about why he was being given this opportunity when master composers like Ilayaraja and MS Viswanathan were still around. He also said that having made his debut, if all went well; he would manage to hang around for maybe a period of five years. Then SPB shifted five years down the line to Minsaara Kanavu. Then, SPB asked Rahman, “you told me that you were going to stick around for 5 years, its past that now” and Rahman replied, “I think I have got a bonus of 5 more years.”

SPB also remarked that Rahman was the only composer who managed to make someone else lend their voice to SPB himself, the singer was Sukhvinder Singh. To date, it remains the only instance when someone else has sung for SPB on screen.

Then there was Sukhvinder Singh who remembered that it was his association with Rahman in Dil Se (the Chayya Chayya) song that really launched his career. Director Rajkumar Santhoshi was also around telling us about how well Rahman understood the medium of cinema and how he listens carefully to every situation before giving a tune, about how he keeps playing on the piano endlessly until the director spots one combination that he likes. More than that, he said that it is Rahman’s ability to do classy background scores that sets him apart, in short, Rahman takes on a movie as a whole.

Then there were a host of young singers who were discovered and blooded by Rahman from the most unlikely of scenarios. Most of you might have heard about the story of Naresh Iyer. He was participating in a reality show for singers where Rahman was one of the judges. After a particular round, Rahman told Naresh Iyer that there was both good news and bad news. The bad news was that Naresh had been eliminated from the competition while the good news was that Rahman had decided to use his voice. Rang De Basanti happened and Naresh Iyer has not looked back since. Like Naresh, there are other singers like Madhushree, Benny Dayal etc., who are all beneficiaries of Rahman’s unique ability to spot talent.

There are dozens of other stories that comes to ones mind, many of them being associated with Rahman’s affinity to working right in the middle of the night; he has however exempted SPB from such unearthly recording hours. Then, all of you might have read on the site about how he carried his harmonium along with him on his honeymoon. We have heard about him globetrotting in his search for new sounds and styles of music and many more, you could go on talking about Rahman for hours together.

But the one point that everyone seemed to echo in common was about the man’s simplicity. Almost everyone used these words ‘he is a wonderful human being’. It was not planned or stage managed, but people sitting in different parts of India at different times used almost the same words to describe Rahman. That says a lot about his character, neither success, money nor fame have changed him one bit. He still remains as enthusiastic about music as he was when he made his debut. His down to earth attitude was reflected in the way he said ‘ella pugazhum iraivanukke’ on the Oscar stage, it also showed us that he is not a man to forget his roots.

That is why one couldn’t help seeing the lighter side when a journalist on TV asked a guest about whether the Oscar would take Rahman away from India. If he had such plans he would have vanished long back, he has such boundless talent. And, the most gratifying thought that comes from this Oscar award is the knowledge that Rahman is capable of many more wonders. One is so confident about this because anyone who has heard Rahman’s songs over the years will know that ‘Jaye Ho’ or ‘O Saaya’ are not his best compositions by a long shot. If they are good enough for Oscars, then we cannot imagine the heights that await him. God bless Rahman! Jaye Ho!