Jai Ho...!

Now that Rahman's won the OSCAR everybody has something to say about him (All of it - from nice to great..!). I've my Rahman story too! This was way back, I dont even remember the year, it was before Roja for sure and when the TV was full of ads that had wierd music that went Washing powder Nirma, washing powder Nirma ...One day, I saw the most beautiful commercial, I dont remember what they showed in it, but I sure remember the music, it was classic. I thought wow thats great music. I din't know who made it, I din't find out until much later. Till date, that remains one of my favourite music tracks. Wow, did I really know then that a great talent was waiting to explode into Indian movie history, into the hearts, minds and souls of millions of listeners!
Then Roja happened and rest as they say, is history. So from winning the National award for his very first film, to winning the BAFTA, Goldenglobe and finally an Academy award seems like a dream. A dream, in which millions of listeners like me have lived for nearly 2 decades.
What is it that Rahman has that the others don't have? (ok, ok, not the oscars- besides that?). It could be his talent, his modesty inspite of his incredible fame and adulation. I clearly remember Rahman's 1998 show in Dubai. It was only his second stage show and was being touted as his biggest and most ambitious till date. Everyday, I would wistfully look at full page ads in newspapers advertising the show. Only a few days back I had had an argument with my dad about songs of Taal. I had said rather defiantly that the music is so god-damn awesome that no one could ever have made anything so beautiful. He had carelessly commented that now a days there's less of music and more of noise. So, watching some of my friends get tickets for the show I had cribbed to my mum as to how lucky they were to be going for 'the ARR concert' . On the day of the show there was little I could do to keep my spirits high! I was morosely doing homework when my dad suddenly comes home early and asks, what? You are not dressed? Don't want to go to the Rahman concert, waving 3 tickets wildly. I was gobsmacked (:))for want of a better word). My dad had bought tickets weeks earlier just to surprise me, was it super cool or what! The concert itself was way way beyond anything seen before and like everything Rahman touches, a grand success! That remains one of my all time favourite life-time experiences & yeah, my dad was completely bowled over by the charm, music, magic, melody, modesty and simplicity of the man called A R Rahman! To me, that day defined ARR, reaching out to even those far away from his music. That's true success..Jai Ho..!