Zakir

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“You are Shruti, and I am Laya,” he quipped when I introduced myself backstage after one of his concerts. Shruti is Sanskrit for sound, pitch, and melody. Laya – the word used for meter, rhythm, tempo, and time in Indian classical music – and Zakir Hussain was the man who mastered her. His timing faltered just once – he left us too soon.Born to another family and gender, they might have named him Laya. Zakir, which means one who does zikr, is a form of devotion that involves rhythmically repeating Allah’s name. One could say he inherited this relentless riyaaz and devotion. When he was born, like other Muslim children, his father should have first whispered a prayer in his ear. Instead, the great Ustad Alla Rakha whispered a theka – rhythms – into his ear, making his mother Bavi Begum livid. Alla Rakha responded that rhythm was his prayer.They could have named him Amir Khusrau – the 13th-century itinerant who merged Persian, Arabic, and Indian musical traditions, laying the foundation for what would become Hindustani classical music. Zakir would go on to blend Hindustani classical with traditions around the world – Western classical, jazz, rock, bluegrass, Celtic, and African.Perhaps fittingly, Zakir wasn’t named Khusrau or even known by Qureshi – the family name. Nor was he named after India’s third president. He was a singular musician with his own signature. When Zakir was born, his father was ailing with a serious heart condition. A neighborhood fakir, Gyani Baba, sought Zakir’s mother, Bavi Begum: “You have a son. The next four years will be dangerous for him; protect …