The tabla speaks

Sitting cross-legged on a table, Professor Zakir Hussain said nothing as students filtered in. Over the general noise of his class, "Introduction to the Music of India," he calmly started to play the tabla — a two-drum classical percussion instrument of North India. All fell silent.

An international phenomenon and national treasure in India, his native country, Hussain enjoys a rock star-level status and fan base for his skills as a classical North Indian tabla virtuoso.

A child prodigy, Hussain started to touring early on, and by the time of his first visit to the United States in 1970 he was performing more than 150 international concerts a year. Teaching is also familiar territory for Hussain, though his time at Princeton marks a return after many years of focusing primarily on his performance.

"When I first came to America I started out as a teacher, at the University of Washington in Seattle ... there's an Indian music school based in the San Francisco area run by the great maestro Ali Akbar, and I taught at his school for about 12 years almost," Hussain said. "So, a large part of my life in the United States has been spent in teaching ... but since 1982 onwards I've concentrated more on performing."

Hussain is highly regarded for his achievements in the advancement of contemporary world music. His most famous collaboration, "Shakti," was created with John McLaughlin and L. Shankar. Hussain has worked with a broad range of artists and groups including George Harrison, Joe Henderson, Van Morrison, Jack Bruce, Tito Puente, Pharoah Sande, Billy Cobham, the Hong Kong Symphony and the New Orleans Symphony.

A composer as well as a performer, Hussain co-composed the opening music for the Atlanta Summer Olympics of 1996 as well as soundtracks for the films "In Custody," "Little Buddha" and "Vanaprastham." Currently, he is working on a collaboration with banjo player Baila Fleck and bassist Edgar Mayer that was commissioned by the Nashville Symphony to commemorate the opening of their new facility in September 2006. "So I'm getting into bluegrass," Hussain affirmed, "and my conception or understanding that grass is always green is wrong!"

At Princeton and abroad, Hussain teaches his craft of tabla and the essentials of North Indian classical music on two levels: "In this kind of class atmosphere, the whole idea is just to bring some information to the students so that they would at least ... be able to attend an Indian music concert and sort of follow what's happening and at the same time understand the deep roots that it represents on a more elementary basis."

Beyond promoting understanding and fostering appreciation in those largely unfamiliar with Indian classical music, Hussain also spends quality time one-on-one with highly dedicated students who devote years of their life to learning the tabla.

"Because they are willing to give their time to it, you must give your time to them," he said. Manjul Bhargava, a young mathematics professor at Princeton, is one of Hussain's students. Bhargava was the catalyst in bringing Hussain to Princeton, and nominated him to the Council of Humanities.

Hussain's father was tabla legend Ustad Alla Rakha, who passed away in 2000. He frequently speaks of his father, who was inspired to learn the tabla in a dream. According to Hussain's account, his father began dreaming as a little boy of a man's face, and heard a voice that said 'find him.' Moved, he ran away from home and, learning from traveling musicians, started playing the tabla on his own.

Discovered for his natural ability, he was brought before a master of tabla to be heard. The master asked the boy who had taught him and he answered, 'you,' for the tabla master was the face he had seen in his dreams. The master, not understanding, asked the boy to put his hands on the drum — surprisingly, the position of the boy's hands was the same as that position taught only by the master himself. Hussain believes for this reason that his father was meant to play the tabla.

However, when it comes to his own appreciation for the tabla, he says it is harder to describe.

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"I don't know if I ever asked myself the question if I wanted to play this instrument," Hussain said about the tabla. "I just played the instrument and if felt right — it felt like ... it was a part of me. It was something that was going to always be there with me."

The lifelong connection to the instrument and to the life of a disciple is an ever-present force in Hussain's class.

To the class, Hussain is an intensely spiritual musician, but also an open, charming individual who enjoys making his class laugh. "Professor Hussain immediately strikes you as a very warm individual," Dabby said. She added that he is "able to communicate with everyone individually."

On a typical day, Hussain asked his class, "Are you taking notes?" Laughter. "D." More laughter. "Do you think I'm joking?" Pause. "Yeah, I'm kidding." Even more laughter.

Class member Uma Tadepalli '07 has known about Hussain since she was a little girl. Her parents were influential then in organizing a trip to North Carolina for Hussain, and she has a photograph with him to prove it. Tadepalli's own interests seem to intersect with Hussain's — she has an extensive background in South Indian classical dance and studied vocal classical music as well.She said she was looking forward to seeing how Hussain would teach an art so difficult to articulate to a group of Westerners. Asked for a favorite moment in the class, Tadepalli quicky responded, "Whenever he plays is where he shines."

When asked why he is so drawn to teaching, Hussain was quick to respond. "There is this exciting information — this tradition I belong to — and I feel that it's important that people know about it ... what this music is all about, where it comes from, what it represents, how it is performed, what it contains ... it's nice to be able to offer this information."

And the students in MUS 257 are glad to have it.