Ontario, Canada (CU)_ AR Rahman, the Indian music maestro and a Grammy winner, was recently honored in Canada. The Canadian city of Markham has honored the legendary musician by naming a street after him. In response to the honor, AR Rahman expressed his gratitude on social media. He penned a heartfelt note of thanks on his Twitter page and captioned it as, “Honoured and grateful for this recognition from @cityofmarkham and Frankcarpitti and the people of Canada #arrahmanstreet #markham #canada #infinitelovearr #celebratingdiversity.”
The note further read, “I never imagined this in my life. I am very grateful to all of you, the Mayor of Markham, Canada (Frank Scarpitti), and counselors, the Indian Consulate General (Apoorva Srivastava) and the people of Canada”. He added, “The name AR Rahman is not mine. It means merciful. The merciful is the quality of the common God we all have and one can only be the servant of the merciful. So, let that name bring peace, prosperity, happiness and health to all people living in Canada. God bless you all. I want to thank my brothers and sisters in India for all the love. All the creative people who worked with me, gave me the inspiration to rise up and celebrate hundred years of cinema, with all the legends included. I am a very small drop in the ocean.”
In conclusion, AR Rahman wrote, “I feel like this gives me immense responsibility to do much more and be inspiring; not to get tired and not to retire…yet. Even if I get tired, I will remember that I have more things to do, more people to connect, more bridges to cross.” Rahman, popularly known as the ‘Mozart of Madras,’ is an inspiration to a number of musicians as well as music lovers across the world, and his music is a reflection of his own views of life. From film soundtracks and songs to jingles, this incredibly brilliant artist has showered the audience with melodies that will be remembered for centuries.
Rahman began his musical journey with Mani Ratnam’s Roja, which was a blockbuster hit. Since composing his first score for the film Roja, the multitalented musician has not looked back. The world famous musician has so far won two Academy Awards, a BAFTA Award, two Grammy Awards, six National Film Awards, a Golden Globe, and fifteen Filmfare Awards throughout the course of his three-decade-long career.
