jokes and kept people happy. At times, I'd [cringe] at the joke I'd say to him, but he'd enjoy it. He never wanted them to be filtered. We'd walk and swim together. If I wanted to do something, he'd accompany me. Perhaps, he did this to make us comfortable because he knew that if we were comfortable off-stage, we wouldn't be comfortable on it.

While touring for two months, each day we'd be meeting and interacting with each other. If there was a distance between the artistes, that wouldn't work. He encouraged us to be friends. I recall, he'd check out sunglasses and say, ‘We should wear this'.

I wanted to have an album with him and be with him on a CD jacket. Then, one day, he took my recording and asked, ‘It's good; can I release it from my company?' It's called Zara. ‘Za' for Zakir and ‘Ra' for Rakesh. This year, I also got a Grammy Award with him.

He would be thinking about how we could incorporate our Indian music with the western world and take our music all over the globe. This was his intention. It was never about ‘me' and ‘you'.

He had merged all the gharanas together and created his own [sonic identity]. On stage, he would listen to the artiste accompanying him and understand what he was attempting to do. A performance with him was different. He would interact with the artiste's music, and make it a treat for the viewer. At times, he wouldn't rehearse. He'd come from Paris, and [his co-artiste] from Patna, and they'd meet and directly perform on stage.