Pakhawaj player dies while performing at Sanatkada fest

LUCKNOW: Famous pakhawaj player and UP Sangeet Natak Akademi (UPSNA) awardee Dinesh Prasad, 67, collapsed on stage during his performance at the Sanatkada Festival in Lucknow and was later declared brought dead by the doctors of Lari Cardiology Centre, on Monday.

Prasad was performing along with other musicians like, Iliyas Husain Khan, Ilyas Khan, Shrikant Shukla, Zeeshan and Siddiqui.

Organiser of the festival, Madhavi Kuckreja, who was an eyewitness to the incident, said that Prasad, while into his performance, stopped playing pakhawaj for a few minutes, but resumed later. He felt some uneasiness and asked for a glass of water. But he collapsed within moments on the stage. The incident occurred around 3pm. Madhavi and her team rushed him to Lari Cardiology Centre where doctors declared him "brought dead".
Born in Mathura in 1956, Prasad belonged to the Mathura gharana of pakhawaj vadaks and learnt the art from his father Babulalji. He came to Lucknow in 1989 after bagging a job in UP Sangeet Natak Akademi’s Kathak Kendra from where he retired in 2014. Prasad was also conferred with the prestigious UPSNA award in 2005 for his work as a pakhawaj player and promoting pakhawaj vadan.