A.R. Rahman’s Pray For Me Brother

One piece of memory that has lingered in me from my visit to New York City a few months earlier is a middle aged woman who sat under a skyscraper in a shady corner of Times Square clutching a tiny board in her weak hand, which read - I lost my job. I have two kids. I don’t have anyone else. Please help me.

If there is one language common across the world it’s the language of suffering and tears - be it a remote village in Somalia or a hip center of America. That’s one reason why Bharatbala, the producer of this music video, chose to shoot Pray For Me Brother amidst the skyscrapers of Los Angeles, rather than a war ravaged African village.

A.R. Rahman’s Pray For Me Brother is an initiative by the A.R. Rahman Foundation to collect funds for the UN Millennium Development Program aimed at eradicating poverty by the year 2015. Rahman spins his magic once again with a music and lyrics that is sure to have a global appeal. Add the video to the song, and you get a real treat to your soul - all for a noble cause. As is always the case with Rahman, the music grows on you.

The video for the song has been shot in Los Angeles, with towering skyscrapers at one side showing the great economic strides the world has made and beggars taking street corners on the other - symbolizing the idea that suffering is universal, irrespective of which part of the world you live in.

The video is filled with symbolism and emotions. Human suffering has no color. And it is only pertinent that the entire video symbolizing human suffering be shot in Black and White. Los Angeles being the location, the video has a Krumper dancing through the rap part of the song. Krumping is a form of dance that originated in the African-American community of South Central Los Angeles - a rather sinister and aggressive dance form, intended as an expression of anger or a release of pent-up emotion through violent, exaggerated, and dramatic moves. (Definition Source: Wikipedia.)

The music has a mix of traditional western and rap. And the very composition is intended at reaching out to a global audience, the universal message being - “Are you searching for a reason to be kind…” and binding this message with another universal emotion of “Prayer”. Rahman’s melancholic voice and Blaaze’s rap couldn’t have merged better. To enable access to the video across all media including mobiles and PDAs, the entire video has been shot in Vertical-Cinemascope, rather than the usual Horizontal picture. At times it is a pain to your eyes watching a vertical video, given that most of the audience would actually be watching it on television, rather than their mobile phones.

The DVD contains the song “Pray For Me Brother” and “The Making of Pray For Me Brother” featuring A.R. Rahman, Bharatbala and Blaaze taking us through the conceptualization of the album, purpose and their experiences while making the music and shooting the video. Given the non-commercial nature of the album and the cause behind it, it is a must-have for anyone who appreciates good music.

What’s the big deal…

Do you ask the Bank guy what caste he is before he dispenses your money? Do you ask the milk wala if he is upper caste or a lower caste before drinking the milk he brings? Do you ask your boss if he is from a downtrodden community? Do you refuse to have yourself interviewed by a lower caste person when you are in search of job? Do you crib because some of the country’s top leaders are not of the same religion as you? Do you ask for the guy’s religion when he tries to lift you when you slip and fall in the middle of a road? Do you ask the doctor what religion he belong to, before he performs a surgery on you?

Then what’s the big deal with this religion thing. Why do people make such a big fuss over something when there are a lot other important things to think about.

Well, I was watching Mangal Pandey on TV and this beautiful song Al Maddath Maula came up. Rahman’s voice had a heavenly feel to it. One of the few songs that carries a spiritual feel all through the course of the song. The rising and falling intonations, the chorus, the percussion, the strings all amazingly blended in the typical Sufi style. I like the song for every bit of the feel it gives me.

And as the song started playing, I began to hum with it. And there was this elderly person sitting a few paces from me, who started giving me a long sermon on why its such a sin for me to admire a song that supposedly praises the God of some “other” religion.

With all the due respects, Mr.ElederlyGuy, in case you didn’t know, Music is beyond any religion. It knows no religion. It knows no caste. It can soothe a savage. It can bring you peace. It can cleanse your mind. It can vaporize your tears. It can transform your intellect. It can help you find yourself. Music is what feelings sound like. After silence, that which comes nearest to expressing the inexpressible is music. And for God’s sake (whichever you think is the right God), please don’t pollute the divinity of Music with your simplistic thinking.

And even as I write this line, I’m listening and humming that song. In fact, the song is even making me forget I’m at work and shouldn’t be humming this loud. Now Mr.ElderlyGuy, go sue me.

Naanaati badhuku naatakamu

It was a good two minutes after the delicate strains of the thambura faded into my ears. Vocal chords still unable to wake from the waves of Revathi raagam and the mesmerizing voice of MS Subbulakshmi. Eyes closed in a deep trance staring into the invisible horizon. A physique frozen as though through eternity, conscious of every elongated breath being pulled in a synchrony, harmonious with the slithering tears streaming its way out of the overwhelming eyes.

A sub-conscious self, ever-wandering in search of that gift lying somewhere around the corner, but still invisible to its innocent intellect. kaanaka kaanadhi kaivalyamu… The search continues. And the conscious self spirals itself up, into an altogether different world.

