Link for the photos/videos that I took: (Audio/Video quality will not be that good. This was all I could manage)
http://www.flickr.com/photos/33643209@N00/
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=4339490782581669231
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-8807866896701211008
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-7820043736140701483
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=7878619764898827826

Warning: This post will be very long. But, then, if I don’t write a long post for this, for what else will I write? I want to relive every moment.

The Wait:
My sister & I reached Narada Gana Sabha at 4.55 pm itself for the programme that was to start at 6. Hardly 4 or 5 people were there. I approached a person who seemed to be incharge of the seating arrangements & asked him if we would be able to go near Rahman. When he gave me a positive answer that Rahman would be coming at around 6.10 through the side entrance and we may get a good chance of going near him, our excitement doubled up! Since we were told that we would be let in only after 5.30, we roamed around the place looking at the side entrance & thinking of whether we should go in first or we should wait till Rahman comes, see him (after all that was the only reason why we had gone there!), maybe take his photos and then go in. When we came back to the main entrance, we found a queue formed already. There were some 20 of them standing before us in the queue. Counting the minutes, we waited till we were finally let in at 5.50. Entering the auditorium, we found that the first 15 rows were reserved for members and VIPs and also a barrier had been put up to prevent anyone from going to the front. 🙁 Finding a place close to a side entrance/exit, we sat down.
After 6.30 or so, someone announced that they were waiting for ‘a very important guest’ to arrive and the programme would start shortly. The concert started at 6.45. Till that time, Rahman had not come and our eyes were only on the side entrance. My sister & I kept on talking about how we could run out when Rahman leaves, get his autograph, etc., etc. (Well, imagining & talking about it itself made us feel so great. Just imagine how we must’ve felt when the whole thing really happened!) We could see people sitting next to us give us strange looks hearing our talks. But, what would Non-Rahmaniacs understand!
After the first song, the host of the evening, Neelu, announced that soon A.R.Rahman would be handing over the first copy of the CD to Shri Vikku Vinayakram. At the mention of Rahman’s name, there was a huge round of applause! It was then that he said that Rahman was still on his way.

The first glimpse of the Man:
At around 7.20 pm, when the third song of the evening was going on, A.R.Rahman entered the auditorium! Our biggest dream got fulfilled at that moment! Thank you, Rahman! As soon as he entered, there was applause (though not a loud one, since Ganesh & Kumaresh were playing at that time). Once Rahman sat down in the first row, people kept on clicking photos standing (or rather kneeling down) very close to him. We were too excited to even move from our seats. Then, we went out through the exit near us & were about to get in through the first side entrance, when two people stopped us & said since some secretary was there, we could go in only after some 10 minutes. But, he assured us that we would indeed be able to go near Rahman after 10 minutes. But, I got a good look at Rahman through the half-opened door.

As close to Rahman as possible:
After 10 minutes, we again came back to the side entrance. This time the person asked us to go in! We literally ran and went close to Rahman! While my sister gave him the autograph book and asked for an autograph which he immediately signed, I knelt down and took this picture of him when he was signing the autograph for someone else:

Immediately, many people came to get his autograph and it became impossible for us to take a snap with him. After signing a few more autographs with our pen, Rahman gave back the pen to my sister and went to the stage to release the CD. I stood below the stage and took a video-clipping of Rahman in close-up when he was sitting on the stage with Vikku Vinayakram, Ganesh-Kumaresh and a few others. I just couldn’t believe that I was actually standing before him and taking his video!

Back to our seats:
Just before the CD was to be released, someone came and asked everyone standing below the stage to leave. We almost ran back to our place and again took a few snaps and video of Rahman releasing the CD and Rahman and Shri Vikku Vinayakram speaking. But, unfortunately, those have not come out well because of two reasons: One, we were sitting far away from the stage, so I had to zoom as much as possible and couldn’t focus the camera properly and two, I was too excited and couldn’t even hold the camera steadily! But, I guess the programme would be telecast on SS Music channel very soon and you can watch it in that. I will upload the videos very soon.

This is what Rahman spoke:
“Past two months, I have been traveling to like 4 countries. All of them asked me, So why do I live in Chennai? Well I have been thinking…. Well, my house is there, my studio is there….for another reason, we have Ganesh & Kumaresh here. I was sitting there & listening to Sahana it was absolutely amazing….Flightla erangumbodhu edho bore adicha music podaama Ganesh-Kumaresh music poattaanga….Railway stationo everywhere you know let their music be all over India….(some words)….God bless you.”

Bidding adieu to Rahman:
As soon as Rahman got up from the stage to leave, we ran out only to find a crowd waiting near Rahman’s car to meet him. After some 5 minutes or so, Rahman came out and people started applauding and shouting, ‘We love you Rahman!’. Amidst all this crowd, Rahman did sign autographs for a few of them, somehow managed to get into his car and left.

What a moment it was! The feeling is yet to sink in! My sister and I still can’t believe that we actually saw HIM and got his autograph! It all seems like a dream!

