4.30PM

Already at the Palace grounds! Outside the queue waiting for a few friends to arrive. Concert scheduled to begin at 7.00PM! No sign of rains. Clear weather. I could hear the sounds of drums. Probably, it was the testing going on. And I couldn’t hide my smiles. Wow! This is going to be my dream come true!

5.30PM

Inside the grounds. At our designated stands waiting with baited breath for the show to begin. For the first time I was about to see A R Rahman Live in Concert! Clouds gathering slowly over the venue. So what, there’s still one and a half hours to go for the show to begin, it will stop by then!

6.15PM

Rains starts to pour. Begins with a drizzle and quickly changes gears to come down as if it was destined to clean all of us at that moment itself! This cannot go on for long. God knew that I had come down from Chennai to watch this man perform live. God wouldn’t want me to return disappointed. But my friends looked up at the heavens and remarked with a oh-this-is-not-going-to-stop kind of a look, “Adi, this is it. The concert is doubtful”. Oh no! God?!

7.15PM

No signs of stopping. And as if with a vengeance it had just gotten heavier. So heavy that you couldn’t open your eyes. So, we took the opportunity to pray. ; ) With around 25,000 people praying at the same time for the same cause, can God ignore? Well, yes he can. And he did ignore us for the next half an hour.

Just then one Mr. Badriprasad, a Bangalore-singer, thought it was the right time to invoke the Gods further. After his prayer, it rained heavier than ever before for another 15 minutes. Badri you come out man. We shall see how you get away without paying for this!! But then, it stopped after 15 minutes. Badri, tu bach gaya re. [Badri, you are saved man!]

7.45PM

“Hi Bangalore”, said a voice. A voice for which we were all braving the rains and standing just to listen to this man. I would have fainted on hearing this voice if not for the rains that had woken me up completely.

“I apologize to God”, said the man in inimitable style, “It’s the holy month of Ramadan and God is showering his praise on us. This is his way of cleaning our sins. Give us one hour to set all this right and we shall be back. This show will be the best-ever”

Ooh man! I would have collapsed on the spot. It was A R Rahman talking to me. One hour?! I am willing to wait a lifetime to listen to you A R Rahman!

The Audio-Visual screen that formed the backdrop of the stage had given way. And the equipment had to be set up. So, we had to wait for an hour. We were perfectly okay with it. Not one person had moved when it was raining. There was no question of turning our back at this point.

8.00PM

Kailash Kher jumped on to the stage. He started of by saying that this was the best crowd he had seen ever. This was reiterated by every performer who came on stage. Bangalore rocks! The spirit of Bangalore was saluted! Hats off to us!

Then we had “Allah ke bandhe” by Kailash Kher. No instruments. Just pure vocals. The rustic voice in the urban Bangalore had just started the concert. He left the stage by saying that this show was going to be the best ever! It has to be! It has to be!

8.40PM

The man himself came on to the stage. Dressed in sober white as if to show the purity of the man and the music. Trousers, t-shirt and an over coat all in white. He was looking like an angel. He was, is and will be an angel for us! A R Rahman was on stage for the concert! The moment we were all waiting for was finally here!

“I have learnt two things today”, said the eternally spiritual A R Rahman, “ One is that never host a concert in the holy month of Ramadan. And the second is that, I always thought you would listen to my music and throw the CD’s and cassettes away. But today I came to know that it’s not just that much. Thank you. Thank you from the bottom of my heart” Man! I had tears in my eyes when he said that! I wanted to hug him and say that our love for you is much beyond all this!

I couldn’t make out whether he choked with emotion or stopped intentionally. But I did choke with emotion! Then the crowd including yours truly responded with cries of “We love you Rahman!” and continued the cries with loud shouts of “A R!” “A R!” A R!” I truly love him!! I am mad about him!

8.45PM

A R Rahman came on to the front of the stage with a keyboard strung around. Never seen him so exuberant on the stage. He started with “Fanaa”. Quite aptly I must say. When he sung, “Hone do dard ko – Tabaah” I can promise you I felt the hurt of the rain go away with those powerful vocals itself. So powerful, pure and ecstatic was the voice! A R Rahman you are simply the best! I am lucky to be in the same era as you!

Well, after that I seriously lost track of time. Till the concert began every minute was counted. Every drop of rain was welcomed. Once A R Rahman says it’s God’s way of praising us, little can I deny it! ;) But with every drop, my belief that the concert will be on began to strengthen. Don’t ask me why, it just happened.

I don’t even remember which tracks were sung in what order. I was just jumping and singing and dancing and throwing my hands in air and shouting and doing whatever I wanted to do. Just enjoying myself completely. I had forgotten everything around me. It was just me, A R Rahman and his divine music! It was all as if in a daze!

I shall write about a few other things that stood out in the concert that I remember later. For now, let me come down to earth. Everytime I recount the concert experience to anyone I start jumping in excitement and happiness. Some people said if it hadn’t rained it would have been better. I felt it was the rain that enhanced the experience of the evening. It’s going to be my most memorable concert for a few years to come unless of course A R Rahman decides otherwise! ;)