sounds-
the sound of cars passing by
you on a highway, and slowly,
a haunting beat builds up, and
then there was an instrumental
alap, which, probably for the
first time in my life, rendered
me completely clueless as to
how the composer was actually
doing those sounds. Just clueless!
When the song 'Sandakozhi' started,
I remeber being so amazed that
I could clearly hear that Rahman
used the sound of a water drop
(!) while the song's tempo was
slowing down. That goes without
saying that AE has been one
of the fascinating albums I
have listened to in recent times.
Then started my journey with
ARR. Yes, with him. It is not
about listening to a music that
was composed by him- but, the
music he creates IS A.R. Rahman.
It is a fluid expression of
the self, a man that doesn't
worry himself with the so-called
'commercial viability' of songs,
and just simply does what his
soul and heart urges him to
do. That is why, Rahman leaves
his heart and soul intact with
the music that he creates. And
that is why what stays with
you is not just music, but Rahman
himself.
My iPod is filled at least 60
per cent by an entire database
(almost all) of ARR's compositions
to date. And there is one thing
I always do when it is a weekend.
Considering that I had to wake
up early every weekday, every
Saturday morning, I'd wake up,
wander around a while, fill
my empty stomach with some refreshing
coffee, pick-up my iPod, tune
to my 'ARR Melody' playlist,
and then go back to bed, with
the earphone well and truly
sticking to my ears till I wake
up. Around a year ago, I had
real trouble finding sleep in
the night that I was listening
to my iPod and fell asleep later,
listening to Rahman songs. I
slept 8 hours continuously with
ARR's music filling my ears.
Not once was it too loud that
it disrupts my sleep. It just
provides that peaceful slumber
that you'd want. And it makes
me have good, imaginative dreams
too :).
Now I'm a total music buff,
and my command of Hindi is approaching
70 per cent in total. Both are
because ARR. I was born a Telugu,
and only spoke Tamil sparsely
till I started listening to
ARR's songs since the beggining
and I have taken a knack to
be able to speak clean Tamil
thanks to that. ARR's huge shift
to composing in Bollywood in
recent years made me listen
to his music there as well,
and indirectly prompted me watching
more Bollywood and now being
able to fully understand Hindi,
and only lagging that little
bit in terms of vocalizing.
The reason I'm telling this
is because along with ARR's
journey these past few years,
I have grown along with his
music as well. And I have seamlessly
noticed the difference. I used
to listen to so many composers
who have been active in the
industry for years, and when
I listen to them composing sometimes,
one song in that particular
film will make me go 'I know
where that comes from'. Quite
simply, they simply repeat the
tune that they had in a previous
film of theirs. No matter how
good, the songs lingers for
few hearings and then fades
away. It only stays in your
iPod as long as the season for
the film exists, and it goes
away after that. Not ARR.
Be it during sad times, happy
times, or just lumbering moments,
ARR's songs have made my day
all the time. If inspiration
I'm looking for, I'd listen
to 'Unnai Kellai Nee Yaru' from
'Desam', if I'm in a happy mood,
I'd tune to what has slowly
become my signature song, 'Endrendrum
Punnagai' from 'Alaipayuthey',
and if love is the mood, we
all know ARR has given countless
numbers of brilliant songs.
Just nostalgia or more?
Sometimes I meet people
who completely criticize 'modern'
music, and saying that current
music industry is less than
good, and good songs only used
to exist during the evergreen,
70s or 80s eras (depending on
that person's age). But I respect
them because it's their nostalgia,
songs that remind them of their
youth and sweet times. I'd be
tempted to say ARR is my nostalgia,
but he certainly isn't just
that.
The questions is- what kind
of songs will you hum? Love
songs? Yes, definitely. Hip
songs? Yes. Techno songs? Yes.
Devotional songs? Maybe. If
the devotional songs are songs
of your religion, your faith,
your belief. But for you to
hum a devotional song of a religion
which is not yours is really
something. I and my friends
are Hindus, but we couldn't
resist singing 'Khwaja Mere
Khwaja' from 'Jodha Akbar' after
we heard that song. Even at
the time of writing, I'm totally
addicted to another Muslim devotional
number, 'Azriyan' from ARR's
latest brilliant album for 'Delhi
6'. Not only that, it also has
to be noticed that ARR, despite
being a Muslim, has composed
many Hindu devotional numbers,
such as 'Mann Mohana' from 'Jodha
Akbar' itself, which is delightful
to hear, and also we must not
overlook the fact that ARR has
also composed a couple of non-film
devotional Hindu songs. That
said, AR Rahman is a living
legend that has proven that
music transcends religion, belief,
faith, or even ideology.
In today's gloom world where
people suffer from poverty,
war, religious conflicts, and
so on, which makes many people
in the world lose their hope,
here we have a man named AR
Rahman who gives me the belief
that there is still hope left.
And plenty of it. If music becomes
a religion today, I believe
80 per cent of the Indian community
the world over will be united.
It doesn't matter who you are,
what religion you are, what
country you are from, what language
you speak, what caste you are,
what social class you belong
to, music touches you and me
in a similar way, and AR Rahman
is a pioneer is building those
threads among us. I have made
many friends solely due to our
appreciation of ARR.
It goes without saying, the
moment ARR won the best original
score in the Golden Globes,
messages were sent all over
among ARR fans across the world-
and without doubt, there were
millions of them. I have exchanging
messages of the award news in
an instance after the awards
were announced, even though
I was at my workplace at the
given time. I don't think even
such big stars such as Tom Cruise
would have created such an instant
excitement once they have won
any award in their lives, even
an Oscar. Their near relatives
or friends might have been instantly
excited by such news, but their
fans won't be too excited until
they hear official news, and
would definitely not exchange
messages at such speed. AR Rahman
was just that- a pride for the
entire country.
And so it was rightly said by
Rahman himself during the award
ceremony- 'above all, for the
billion people in India.'
And for that I salute AR Rahman
and I selfishly wish he continues
composing for a long time to
come, because his songs puts
a smile across my face even
when the events of my life leaves
me with little reason to smile.
'Ye Rahman He Mere Yaar, Bas
Ihsq Mohabatt Pyaar'
(This is Rahman, and he's only
love, nothing more, nothing
less)
Regards,
Ram Anand (Malaysia)
ramanand17@yahoo.com
or
ram_dhanush@hotmail.com
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