The interview which appears below, was originally published on BBC in July 2007. ©The rights to this material are reserved to the owner. If you have any concerns or comments, please send an email to info@rahmaniac.com.
This writer, Rabah Nazki, once happened to travel to Chennai in the business class and was surprised to find A. R. Rahman sitting beside him! Here is what he wrote on BBC about what he observed about AR during the journey.
A. R. Rahman: A Musical Journey and Spiritual Odyssey
A. R. Rahman is a combination of the innocence of a child and the simplicity of a saint. I recently met him on a trip from Mumbai to Chennai. When I introduced myself to him, he noticed the similarity between my name and that of Rabah Basri’s, and in no time, we started talking. He was very frank; in fact, our conversation started during the flight and ended at his home in Chennai!
Far away from the material world:
What I realized through the conversation about him is that he is far away from the material world. He started talking about spirituality by saying, “Whenever the plane takes off, I think this would be my last journey of life.” He went further to describe how music and spirituality go hand in hand. “You cannot take one out of the other. Music lets you look inside within you. It takes you on such a high, far away from this material world, and moreover, it also takes you nearer to God. You feel the purification that takes place within you while listening to music. Maybe this is the reason why music is sometimes called an integral part of devotion – of Dhikr and Ibaadat.”
“We used Sufiana music in ‘Chaiyya Chaiyya’ from ‘Dil Se..’ and people appreciated it a lot. That is only because; Sufiana music is all about devotion. People can easily relate to it. Music cannot be created on conditions. According to me, while creating any form of art, the only thing that should be taken care of is that it should be a perfect piece of craft. We should do our best to achieve perfection.”
Only because of my mother:
Whatever I am today is only because of my mother. I can never forget what she has done for us. After my father passed away, she insisted that I join music. She had seen a dream for me and she has worked very hard for that dream to come true. She was more confident than anyone else that I’d be a musician sometime. She knows what’s right and what’s wrong for our family better than anyone else. She has great intuition. There is something divine about her.
Spirituality and religion:
For me, religion is like an instruction manual. You know the instruction manuals that come with mobile phones? I think religion is something like that. It is an instruction manual for human beings, to make them perfect human beings. Religion teaches us a lot: regarding many things in life. It teaches maintaining relations with others; heading to the right path in life; thinking in a better way, and almost everything.
If we follow things perfectly, we will certainly be happy in our lives and will have mental peace. Prophet Mohammad (P.B.U.H.) has once said, “Listen to your inner voice, and it will guide you, it will tell you the rights and wrongs. God is within us, and we are the closest to God. The only necessary thing is to know about yourself and your needs.” In this modern age, every person should try to follow their own religion perfectly. And the teaching of all religions is, in fact, one and the same. That is – loving others and spreading peace! Is it not?
Music is what I breathe:
Music runs through my blood vessels. The very first show ever in my life – in which I had performed – was conducted when I was about 11 years old. Being in music since my childhood, I knew that success doesn’t come all of a sudden, but it comes gradually. People started appreciating my music very slowly, after listening to it through radio programs, television shows; live shows and later in films.
A couple of years ago, I felt that the live concerts are much more exciting and stimulating for the audience as well as our musicians. I feel the audience shares the music running through my blood vessels. This is the feeling which helps the musicians to grow. Music is devotion only. Music itself is a language that everyone can understand. It gives peace. Music is the language of spirituality that knows no boundaries. Music is beyond all religions, castes, and all kinds of differences. Believe me; one good song can change your life. I know some people, who, rattled by the experiences in life, were on the way to ending their life. But it was music that didn’t let them do that and they changed their minds. This is the effect of music. Wouldn’t you say this is something spiritual?
All the rest is momentary:
If you accept that the change is bound to happen and that the only permanent thing in this world is change, you learn to keep balance between your heart and mind. Maybe this way is not an easy way but I learned this at a very tender age, due to the experiences I had during my childhood. We had everyone with us on our side when my father was alive, and there was no one left with us after his demise.
This was the world practically and this was the truth. After suffering through all this for a while, I understood that name, fame, money, and everything is temporary, and thus, going after all these things is of no use. These days I’m working on Sufiana music again. Having heard a lot about Kashmir’s relation with Sufi music, I wish I could visit the place sometime. It’s a very beautiful place but times are not well there. If I get a chance to visit, I really would like to go there… only if my mother permits! I have suffered a lot during my childhood days. That made me complex and therefore I became a believer in God and spirituality. I believe that when you learn to treat successes and failures equally, then only you can survive in life.
Trusting in God never makes the mountain smaller; it just makes the climbing easier. I never ask Him for a lighter load, but only for a stronger back.
– A.R. Rahman
