Wow... Kalyan.... :) On Fri, Jan 16, 2009 at 9:23 AM, Gopal Srinivasan <[email protected]>wrote:
> 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 Boyle's 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. Rahman's 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. > > -- Farzad Khaleel Webmaster www.rahmaniac.com
