L Shankar + Zakir Hussain = HEAVEN!!!

Attended this fantastic concert at the Page auditorium in Duke University on Saturday!

Shankar & Gingger on their double violins along with Zakir on the tabla. There is a reason why they prefix Zakir's name with Ustad!

I believe that Shankar and Gingger are the only two double violinists (?) in the world today....and this instrument is his invention. The instrument itself handles notes and tonal capabilities ranging from the cello, the viola and the violin.....

What a spectacular concert it was....my wife and I were simply blown away by the sheer virtuosity and versatility of the musicians....

On some of the more faster renditions, in the focused light coming down from the roof of the stage, I could actually see the dust emanating from the bow of the artistes as it traversed the strings on the violin.....unbelievable!

Zakir is an extremely intuitive player.....he can read the changes in the lead instrument almost before it even happens.....it's a treat to watch him adapt ever so quickly....

After the show, the artistes came down and mingled a bit with the crowd.....very gracious and nice on their part actually....I mean, to them it might not be a big deal....but to someone like me, it's a once-in-a-lifetime deal! Zakir was kind enough to pose for a photograph with me - something I'll treasure for the rest of my life!!!

What amazed me was the humility of these artistes. Off the stage, they are normal people like ourselves....easy going and fun to be around....specially Zakir....he was such a sport managing to talk one or two sentences in various languages based on the people he was saying hello to....

But on stage, they are so completely different.....exude a kind of confidence, power and genius that few can match.

One crib though about the audience - I dont mean to generalize, but a few amond the desi audience sucked big time! They ignored repeated requests from the organizers as well as the artistes themselves to not indulge in flash photography and videography and continued along merrily without giving a damn....and then there were others that hogged up the artistes' time like crazy thereby depriving others of an opportunity to meet them.

Most of the audience were great though....very polite and thoughtful.

All in all, a very memorable experience I must say.....something I will cherish for a long time....

Cheers.