HOMECOMING OF THE GOLDEN BOY
Rahman Gets A Rousing Welcome
TIMES NEWS NETWORK
Chennai: Chennai feasted on sugarcane and sweet Pongal (rice delicacy) in
celebration of
Pongal, but the sweetest moment was when A R Rahman landed by the Lufthansa
flight at 1.10 am
on Thursday. The city woke from its slumber, and crowds gathered at the airport
to chant Jai
Ho as the maestro landed with the Golden Globe statuette in hand, which he won
for his score
for David Boyles Slumdog Millionaire.
For me it was a normal thing, but for Tamil Nadu and India, it was a
special award,said
the music director, when he emerged to face the numerous fans, who had forsaken
sleep to camp
at the airport 10.30 pm onwards, awaiting the scheduled arrival of the 11.55 pm
flight.
For a city way past its bedtime, the scene was festive. A bus load of folk
music artistes,
who are here to perform at the week-long Chennai Sangamam Festival, began
whipping up a festive
beat even before he arrived. The crowd, mostly youths carrying placards to mark
the homecoming,
went berserk when he finally stepped out of the lounge, clad in a brown jacket,
wearing his
trademark smile and garlands around the neck. A trumpet sang out, the drums
resounded and the
chorus of Jai Ho rose as Rahman waved and held out the Golden Globe.
Soon a security cordon was thrown around him, which prevented the media
from getting any
reactions. Rahman said, We will speak at home, and quickly got into a
silvercoloured Toyota
Prado. This is an honour for his motherland, said Kareema Begum, his mother.
Rahmans wife
Saira Banoo and his children had been waiting for hours, to receive him at the
airport.
The party soon shifted to his house in Samiyar Madam, Ashok Nagar in the
middle of the
night. Students of the K M Music Conservatory, which was founded by A R Rahman
for aspiring
musicians, had lined up along the road leading to his house, waiting joyously,
talking,
laughing and strumming their guitars. We were excited to hear that he had been
nominated along
with biggies like Hans Zimmer. Now we are really glad that he won, said Phani
Kalyan, a
student at the conservatory.
