When I met God....

Feb 9th 2008 was the one of the most important days in my life; one of the most special day too.

I had no idea how my day would turn out to be until 6pm that day. I was in a huge crowd waiting for a darshan of my favourite God, when I suddenly got a call from one of my friend. She asked me if I was interested in visiting the same God personally at his temple. But the meeting she said is uncertain; god cant make himself available for me, right? She asked me to wait for her call again. I retired from the crowd, wanted to freshen myself before appearing before him. I waited impatiently and got a call from my friend at 10.20pm to come over. The excitement grew thousand folds as I was on my way. Finally, I got inside and I was made to sit in Gods shrine. The door opened and he just came in wishing everybody and also simultaneously chanting some mantra. I could not believe that I was there in the same place with him, talking to him. I pinched myself. Yes, I am seeing my God. It’s not a dream and it is not mere imagination. My eyes got filled with tears of happiness, somehow managed to hide it. I could spend only about an hour and a half there; he needs to make his presence felt for innumerable devotees like me.

Now for the actual incident - I am referring to A.R.Rahman as God here. The below picture was taken at ARR’s residence soon after his live concert in Chennai for the MARG Group on Feb 9th 2008. I won the tickets for the show through the net and I was at the show enjoying, when my friend, Dhanya, from Times Now called me. She had an opportunity to conduct an interview with ARR and she wanted to know if I would be interested in meeting him. She asked me to leave immediately if I wanted to and also mentioned that there are chances that the interview could get cancelled. I could attend his concerts again, but meeting ARR personally at his residence is like once in a lifetime. However, listened to a few songs during the concert, took a few photographs and rushed home to get ready. I got a call at 10.20pm from Dhanya asking me to reach ARRs residence in 15 mins. ARR actually stays about 10 mins away from my place and getting there wasn’t difficult at all. (Every time I pass his residence, I would slow down my bike and peep to have a small glimpse; but never been lucky.) My dream of meeting him is finally coming true. I reached there on time and Dhanya was waiting for me outside with the rest of the crew. Initially, we were made to sit in his waiting room that was under construction and I was helping the crew with their cameras and stuffs. A Toyota Innova rushed in a little later and we were then asked to make ourselves comfortable in the sitting hall. In 5 mins, ARR came in humming some song; probably he was in his composing mode. He was wearing the same attire that he had worn during the concert and asked everyone if it was fine. A great person, indeed, he had committed a time slot for the interview after the concert and without any starry tantrums, and without even a minute rest, he sat with us. I have read so many articles on ARR being humble, modest, etc; but none of them mentioned about his wits. The man truly rocked that night with his witty one-liners. Whatever I write about him here would be less; we all know how he is. After the interview, my friend introduced me to him and she asked him if he could pose for a snap along with me. He readily agreed and we had a few very normal conversations during the photo session. How I wish I could have told him that I would love to be a part of his team. How I wish I could have told him that I sing and that I would want him to listen to me atleast once. But I did'nt want to take advantage of the situation as I felt it would look bad on my friend and Times Now, so had to keep my mouth shut. Moreover, there were people waiting for him outside, probably some more interviewers. Nevertheless, I could not ask for more than this. During the concert his presence made a lot of fans go wild with happiness but for me ...... I stood in silence with happiness.. so dumbstruck I became on seeing him and so blind I was with my happiness that neither did I have words to express then nor do i have it now; he made me the happiest among all his admirers.

Long live A.R.Rahman !

PS : Special thanks to Dhanya Rajendran who made it possible. I am indebted to her for the rest of my life. It was so sweet of her to remember me when she got an opportunity to interview ARR. Also thanks to the crew of Times Now who were present at that time, they made ‘a nervous-with-excitement’ me feel a lot comfortable.

and I am extremely sorry for posting this so late !