Poem: Death of a Santoor – The Wire

Death of a Santoor

To Ustad Zakir Hussain

When I heard the master of santoor isNo more, I played his jugalbandi with youOn the tabla, the strings in vilambit layaFelt like droplets of water on the grass,I could hear the flight of a grasshopper.Nature spoke to nature. We are hereTo listen, the nature of each instrumentMerges with the nature of another,And music is born. You join him midwayLike a ship sets sail to the tempo of wind.What were you telling each other? This isAll there is? Tat Tvam Asi: Thou art that,You are each other. The sound of yourHands in trance, this is all that remains ofHistory, this is what heals the bloodThat flows in the absence of music. YourNames bring your gods together, theyHear you like children before the wordWas born, you play on. Fishes in the bloodNibble on the flesh, old landscapes dieBefore the eyes, time gently goes to sleep.

[The death of the eminent santoor player, Pandit Shiv Kumar Sharma, marked the end of an era in Indian classical music. He had singularly popularised the gentle string instrument, the santoor, worldwide. He played along with some of the finest classical musicians in India and abroad. Sharma, long with the flutist, Pandit Hari Prasad Chaurasia, also composed music briefly for some romantic musicals in Indian cinema. Sharma also played memorable jugalbandi (duets) with Ustad Zakir Hussain, the legendary tabla player. The photograph of Hussain standing alone near the pyre at Sharmas funeral, seeing his old friend and fellow musician depart from this world, was a poignant and touching reminder of love and friendship in an atmosphere of hatred and violence. This tribute to the late maestro is dedicated to his friend, Zakir Hussain, and their performances together.]

Manash Firaq Bhattacharjee is a poet, writer and political science scholar. He is the author ofThe Town Slowly Empties: On Life and Culture during Lockdown(Headpress, Copper Coin, 2021),Looking for the Nation: Towards another Idea of India(Speaking Tiger, 2018), andGhalibs Tomb and Other Poems(London Magazine Editions, 2013).

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Poem: Death of a Santoor - The Wire