Ustad Ahmed Jan Thirakwa: The tabla maestro nonpareil BIOSCOPE

got me ample sleep, which I wasn’t getting for a while. And proper sleep and home workouts resulted in a good diet.” He also indulged in his favourite childhood sport, cricket. “I ‘m lucky that I live in the mountains so I could go out hiking and play cricket,” he adds. Indian-American rapper, Raja Kumari, too went back to “doing yoga and classical dance,” apart from trying to adopt healthier options in daily life. “I’ve also become more interested in conscious eating, ayurveda, and have really kept focus on a vegan diet,” she says. For rapper Rafter this period meant improved “attention” towards fitness. “Now the regular workout is a source of motivation for me to follow a balanced diet and stay disciplined in my fitness goals,” he says.

It’s important to utilise this time in achieving health goals, believes, Yo Yo Honey Singh. “It’s imperative for a performer to stay fit, because you’re on stage, singing, dancing, shouting at the top of your voice,” he told us earlier.

Born in a family of music practitioners in Moradabad, Uttar Pradesh in 1892, Ustad Ahmed Jan Thirakwa had the rare distinction to be accompanist to a galaxy of celebrity artists like Imdad Khan, Allah Bande Khan, Rajab Ali Khan, Mushtaq Hussain Khan, Bhaskarbuva Bakhale, Allauddin Khan, Hafiz Ali Khan and Rais Khan.

The ustad started vocal music lessons under Ustad Mithoo Khan at an early age. He also learnt sarangi lessons from his father Hussain Bux but later trained with Ustad Munir Khan of the Farrukhabad gharana who made him practice nearly 16 hours a day. Fascinated by Ahmed Jan’s nimbleness with the notes, Munir Khan’s father Kale Khan gave the boy the nom de plume ‘Thirakwa’ since his fingers ‘danced on the drum’.

Ahmed Jan was growing up at a time when traditional patronage for musicians was beginning to dry in the royal courts. In search of better patronage Hussain Bux shifted to Bombay with his two sons as the city was coming up as a center for the nascent recording industry and also had a thriving theatre tradition with strong music element. The move proved fruitful when Ahmed Jan developed his historic association with the legendary Bal Gandharva, the greatest actor-singer of the Marathi stage of the 20th century. The GandharvaThirakwa partnership, the Ustad’s artistry in reproducing intonations as beautifully as Bal Gandharva rendered them in song, is part of Marathi theatrelore. His mastery in improvisation brought the young Thirakwa acclaim as both an accompanist and soloist.

1936 onwards Thirakwa was court musician to Raza Ali Khan, the Nawab of Rampur. His five-year stint there allowed him to interact with leading musicians from the Agra, Jaipur, Gwalior and Patiala gharanas. In a system plagued by hierarchy and inter-gharana rivalry, Thirkwa distinguished himself as the perfect accompanist who brought out the best in both

HE WAS ASSOCIATED WITH THE BHATKHANDE VIDYA PEETH, LUCKNOW AND THE NCPA, BOMBAY. HE WAS CONFERRED THE PADMA BHUSHAN AND THE SANGEET NATAK AKADEMI PURASKAR.

senior and junior artists. Regarded North India’s most eminent percussionist, he paved the way for tabla maestros like Kanthe Maharaj,

Pandit Samta Prasad and Ustad Allah Rakha Khan to be stars in their own right. He also groomed a string of disciples like Nikhil Ghosh, Pandit Lalji Gokhale (percussionists), Pandit Jagannath Bua Purohit and Pandit Bapu Patvardhan (singers).

Later, Thirakwa was associated with the Bhatkhande Vidya Peeth, Lucknow and the NCPA, Bombay. For his contribution to music he was conferred the Padma Bhushan and the Sangeet Natak Akademi Puraskar. He passed away on January 13, 1976.

The writer is an awardwinning author.

SOURCED Ustad Ahmed Jan Thirakwa

Guru Randhawa