A short thread. 😊
The below video was one of the last interviews he gave.
@ZakirHtabla @sangeetnatak @AAKSarod @niladri_kumar @AyaanAliBangash @kalaramnath
Later he ran away from home to Lahore to become a student of the revered Ustad Kader Baksh, another stalwart of the Tabla and Pakhawaj. In 1936, Abbaji joined the AIR in Lahore. He was 17. 😊
He was the first ever Tabla soloist of the AIR station in Bombay.
Very few know he also composed music for over thirty films. Some of them include 'Bewafa' (1947), Laila (1954),
Abbaji's name appears on the screen as 'A R Qureshi', hence easily missed by many film historians.
Between 1962 to 1985, his international tours with Sitar maestro Pandit Ravi Shankar @ragaravishankar gave him an unprecedented global recognition. 😊
![](https://pbs.twimg.com/media/D5TRneRU0AI_NKb.jpg)
Check him out along with Mridangam vidwan Guru T V Gopalakrishnan, Violin maestro @Drlsubramaniam, Pt Shiv Kumar Sharma and others.
![](https://pbs.twimg.com/media/D5TVRhIU4AEOEoP.jpg)
![](https://pbs.twimg.com/media/D5TYZFiU4AAXgAG.jpg)
Like his father, Zakir was also a child prodigy who went on to make history in the world of music!
Check this image from a family outing to the Taj Mahal. 🙂
![](https://pbs.twimg.com/media/D5TZuinU0AERVRo.jpg)
![](https://pbs.twimg.com/media/D5TaRYMVUAEdM_5.jpg)
![](https://pbs.twimg.com/media/D5TmUKcUwAAkPbg.jpg)
![](https://pbs.twimg.com/media/D5T5t6GUwAAsVAD.jpg)
![](https://pbs.twimg.com/media/D5VtY3qUUAEE9Gu.jpg)