Awesome!! that was really beautiful.
--- In [email protected], Gopal Srinivasan <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
wrote:
>
> Dear friends,
>
> When we set out to raise funds for the A.R.Rahman Foundation as a
gift for ARR's birthday, I
> had only planned to send him an image of the cheque by email and the
physical cheque only by
> courier. But when the contributions soared past anything I had hoped
for, I felt it was only
> fair that it be handed over in person. And so, I set out to Chennai
on Saturday morning not
> knowing if I would actually be able to meet him. Though by now, we
have seen enough evidence of
> his simplicity I imagined being stopped by security guards even
before I could let him know,
> all of which was completely unwarranted.
>
> Thanks to the never-say-no graciousness of ARR and Vijay's
entreaties, I had the good fortune
> of being your representative at the birthday celebrations of the
person whom many of us deify.
> Far from being met with for a few seconds and summarily dismissed, I
was treated with the same
> affection, care and love by everyone at his home and studio as were
many of the key
> personalities of the industry who made their way to his abode to
greet him in person.
>
> I made my way to his home with some navigational aid from Vijay to
only find a bunch of busy
> workers setting up the place in preparation for lunch. When I said
that I had to meet ARR Sir,
> I was asked to wait in the first floor of the studio which is the
building right in front of
> his home. I made my way there to find many people doing the same,
some of them being Mr.
> Srinivasa Krishnan of Global Rhythms, Sridhar Subramaniam of Sony
BMG, Naresh Iyer, executives
> from WorldSpace and Saregama and producers from the Tamil industry
whom I did not recognize. I
> could see gifts of flowers from a host of people from the industry -
Subhash Ghai, Udit and
> Deepa Narayan, Rajkumar Santoshi, Bharat and Kanika, Chinmayee,
Radio Mirchi, Radio City were
> some names that I managed to spot amidst the sea of bouquets in the
studio. ARR's right hand
> men Noell James, Sivakumar, Swamidorai, Faiz and H. Sridhar were
also in attendance.
>
> We were soon joined by ARR's mother, daughters, son, wife and
sisters and others in the family.
> I soon realized that simplicity and humility runs through every
brick and body in his home and
> studio. ARR still hadn't turned up and his mother insisted that we
must have lunch and we were
> ushered back into his home where ARR joined us. Soon director
Shankar and family, Kathir,
> Krishna (of SOK), Praveenkanth made their way in. After lunch we
made our back to the studio,
> were ARR took us to a large studio room on the 2nd floor and
screened the video of Pray For Me
> Brother. I am still searching for words to describe the multiple
exhilarating emotions that
> passed through me as I watched the video. Nothing we have heard so
far in the live performances
> truly captures the brilliance of the recorded song. Who else, but
ARR, could have an Indian
> classical harmony accompanying a rap segment?
>
> Following this, both ARR and his son Ameen, who also celebrates his
birthday on the same day,
> cut the cake jointly. While his son wanted to cut his special
'Spiderman' shaped cake, ARR
> decided his simpler cake was more appropriate :-)
>
> Coming to the crux of my visit, it was the time after the birthday
cake was distributed and
> everyone was leisurely seated around the studio that I chose to hand
the cheque over to ARR. I
> wish I could say, 'Did we spring a surprise on ARR or what!' But ARR
instead sprang a surprise
> on me! He looked visibly moved and said 'I have been telling these
folks what you guys have
> been doing.' I went, "Huh?" And his response was, 'I was on the
group last night and saw all
> these messages about a collection drive. You guys are increasing my
responsibilities now'. I
> quickly assured him that he could count on our support in anything
that he wanted to do. he
> then handed the cheque over to his mother and introduced me to the
rest of the people there.
>
> He then asked, 'Don't you want a picture?'. I joked, 'I would like
you to say a few words or
> else all the folks would think I made off with the money'. He
laughed and agreed. I told him I
> could wait till the studio was a little quieter. He said fine and
went on to have a private
> conversation with Shankar and then moved away to supervise some
dubbing work for Guru that was
> underway at the studio.
>
> Before he left, I mustered the courage to ask him if there was any
way I could get another look
> at Pray For Me Brother, to which his reaction was, 'Of course, why
even ask?' and asked Abdul
> from the studio to screen it for me in one of the smaller rooms.
>
> I was waiting around the studio for a while when a Jaya TV crew
trudged in for a sound bite.
> Soon thereafter he came down and shot with them. Then he turned to
me and asked, 'Can we shoot
> now?' And thus was marked another momentous occasion in the history
of this fan community.
>
>
> I don't think I can ever thank all of you out there enough for
having given me the privilege of
> undergoing this experience. I sincerely hope and pray that each one
of us would find an
> opportunity to have a similar experience. I was overwhelmed when so
many of you who I have
> never known or met come forward so confidently and generously to
transfer what were no mean
> sums of money. All thanks to the magic of this one man whom we love
and respect.
>
> Thanks,
> Gopal.
>
