THE SOUL OF DAGARVANI

Legendary Guru, Dhrupad maestro from the illustrious Dagar family, Ustad Zia Fariduddin Dagar breathed his last on May 8, 2013 after a brief illness leaving behind many students who committedly take forward the tradition in its truest formA Ustad Zia Fariduddin Dagar (1932 � 2013) was born in a family of Dhrupad musicians. He learnt singing as well as playing the Rudra Veena from his father Ustad Ziauddin Khan Dagar, a doyen of the illustrious Dagar family and a court musician of the Maharaja of Udaipur. Ustad Zia Fariduddin Dagar belonged to the nineteenth unbroken line of Dagarvani Dhrupad maestros.

The Dhrupad Kendra, an institute for training Dhrupad vocalists, was established in Bhopal in 1981 and he served the cause of Dhrupad music from there till 2007. He has passed on the sweet nectar of Dhrupad tradition to many of his students including Ritwik Sanyal, Pushparaj Koshti, Nirmalya Dey, Gundecha Brothers, Uday Bhawalkar, Bahauddin Mohiuddin Dagar and Marianne Svasek who are taking it forward to the rest of the world. For Ustad Fariduddin Dagar, music was a form of 'Sadhana'and a way to reach the soul.

MEMORIES:A He was a very encouraging elder who motivated the younger generation to wholeheartedly pursue their musical careers and was also a fine composer of music. He was dedicated always to teach students. He was very simple and would hardly talk. But would always be ever willing to share his knowledge with all interested students - Ustad Wasifuddin Dagar, Nephew of Ustadji We attribute all of our musical knowledge and understanding to his deep, subtle and unique Talim (education). Chhote Ustad will be remembered for the revival of Dhrupad music in this era. We pray for his soul to rest in MUSIC - Gundecha Brothers I heard Ustadji at the Brooklyn Academy of Music in New York City along with Ustad Nasir Aminuddin Dagar and it was the conceptual birth of SPIC MACAY. They sang 'Poojan Chali Mahadev' in Raga Malkauns.I spent nearly two weeks with Ustadji at his 'Dhrupad Gurukul' ashram near Panvel. He used to get up at 3.45 am and we used to practice 'Mandra Saptak' till 7 am. Then again we used to practice singing during the daytime. He was warm and nice, but a great task master. He used to see that each one of us would practice for atleast 10 hours in a day. It was not easy to understand the depth of his music

- Dr Kiran Seth, Founder, SPIC MACAY I feel blessed that Ustad Zia Fariduddin Dagar was my guru. I lived with him at his home for over 12 years. I first met him at the age of 15 years in Dhrupad Kendra as a first batch student and since then have been learning from him. He used to wake us up at 4am in the morning and would teach us for many hours of the day. He was an extraordinary person; he always encouraged in me a willingness to pursue the depth of music. May God grant eternal peace to the great soul

- Uday Bhawalkar His was the first live concert I attended in June 1995 at Daly College, Indore. I had the opportunity to have a conversation with Ustad ji while he was having cup of tea after the concert. I still remember him saying to me "Music has no language, anyone in the world can enjoy it...."For the next few days I did not get over that Dhrupad concert..... - Jagadeesh Rao, Volunteer, SPIC MACAY (As told to Jaywant Naidu)