Google doodle celebrates Ustad Alla Rakha's 95th birth anniversary

On the occasion of Ustad Alla Rakha’s 95th birthday, Google doodle has dedicated its homepage to honour the famous table maestro. The alphabet ‘o’ in the word ‘Google’ has been replaced with tablas that Ustad is playing. Except for the letter ’l’, all the letters have attained a slight round shape to match the tablas.  Alla Rakha is the father of famous tabla player Zakir Hussain. Born on 29 April, 1929, in the Paghwal region, Jammu, Ustad Alla Rakha was fascinated by the sound and rhythm of the instrument at the age of 12. His passion drove him to run away from home and was taken under the wings of Mian Kader Baksh of Punjab Gharana for table and was the disciple of Ashiq Ali Khan for voice and Raag Vidya. [caption id=“attachment_1501463” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] Google doodle for today.[/caption] Alla Rakha  frequently accompanied soloists and most famously partnered with Pandit Ravi Shankar. He also worked for the All India Radio, Bombay, in 1940 and had a brief stint with the Hindi cinema when he composed music for films between 1943-48. He was married to Ravi Begum and had three sons. He was awarded the Padmi Shri in 1977 Sangeet Natak Akademi Award in 1982. Ustad Alla Rakha died of  a heart attack on 3 February, 2000 in Mumbai.       Check out the video of him and Ravi Shankar playing at Woodstock –