I still can’t believe I actually saw Rahman! I got his autograph too! I have taken a few photos and video clippings. (I couldn’t take one with him though) Will upload those very soon.
Yet to come back to earth! 🙂 A detailed write-up coming up very soon.

All the radio stations seemed to be playing one song again and again today. It seemed a ‘remixed’ version of the superb old Tamil song, ‘Vasanta Mullai’. Not only have the lyrics of all the lines except the first one been changed, adding beats to the song has made the song lose its beauty. Look at how stupid the lyrics are: Kaadhal enbadhu coffee pola….aari ponaa kasandhu pogum! (Don’t remember the exact words. Are these words even worth remembering?) Btw, which movie does this song belong to? I hate it.

As I was hurriedly getting ready to leave for work today morning, my mom asked me if I saw in the Metro Plus about the programme that was going to be held at Narada Gana Sabha. Thinking it would be some concert of Sanjay/T.M.Krishna, I went and took the Metro Plus from her and what did I see?!! A.R.Rahman is going to release the new CD of Ganesh & Kumaresh titled ‘Carnatic Chills’ on Saturday!!!!!! You should know how excited I must have got! So, right after I reached office, I forgot all my work and called up the number given in the ad. The person who answered said that passes (free passes) would be available from 10 a.m. today at Narada Gana Sabha. When I called up NGS at 10, they said they had no clue about it! I called up the number given in the ad once again and he said he was on his way to the venue taking the passes with him and the passes would most probably be available in the evening too. But, how could I take a risk and wait till the evening to get the passes when it involved a chance of getting to see A.R.Rahman in person? My sister finally managed to get the passes in the afternoon. I just hope Rahman does come on Saturday. I am not ready for another disappointment. (Neither did Rahman come during the Global Rhythms concert at Saarang nor did the show live up to my expectations) Rahman, please do come on Saturday!

Here’s a lovely photo of the moon appearing yellow in colour, taken by my sister when she went to the beach on ECR on Sunday:

As I had written earlier, I got hooked on to Rahman’s Spirit of Unity Concert title music a few months back. This programme is being re-telecast on DD on Sundays at 10.30 am for quite sometime now. Apart from the first one which I got from A.R.Rahman’s Yahoo Group, I recorded all others recently. I thought I would share it with all the readers of my blog.

[audio:http://www.mediamax.com/music_music_fan/Hosted/Spirit%20of%20Unity-1.mp3]
(I don’t know why this one is getting played in a fast tempo like this. Can anyone please help me?).
This is the one that comes in the beginning of the programme, before a female voice starts saying the words, ‘Welcome to the Spirit of Unity Concerts’.
[audio:http://www.mediamax.com/music_music_fan/Hosted/SOU-Title.mp3]
These two come at the end of the programme (I recorded these on two different days).
[audio:http://www.mediamax.com/music_music_fan/Hosted/SoU%20-%202.mp3]
[audio:http://www.mediamax.com/music_music_fan/Hosted/spirit%20of%20unity1.mp3]
I have uploaded these in Rapidshare.com. In case any of you are interested, here are the links:
http://rapidshare.com/files/14832199/Spirit_of_Unity.mp3.html
http://rapidshare.com/files/14832283/spirit_of_unity1.mp3.html
http://rapidshare.com/files/14831548/SoU_-_2.mp3.html
http://rapidshare.com/files/14832023/SOU-Title.mp3.html

P.S.: Thanks to this post by Ranjhith, I came to know about the embedded audio feature of WordPress.com

The one road on which I like travelling in the evenings is the Adyar Bridge. If you are someone who likes to see sunrise  or sunset, then you must surely travel by the Adyar Bridge at around 6 pm. The sun appearing like an orange ball, the sky in myriad hues of pink and its reflection on the water! Wow! Thank God water is there atleast in Adyar river!

This is what someone had searched for in Google and my blog comes up as a result for that. I wanted to see what other results came up for this search term. That’s where I came across this interview with Srinivas that Prabhu has mentioned in this post.
Coming back to the question, I have attempted to answer it here. One thing about most of Rahman’s songs is that you would never have heard anything like that before! So, naturally it might take sometime to like that song. Take for example, some of Harris Jeyaraj’s songs like Oru Nadhi (Samurai), Mudhal Mudhalai (Laysa Laysa) and Kadhalikkum Aasai (Chellamey), don’t they all sound similar? (No offense meant to any HJ fans out there. I too like these songs.) The point I am trying to make is since we had already liked and enjoyed one of these songs, the moment we listen to the others, though we say that they sound similar we do like it immediately. That is not the case with Rahman’s music.
Now speaking as a Rahmaniac, I will listen to a Rahman’s song till I like it! I strongly believe that the man who gave us songs like Chinna Chinna Aasai, Dil Se Re, etc. would never give something that is not good. So, if I don’t like a song the first time, I will keep on listening to it and will eventually find Rahman’s magic in it. So it’s not that we don’t like some of Rahman’s songs the first time we listen to it, it’s just that it takes some time for the music to grow on you.
Rahman Rocks!!!!