It’s tough having the legendary Ustad Shahid Parvez Khan as your father. But it was tough love that brought out the prodigious talent in sitar maestro Shakir Khan, finds Suchismita Pai.
Shakir Khan was home for the Eid holidays and, this time, he got to celebrate the festival with this father, Padma Shri Ustad Shahid Parvez Khan. That’s a rare treat for the young sitar maestro, on whose able shoulders rests the legacy of one of the world’s oldest and greatest classical traditions: the Etawa Gharana.
For the 34 year-old musician, home in Pune is a place filled with revelry and impromptu music sessions. It was Shakir’s great-great-grandfather Ustad Imdad Khan who founded the Etawa Gharana, which has focused exclusively on the sitar and surbahar, a variant of the sitar.
The eighth in an unbroken chain of musical talent, Shakir is very much his father’s son. He has spent years of rigorous training under his dad, and says his heart lifts at the very hint of praise from his reticent mentor. Trained initially as a Hindustani classical vocalist and on the tabla, Ustad Shahid Parvez Khan is recognised as one of the finest living sitar players in the world. Now his son is making him proud with his brilliant performances at some of the most prestigious music festivals across India.
Performing with his father and solo, Shakir has taken the joy and subtlety of the Etawa Gharana to audiences in the US, Canada and Europe, including a performance at the iconic Woodstock Festival in Poland in 2008.
He has also made a foray into international fusion, with performances with the European jazz ensemble, Taalism, and Indian bands Mukti and Soundscape. Indeed, from Ustad Imdad Khan, whose performance was lauded by Queen Victoria, then monarch of England, to the highly decorated Ustad Shahid Parvez, Shakir Khan has had rather large shoes to fill.
Excerpts from a chat with the young maestro....
この記事は Harmony - Celebrate Age の October 2016 版に掲載されています。
7 日間の Magzter GOLD 無料トライアルを開始して、何千もの厳選されたプレミアム ストーリー、9,000 以上の雑誌や新聞にアクセスしてください。
すでに購読者です ? サインイン
この記事は Harmony - Celebrate Age の October 2016 版に掲載されています。
7 日間の Magzter GOLD 無料トライアルを開始して、何千もの厳選されたプレミアム ストーリー、9,000 以上の雑誌や新聞にアクセスしてください。
すでに購読者です? サインイン
Wrapped In Love
My Dadi Meenakshi Banerji was a short and tubby woman with great gumption who raised 10 citizens of the world.
Sharing Her ‘Mettle'
To me, this bell metal vaarpu, which weighs about 80 kg and is at least 120 years old, is an enduring reminder of my paternal grandmother Aleyamma Abraham.
Medical Overload
Your doctor may walk the talk while writing out your prescriptions but here’s the thing: make sure he hasn’t prescribed one too many.
An Act Of Faith
One act of kindness can save someone’s life.’
Armed For Business
The sheer glory and glamour of the Olive Greens motivated me, a third-generation soldier, to join the Army. Thus I enlisted, brimming with enthusiasm, in 1984.
Capture the fracture
Fracture owing to osteoporosis can have a serious impact on a person’s health and quality of life. Dr Abhijit Y Pawar, consultant orthopaedic spine surgeon at Kokilaben Dhirubhai Ambani Hospital, speaks about the significance of timely intervention in preventing fractures
Friends With Benefits!
Incontinence need not interfere with life.
Yellow, Yellow, Gritty Fellows!
It was a nippy Sunday morning but nothing that would keep the rugged Delhiite away from the annual Senior Citizens’ Run supported by Harmony at the Airtel Delhi Half Marathon. Not even the mood-dampening smog that had descended on the capital a week earlier could do that! So said 74 year-old Sarla Rani and her band of regulars at the run who arrived at Nehru Stadium on the morning of 19 November even before the sun did. Soon they were joined by busloads of silvers from all over Delhi, Noida and Gurugram.
Magic By The Sea
From Lord Jagannath to oceanside beauty and green initiatives, Braja Sorensen uncovers the many layers of Puri.
Indian Rhapsody
In a span of two decades, Roshen Dalal has attained renown for her painstakingly researched books on history and religions in India. The Puffin History of India and The Puffin History of the World, each in two volumes, have not just received critical acclaim but are bestsellers as well. Her other books include The Religions of India: A Concise Guide to Nine Major Faiths; Hinduism: An Alphabetical Guide; The Vedas: An Introduction to Hinduism’s Sacred Texts and The Compact Timeline History of the World.
