With her latest exhibition on the first anniversary of Ustad Zakir Hussain’s passing (December 15), Dayanita Singh pays tribute to her mentor whose guiding hand shaped her discipline of photography
The iconic image of Zakir Hussain in ecstasy while practising on his tabla. Pics Courtesy/Dayanita Singh
There are certain moments in the lifetime of an individual when history offers an invisible hand. It requires a bit of chutzpah to take that moment head on. It was one such moment in 1986 that led an 18-year-old Dayanita Singh on a pathway that interspersed with one of the brightest stars of the 20th Century Indian musical firmament, Ustad Zakir Hussain. The exhibition, Zakir Hussain — Learning to Learn: A tribute by Dayanita Singh, is a testament to that journey.
A moment in time
Oddly, the first South Asian to win the famed Hasselblad Award says photography was the last thing on her mind in 1986. “I was studying typography. The class assignment was to photograph the moods of a person. I thought I would capture Zakirji [Hussain] since he was performing, and because he was so expressive,” the 65-year-old celebrated photographer recalls.
The front and (right) back cover of Zakir Hussain’s first solo LP
As fate would have it, an organiser did not like that. A shove turned into a sliding door moment. “I waited on the steps for him to come out. When he did, I stood there, with hands on my hips, and said, ‘Mr Hussain, I am a student today, but someday I might be an important photographer,” she reveals, almost amused.
At the relaunch of Singh’s first book as the Zakir Hussain Maquette in Mumbai in 2019, Ustad Zakir Hussain shared the reason behind his decision to choose her as his mentee. As Singh tells us, “He said, ‘In her, I saw myself when I was 18; in America, wanting to do something but not knowing what.’”
The Ustad’s school of focus
But what does it mean to have a mentor who is a master of a completely different art form than yours? “I tell people, I am a student of the Ustad Zakir Hussain school of focus. There was a philosophical learning about what it meant to commit to the life of an artiste; the discipline, the focus, and the riyaz. You learn to always be the student. I don’t know if an arts school would have taught me that,” she admits.
Abbaji, Ustad Alla Rakha Khan with Ustad Zakir Hussain during a riyaz
No surprise then that the exhibition at the Dilip Piramal Art Gallery is titled ‘Learning to Learn’. This learning was not limited to philosophy. In shadowing the Ustad, Singh learned to hide in plain sight. “He loved the fact that I did not use a flash. I would photograph on 400 ISO film, and push it to 1600 ISO. As a habit, I also never photograph from the front of the stage. I choose from above, the wings, or the green room,” she shares.
Behind the scenes
The initiation into the green room of Hindustani Classical music was one of the great privileges, says the photographer who captured names and personalities like Ustad Vilayat Khan, Mohiuddin Dagar Sahab, Kishan Maharaj, and Pandit Ravi Shankar. Close to 200 photographs from these informal moments make it to the exhibition.
A view of the late Ustad’s accompaniments on the stage
Singh would also go on to photograph the maestro for his first solo LP with HMV. “When he suggested my name to the label, I got a little emboldened. I offered to design the LP cover. I had never done that before, or after,” she reveals.
These little moments offer an insight into the late Ustad’s personality. While his musical prowess needs no explanation, his empathy stands out. “He was so sure of himself. Yet, he spoke to every individual he met like they were the most important people,” she says Like the attendant at Karim’s in Delhi that he would visit just to hear the menu being recited like tabla bols. “The outpouring you witnessed upon his passing was because each person felt a personal loss,” shares the student.
Beyond the stage
A poster designed by Singh, using phrases uttered by the late Ustad Zakir Hussain
Every child who ever imitated the Ustad’s Wah Taj ad with inverted buckets, knows that connection. Singh, who shot him for the ad, and recalls it as an important moment. “A few classical musicians questioned it. They’d say that classical music is Shahi Biryani; why is he turning it into a common pulao? His answer was that ‘If the ad gets two more people into the audience, that is good enough. In that moment, he taught me that the dissemination of art is just as much the responsibility of the artiste,” she adds.
Pics/Rane Ashish
His passing is, understandably, a personal loss for the photographer. “In 2009, when I displayed at the Venice Biennale, he sent me a congratulatory message. I quite cheekily responded, “See, even I am a star now.’ He simply wrote back, “I hope you never start to believe that. Because the day you do, it will be over.’ That’s the kind of gentle wisdom he had,” Singh recalls.
ON December 13 to February 3; 8 am to 9 pm
AT Dilip Piramal Art Gallery, NCPA, Nariman Point.
LOG ON TO ncpamumbai.com
ENTRY Free (members); Rs 500 (all-day pass)
Also Catch
Ustads Fazal Qureshi (left) and Zakir Hussain in 2008
>> Forever Friends
John McLaughlin, Louis Banks, Ganesh Rajagopalan, Ranjit Barot, and V Selvaganesh among others in performance
ON December 14; 6.30 pm
AT Jamshed Bhabha Theatre
>> Screenings of Films on Zakir Hussain
ON December 14 and 15; 10.30 am onwards
AT Godrej Dance Theatre
>> Influence of different table gharanas on Zakir Hussain
ON December 14; 12 pm
At Experimental Theatre
>> Family and Friends
ON December 15; 6.30 pm
AT Jamshed Bhabha Theatre
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