Source - http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/msid-4180022,prtpage-1.cms
CHENNAI: People at a 234-year-old dargah in Chennai are looking forward to the day Rahman will walk in quietly, clutching the two statuettes. Rahman is known to seek Allah's blessings at the Hazrath Dastagir Sahib Dargah, tucked away in a narrow street off the arterial Radhakrishnan Road. "Even if he buys a new piece of equipment, he brings it here and get it blessed," says Yesub who serves at the dargah . "He comes every Friday for the 2 pm prayer, wearing a smile on his face," he adds. This is the place where young Rahman came seeking blessings some 20 years ago. And till date, the 42-year-old music composer continues to visit the dargah whenever he is in the city. The musician, who lost his father at the age of nine, converted to Islam from Hinduism along with his family in 1989. "Rahman last came on Feb 13 after winning the Golden Globe and offered prayers, placing the award before the grave of Dastagir baba. I told him, `Welcome Golden Globe and Oscar hero. Jai Ho!' He smiled, reached into his pocket and held out a wad of notes," 61-year-old Allah Baksh Aarzoo, who has been a sweeper at the dargah for nearly four decades, recalls. "I've been seeing him here for several years. There may be a vast change in his appearance and position but not in his nature. He has always been an amiable and humble person who helps the poor," Noorjahan, an alms-seeker, fondly recalls. Inside the sprawling premises of the dargah, is a burial ground in which Rahman's pir, Syed Shah Kareemullah Hussaini Khadari, has been laid to rest under a tree. He was the one who rechristened A S Dileep Kumar Allah Rakha Rahman. "After offering prayers in the dargah, Rahman comes to the grave of his pir and pays his respects. He also organises community feeding every Friday in memory of his pir," says Ibrahim, the watchman who firmly believes that it is Rahman's unflinching faith in God that has helped him to reach greater heights.
