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Mehboob Nadeem was born into a highly illustrious family of traditional musicians of the Agra Gharana. He is the grandson of the legendary Ustad Vilayat Hussain Khan (Pranpiya) and Gayan Samrat Ustad Azmat Hussain Khan (Dilrang). Mehboob was initiated in the art of music at a very young age by his father Ustad Yakub Hussain Khan and uncle Rafat Khan. He also recieved training from the world renowned sitar maestro Pandit Arvind Parikh. He has been the recipient of many prestigious music scholarships and has won accolades in a number of music competitions. In 1991 he won the first prize in the All India Young Talent Contest from Nagpur and Khandwa and also a Bombay University Music Competition Trophy in the same year. He has worked and performed in India and in England, including with Ealing Music Support Services, Leeds College of Music, Redbridge Music Service and others.

Sushma Zaveri is an outstanding vocalist from Agra Gharana. She is a disciple of Pandit Dinkar Kaikini and presently she is learning from Ustad Aslam Khan. Sushma has received the Sangeet Visharad for vocal and Sangeet Madhyama for Sitar. She is a devoted teacher and has been training students for the last ten years. She has conducted workshops in Paris and London. She has performed all over India, UK, Europe, and Caribbean Islands.
One comes from a great musical lineage and the other has no musicians in her family. Despite their different upbringings Mehboob Nadeem and Sushma Zaveri have worked together for several years dazzling audiences in Europe and India with their beautiful music

They were recently felicitated by Prince Charles of England.

Even though Sushma Zaveri was not born into a family of musicians she really enjoyed music as a youngster. Her mother noted her interest and started music lessons for her. “I started training under Shri Vinayak Kapdi. Later I joined Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan and learnt music from Pandit Dinkar Kaikini. I completed my Sangeet Visharad under his guidance” says Sushma.

As a youngster Sushma’s career goal was to become a doctor. “The day I was to take my medical entrance exam, my mother died and that changed my life forever.  I decided to do my BA in Zoology and later did my DMLT. All through, I continued my musical training. Later my Guru suffered from a heart attack and was not allowed to teach for nearly a year. At this time I decided to learn Sitar. I started learning from Mehboob Nadeem and this was the beginning of a wonderful musical association“

Mehboob Nadeem comes from a great musical lineage. “Since my all members of my family were musicians, I have always been surrounded by music. My father was a vocalist. My uncle was a sitar exponent. When I was only 11 years old, I decided that music was to be my career and chose Sitar as my instrument. Even though I was doing informal Riyaz with my father since I was a very small child, I formally enrolled as a student of both uncle Rafat Khan and Shri Arvind Parikh who is the senior-most disciple of Vilayat Khan” says Mehboob Nadeem.

Did he feel nervous about making music his profession? “Not really. Since I come from musical family I was very familiar with the musical career path. I was teaching music and earning money from the young age of 13. I knew that I could make a decent living out of music” says Mehboob Nadeem.

For Sushma it was a different story “I had no idea about the meaning of a career in music. I had no models to follow. I kept learning music. Later I began to teach music. My students really enjoyed my teaching style. I was also performing extensively and slowly music became my profession”

What brought the two to the West? “I was invited to perform in Rome for a performance that was in honor of Mother Theresa. That was the beginning of many tours to the West. Later there was a request for a Sitar teacher in London at the Sachinda Academy.  That brought me to London” says Mehboob Nadeem

“I was invited to Paris for a workshop. That opened doors for opportunities for concerts in Europe. I have really enjoyed teaching and performing in the West” says Sushma Zaveri What is it like to teach music to westerners? “It is wonderful. They are very serious learners”

It is not often that one hears a Sitar-Vocal concert. What made them decide to team up and present joint concerts? “We both strongly believe in presenting classical music in its purest form. We would also like to present music in an easy to understand form.  Bhajans presented in a classical way have a lot of appeal for the lay person.  Sitar music is wonderful for those who do not understand the language well. Our joint concerts are not only musical shows, but they are also educational in nature” says Maheboob Nadeem.

Mehboob Nadeem is Muslim. How does he feel about singing Bhajans devoted to Hindu Gods? “God is universal. My devotion is to the Lord and I believe God is one with several names. I sing Hindu Bhajans with the same passion as I may a Sufi song. Music is beyond religion” says Nadeem. “My Guru Shri Arvind Parikh often remarked that the Hindu singers are often theoreticians, who view music more intellectually than the Muslim musicians who are practitioners that just sing from the heart. For me music is all about Ibadat- devotion to the Lord. Some times when I do a Jhala I do feel an out of the world experience” says Mehboob Nadeem.

What is their feeling about the popular Bollywood music? “Bollywood has featured some of the greatest musicians of all time. We love the music created by the great musicians. Unfortunately some of the modern day music has shifted in great measure to synthesized music where rhythm dominates and melody is lost. There is no poetry” says Mehboob Nadeem.

How can we bring youngsters growing up in the West to be interested in Indian classical music? “Take them to concerts. In some cases the parents have started to learn music themselves. This is really the best way for the child can learn with the mother” says Sushma Zaveri.

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