Thread by @karhacter

Time to recall an anecdote about #ShivkumarSharma. Ever since i first watched a live concern by him and Pt Hariprasad Chaurasia in NuMaVi school in Pune in the early 90s, was mesmerised with Pt Shivkumar Sharma and the magic he created with santoor (1/n)
thehindu.com/entertainment/…

That concern began a quest for listening to him at every possible opportunity - be it live or on an audio cassette - and read whatever one could access about the great artiste. One such great piece i read wasn't about his santoor but about his skills with tabla (2/n)

It was about how Pt Sharma had played tabla for the famous song by Lata Mangeshkar - "Chaliya Beimaan" in Guide - during the final recording. Despite it being such a well-documented tale, one couldn't really fathom the fact that he was as versatile a table player as santoor (3/n)

Sometime in 2017 or 2018, had an opportunity to meet him at the Mumbai airport.
Me: Can i ask you something?
Pt Sharma: Haan, haan le lijiye.
Me: Nahi sir, selfie nahi chaahiye, kuch pooch sakta hoon aapse?
Pt Sharma: Arre yeh toh badhiya hai. Boliye boliye (4/n)

I asked him how did he actually end up playing tabla for that amazing song in Guide. He burst out laughing. "Arre, woh to Pancham ki wajah se. Ek baar usne thaan li, toh koi kuch nahi kar sakta tha. (It was all because of Pancham. Once he made up his mind, that was it)." (5/n)

Then we chatted for a while walking towards the boarding gate. He ended the conversation saying he was glad someone actually wanted to chat "these days" instead of only clicking selfies (6/n)

As he joins Panchamda and Latadidi on the other side, how I wish I should have clicked that selfie. Go well, Panditji #RIPShivkumarSharma