He is one of the very few sarangi players in Pakistan and knows the instrument like the back of his hand. Akhtar Husain hails from the Hushyarpur gharana and lives in Sukkur.

Last week he was in Karachi to take part in the 8th annual music festival organised by the All Pakistan Music Conference. You could tell that he’s not satisfied the way art and artistes are treated. “There aren’t many sarangi players in Pakistan and yet no one seems to give a hoot about it. The government is indifferent to it and the institutions are run by people who are well off and have packed their institutions with musicians who don’t practise art in its true spirit,” he complains.

Replying to a question whether there were admirers and learners of classical music in Sukkur, Akhtar Husain said profoundly, “God exists everywhere.”