Me and AR.Rahman!

As I turn back to look into my career, I really feel very proud to have worked with the world renowned AR.Rahman.

Yes, from late 80s I had rendered my voice for several of his commercial advertisements, a few to mention - Trek Hawaii Chappal (Sang in a child's voice), Veena Dhotis (voice over), and many more of the commercials he had worked on.

The first ever time I met Rahman, was when he was very young and already a professional Keyboard artist. I met him when he played keyboard for one of my jingles composed by music director, Mr.V.Thayanban. And we worked together for several advertisements thereafter. One fine day, I was surprised to find this musical genius calling me for a recording at his own studio, Panchathan Inn in Ashok Nagar, Chennai.

It was at his studio that I happened to befriend wonderful people like singers Sujatha and Malgadi Shuba.

One interesting fact that I still remember of him is that you can call him totally nocturnal :) He used to have his recordings pretty late in nights, those days.

He was always very thoughtful and would promptly send Season's Greetings every year to all his friends and it is just nice that I could trace one of those to share with you. Note that he has signed as AR.Dulip. Yes - Dilip - that is how we used to fondly call him then :)

He is a very simple and humble person, without any airs. I still remember an incident which happened way back in late 80s in his studio. Those days I used to go for recordings in a two-wheeler. One day, it was raining heavily and we could not go back home in our two-wheeler. So, we had to leave it behind in Rahman's studio. The next day, when my husband went to the studio to take the two-wheeler, it refused to start. Seeing my husband struggling to start the vehicle, Rahman was so kind enough to come and help my husband. He kick-started the vehicle and helped my husband on that day. This shows his simplicity.

Even after becoming very popular in the cine field, he has been the same Rahman, unchanged! Once, I was present in the Cassette release function of Kandukondein Kandukondein movie. It was a fully packed auditorium. Celebrities like Vairamuthu, K.Balachander, Rajiv Menon, Ajit, AR.Rehman, and several others were on stage. After the function was over, AR.Rahman came down from stage surrounded by his fans. But to my surprise, when he went past me, he stopped for a while to talk to me and even posed for a snap with me. I was stunned and felt very proud and happy to find that he still remembered me, even after a lapse of few years. And, this was not just once. Everytime we met at any function, he has always been the same. It is not only his talent that has made him successful; his simplicity and humility are also the reasons for his achievements in life.

I feel blessed to have had the opportunity to be associated with a person like Rahman and I pray to God that he be showered with much more successful musical achievements!