A new world. A world, where the threads of emotions are twined together and dreams are woven. yetta nedutagaladi prapanchamu… A dream where emotions gather an instant fervor and hop actively inside an already brimming heart. A heart that longs to be embraced and pumps itself feverishly fuelling the search for the hitherto invisible gift. kattagatapatiti kaivalyamu…

A world, where, oscillating between the vacant realities of a daily routine and cheery visions of filling the growing vacuum, is a dream. kuticedannamu shoka cuttedidi… natu mantrapu pani natakamu… A dream twined by threads of hope. A hope born to the painful learnings of battered emotions. Emotions battered by the vigor of time. tekadu papamu tiradu punyamu…naki naki kalamu natakamu…

A world, where emotions are battered and slender, but still cling with an indomitable might to the sole panacea leading its way to the gift – Hope. They continue to hold on. Come a gust of heavy wind or a treacherous flood. Come a seething pain or a drowning pang. They continue doing their little bits. They continue to hold on. They continue. vodigattu konina vubhayakarmulu…atidatinapude kaivalyamu…

A world, where a heavy pounding hardly impacts the strength of those emotions, well and truly on their way to the nostalgia of rediscovering their own self. Sailing themselves away from the world of the ordinary, finding ways to cure themselves. yevakune shri vengkateshvaru telika…gakhanamu mititi kaivalyamu… Overbearing the pangs of the world, curing themselves, by the strength of their own self. The strength to reach that ultimate gift.

The gift. Still invisible. Still elusive. But ultimately bowing to the unbelievable strength of a longing emotion. The emotion that wove the dream. The dream that finally awakes. Awakes into a heaven of bliss.

Anbe aaruyire…

Naam iruvarum serum samayam
nam kaigalile varum imayam
Naam thottadhu edhuvum amaiyum
idhu anbaal inaindha idhayam
idhu anbaal inaindha idhayamEn anbe.. aaruyire…
en anbe aaruyir neeye
En anbe.. aaruyire…
en anbe aaruyir neeye

[The mighty Himalayas shall be in our hands
the moment we unite
Every fortune shall be with us
For, this is our bond united by love

Oh my dear, my love
Oh my dear, you are my love]

AR Rahman drops a tranquilizer! I’ve been listening to this song from the movie Ah Aah around 50 times already since yesterday. And still counting.

The song begins with a mild melancholic hum Ah Aah… and a low rhythmic beat begins to accompany the hum, slowly giving way to another mild jazz-like metrical blend and the maestro’s heavenly voice carries you to a different world altogether.

The second part of the pallavi, Naam iruvarum… begins with a slightly higher intonation and gradually degenerates into a low tone mixing with the one-man chorus 'En anbe.. aaruyire…' all the while accompanied by the subtle low-grunting rhythm that persists throughout the song.

Rahman’s rendering of the chorus 'En anbe.. aaruyire…' is absolutely astounding! Spellbinding emotions radiate from his mesmerizing voice while he sings out these lines making one feel like going down on his knees, stretching out his arms wide and crying out the lines to his dear with overwhelming tears of ecstasy. And that’s precisely how I’m feeling now!

The bliss of solitude!!

Zikr

Ahale kalam aajao fithur mein thumko bulayey ahalullah
Zikr se badke nahin amal koi hai farma yey rasul allah
. . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Har gul mein har bu mein
Har shay mein noor ullah
Har dhil mein har pal mein
Rahe zikrein illallah
. . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Zikr hai behther nafrath se
Zikr hai behther gaflath se
Zikr hai behther hujjath se
Zikr hai behther gaevath se

Where words fail, music speaks.

I’ve listened to the song atleast 20 times since yesterday. And still counting.

AR Rahman’s voice is heavenly. With mild strings playing in the background, the stunning blend of Rahman’s voice with the melancholic waves of every decibel nudging rhythmically to an astounding frequency of Sufi orchestra is dancing on my nerves like nothing before.

The slow melody transforms into a percussion filled chanting of Allah’s name asking for forgiveness and peace. Closing my eyes and listening to the composition only sends me into an ecstatic trance. The culmination of a euphoric harmony!

Yeh jo des hai tera from Swades and Zikr from Bose – momentarily immortalizing the mortal spirits!

It is said, most of us go to our grave with our music still inside of us. Let such heavenly music stir the pent up music within us.

Have a nice weekend..!!

My Wish Comes True

A beaut of a lyric from Kisna…

I am looking for a reason
To smile once again
Through every changing season
The pain I can't explain
I see the magic all around
Shining down on me
With you my life would be so right
If only it could beMay be this world is a mystery to me
But if you could be here for eternity

A moment is all I am searching for
Just a moment in love with you
A moment so special so beautiful
In a moment my wish comes true

Music: AR Rahman
Sung by: Sunitha Sarathy