It isn’t fair or even necessary to critically analyse the work of musicians who have not just been around for many years but have been extremely successful in their work, receiving worldwide acclaim. Which is why every time Zakir Hussain comes to the City for a performance, people eagerly wait to listen to the maestro in person as they are certain about enjoying the music that’s a class apart. 

That was the case this year too at ‘Bhaaratha — the feel of India’ where violin maestros Ganesh and Kumaresh along with Taufiq Qureshi on the percussion complemented the rhythm of the tabla expert. It was a musical evening worth every minute of frustration one underwent handling Bangalore’s traffic to get to the venue for the event. The concert was a celebration of India’s 59th Republic Day and the music was  a way to bring together the essence of India as a country with diverse population.

Being one of the rare concerts, where all artistes were at the venue well before the scheduled time, it wasn’t about Zakir alone. The audience was treated to a marvellous performance by Ganesh and Kumaresh who emanated the classical rhythms of South India through the violin while Taufiq Qureshi was splendid with the percussion, his solo performance inviting much accolade.

Music can break all barriers and this was proved yet again by the quartet. One didn’t need to be a connoisseur to appreciate the musical event. Despite the fusion of music in every performance, each artistes’ individual rhythms stood as a distinct representation of the different regions of the country ensuring everybody in the audience had something to relate to.

The principle aim of the concert was to raise funds for Fame India — Foundation for Action, Motivation and Empowerment — an organisation working towards empowerment of differently-abled people.