Theme calendar on Padma Vibhushan Ustad Zakir Hussain, titled ‘Taal Farishta’
Pune, 5th December 2025: Ustad Zakirji Hussain’s black and white photographs and the memories evoked on each page by renowned artists of India are being presented to the audience through a theme calendar. The name of this theme calendar is ‘Taal Farishta’ and it has been created by Pune-based industrial photographer Sateesh Paknikar. Paknikar gave this information in a press conference organized today.
Giving more information about the theme calendar, Paknikar said, “The image that comes to mind when you pronounce the name Padma Vibhushan Ustad Zakir Hussain, waves of consciousness and joy begin to spread throughout your body. For more than six decades, this great artist captured the hearts of all the listeners with the rotation of tones, rhythms and matras emerging from his magical fingers. This theme calendar is a remembrance of an extraordinary artist who went beyond all the gharanas of tabla playing and secured a firm place for the instrument ‘tabla’ in the hearts of artists, connoisseurs and ordinary listeners.”
Zakirbhai suddenly ended his earthly journey on December 15, 2024. Zakirbhai would have completed his seventy-fiveth birthday on March 9. While preserving his memory through the theme calendar ‘Taal Farishta’, I am bringing to the audience this bouquet of his twelve black and white photographs taken by me from 1985 to 2019, along with the memories evoked by renowned artists of India on each page, through this theme calendar, Paknikar also said.
This is a beautiful calendar for the year 2026, and as mentioned earlier, it contains twelve black and white photographs of Zakirbhai, in addition to the memories sent with affection by artists such as Pt. Hariprasad Chaurasia, Ustad Amjad Ali Khan, Pt. Suresh Talwalkar, Pt. Kumar Bose, Pt. Anindo Chatterjee, Pt. Ulhas Kashalkar, U. Shahikd Parvez, Pt. Vijay Ghate, Ustad Akram Khan and Pt. Yogesh Samsi. Notably, apart from reading these memories, connoisseurs will also be able to watch these videos of the artists by scanning the QR code given on each page, informed Paknikar. The theme calendar has been beautifully designed by the organization ‘Anunaad’, and Unique Offset has done its beautiful color printing on art paper and wire-o-wire binding.
The release of the said theme calendar will be held on the first day (December 10) of the 71st Sawai Gandharva Bhimsen Festival, which will begin at the Maharashtra Mandal Sports Complex in Mukundnagar, by senior vocalist Padmashree Pt. Ulhas Kashalkar and Talayogi Padmashree Suresh Talwalkar, and in the presence of Arya Sangeet Prasarak Mandal’s Executive president Srinivas Joshi, informed Satish Pakanikar.
