15 ....it is

I dont quite remember when Roja was released. When it released,I didn't know who starred in it. I didn't quite know who Mani Ratnam was. When it released, I didn't understand a word of Tamil and I think I saw Tamil movies just because they had some good stunts in them and because occasionally ..thanks to my sister, I knew that Illayaraja came out with some good tunes.

So when Roja released and in Delhi - all we got was a Video cassette - thats what we played on our brand new VCP. The audio obviously was not great but the only thing I noticed in that movie was the music (my folks understand Tamil but back then ..me as a 12 year old was blissfully unaware of that language). Then again - it was just naturally assumed to be Illayaraja. Next day before returning the Cassette, I rewinded the cassette and heard the songs again (I did not care to check who the music director was). Wow ...I liked them.

That was my first rendevous with the magical world of Rahman. A few days later, I guess it was through my sis's friend that I heard the music director's name - 'A R Rahman'.

15 years from then .....Who would have thought that

a) I would live and breath his music and his spirit.
b) Or that, I would have a Blog dedicated primarily to write about him and his music
c) Or that in my music player - I would have a Genre called 'Rahmanic'
d) Or that I will have each and every song that he ever composed.
e) Or that, I would never get bored of his music
f) Or that yet despite all of the above being true, I still haven't said enough about why I respect and adore this man and his music.

Well ....15 years and countless songs later, the essence of the man's music has not changed. His personality, his grace and his humility have not changed. What has changed is the number of people he has entranced and captivated and inspired.

Salutations to the music ....and the magic .....and his humility and all that he stands for. Salutations to A R Rahman and congratulations on completing 15 years in the movie world.

He has spent much more time though making music ...... So probably the congratulations should be for me for having completed 15 years (the association with his music :-))

-A