The one with all the joy

Today, January the 22nd, 2009 is a great day for the Indians. Especially if you are a Rahmaniac, I would bet anything you are jumping with joy right now. Yes, Rahman has been nominated for the prestigious Oscars today and created history by being the first Indian to be nominated. To add more joy, its triple bonanza. Yes, not one but three nominations. Isn’t that just great? Of course, it is. And the best part is, in the Best Original Song category, two out of the three nominations are for Rahman. That means, two Rahman songs will be competing against each other. Wow! Just awesome. 

To those people who can’t stop commenting stuff like “Rahman has lost his touch”, “Rahman’s days are over (pity them, for their music sense) , God has given the reply! It is a fact that some Indian’s can’t accept the growth of another Indian to such a level, something that they could never fathom. Sad but true. Look at all the variety he has churned out in the previous year. Absolutely marvelous! To think someone could even think that he has lost it, after listening to those wonders, is laughable. But still there will be people who will go about as usual commenting the same thing over and over again. But who really cares about them? 

To all those who don’t know, there is a difference between the way others listen to Rahman’s music and the way we Rahmaniacs do. We just don’t look for the tune, but also for the music, the way it is arranged, the way the singers are used, the instruments that are used, and a lot more. There is a lot to learn from each song of Rahman. He takes us into a different world with each of his compositions. And it is a fact that even the mediocre compositions of Rahman turn out to be in league with or even way ahead of some of the best compositions of others. And there are people commenting about his works when they wouldn’t have the faintest idea about some of his best compositions. Hilarious! 

It is a universal fact that Rahman’s music takes time to grow on you. It’s true, you may like some of his works at the first listening, but then as you listen more and more you like it even better. As Rahman mentioned in one of his interviews, it hurts to see people download the songs from some site and review the music after just one hearing, that too in “cheap laptop speakers” (using his own words), when they spend nearly 6 months to an year mixing it and recording it in the highest quality possible. As I mentioned before the way we Rahmaniacs listen to his songs is completely different. We listen for even the most intricate sound in each of his tracks, and hence find something quite different and refreshing in each of his songs, something that others are unable to enjoy.

Now coming back to the Oscars, does this change our perspective of Rahman? Does it matter to us if he does or doesn’t win? Of course, if he wins, as he surely will, it is a matter of honor and pride for us as Indians, but other than that? Does it make us see Rahman any different from what we see him now? No way! As for which song will get the best original song award, as Rahman said, there is no award that can really judge any music. So bottom-line, Irrespective of the Oscar, Rahman is and will always be the same in our views.

So here it is to the Academy award winning composer A R Rahman, and to all Rahmaniacs in this world.

Jai Ho! Jai Hind!