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Arts that transcend caste and religion
 It is doing the things that we like to do that makes life blessed. But how many of us can make this claim? Zakir Hussain does. A Bharatha Natyam dancer by profession, he says that he leads a life as per his aspirations and dreams. Art has no language or religion. It is enough if the two essential factors, Interest and Involvement, are present in an individual.
A Muslim by birth, Zakir Hussain faced many adversities when he chose dancing as his profession but he accepted them as challenges to be overcome and now is one of the leading Bharatha Natyam dancers at present. He studied Fibre Technology in Salem but his interest lay in dancing. Choose a job you love and you will never have to work a day in your life said Confucius. Thus, Hussain out of his extreme interest in dancing chose this as his profession.
He has all the requisites of a dancer -- tall, lean, round face with intense and expressive eyes. He was very much impressed by the famous Bharatha Natyam dancer Chitra Vishveswaran's dance recitals and came to Chennai with only one aim -- to have her as his guru. He met her many times and reiterated his desire to learn from her. She finally consented and he became her disciple, in fact her first male disciple.
His dance practice started at 0600 hrs and went on till 2300 hrs daily. This intense practice session continued for three years and after learning various expressions, movements and intricate details from her, he geve his first stage performance for Mylapore Fine Arts club in 1993 in front of a large audience.
 He admits that he was quite nervous because he had to prove himself and his talent to the audience. Whatever he had learnt from A to Z in Bharatha Natyam, he owes it to his guru, says Zakir. He goes in to rhapsody when he talks about her. He compliments her saying that she is perfection personified, whether it has to do with make-up, lighting, clothes or jewels. He is very lucky to have her as his guru, he adds.
Apart from dance, Hussain has a lot of interest in Tamil Literature, reads plenty of books, especially those of the great poets Kambar and Kalamega Pulavar. He considers his association with Kanchi Kamakoti Peetam as a milestone in his life. On March 21, 2003, Jayendra Saraswathi and Vijayendra Saraswathi presented him with a Bharatha Natyam award at Narada Gana Sabha. This honour, according to him is the biggest moment in his life and that no awards or praise can equal it, he says with emotion. He has visited many foreign countries like Germany, Malaysia, Australia and US in the company of senior dance artists. Abroad, he uses orchestra comprising mostly of local Tamilians for whom he is full of praise. Their interest and involvement are to be lauded, he feels.
Hussain can recite Sahasranamam and Purushasuddham fluently and compares Vaishnavism and Islam which he feels have a lot in common -- philosophy of surrender to God, for example. Swami Nithyananda's 'Open the door and let the breeze in' line attracted him and after meeting in person he says that there have been a lot of changes in his life and his mind has become clear. Hussain has presented many Dance-Dramas and his most popular one is 'Cinderella'. He has acquired numerous friends after coming to Chennai and the most important ones are Revathi Sankaran and Rajaram and his family ( Sundari Silks). Revathi Sankaran who saw his dance performance ten years back wrote a poem praising it and thus their friendship grew. Now their relationship is that of a mother and son. Rajaram and his wife show a lot of interest and concern in his cultural growth.
About his future plans, he says that he prays for peace in Sri Lanka. He would like to go there and teach dancing to people who are interested. There is no limit to human endeavour and when you commit yourself to something and work hard for it, you can achieve glory without fail. Zakir Hussain is a shining example of this.
-KTSRI
Translated by Radha N.
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