Composers From India

"To follow the path of knowledge is to tread on the edge of a sword. Once you get into it, there is no escape."

"There is no difference between knowledge and devotion, Both of them save the soul from the miseries of worldly life."

"Unless one cultivates slave-master relationship with the Lord, No one can go across the ocean of this material world. Who is as virtuous a master as Rama? And who is as vicious as I am?"

"Faith in the Creator, who is mainly in his Godness and Godly in his man-ness, is like a human-self and can take him along."

"In dependence, there is no happiness, even in a dream."

"Paradheen sapanehun such naheen."

"As the Ruler, so the people."

"Yatha Raja Thatha Praja"

"I call him Rama. You can call him by any other name but have faith in him, surrender all worldly desires and passions to his will and without effort, become disciplined and principled."

"No virtue is equal to the good of others and no vice greater than hurting others."

"Tulsidas is the highest tree in the garden of Hindu poetry, though his name does not appear in Aeen-i-Akbari or any book of Muslim historians or even narratives of European writers who worked on information taken from Persian historians. Yet, Tuslidas was the greatest man of India of his time. In fact he can be called greater than Akbar because the victory that the poet registered in the hearts of thousands of millions of people was greater and more lasting than all the imperious victories put together...the Ramacharritamanas is such an enormous epic that its English adaptation by Growse is of 362 pages. The declinations in this epic are so similar to Christianity that on numerous spots, if Rama is replaced by Christ, there can be no question."

"In the whole of Indian literature, Tulsidas is supreme....The devotion in his poetry is of the same order as of philosophy. And from the beginning to the end, not a word or an idea, can be spotted which is not perfectly neat and pious."

"No poet in England has ever been in the masses what Tulsidas has been to the people of this land."

"The Ramacharitamanas undoubtedly is the great poem worthy to rank among the great classical masterpieces of world literature."

"Ramacharitamanasa, the poet's magnum opus is an epic. Kavitavali (in spite of gaps here and there), Janaki Mangala, and Parvati Mangala, as also the other two smaller poems Barve Ramayana and Ramalala Nahchhoo are narrative."

"The book is in everyone's hands, from the court to the cottage, and is read, or heard, and appreciated alike by every class of the Hindu community, whether high or low, rich or poor, young or old."

"Faith is that which dispels desire, Devotion is that which generates knowledge. And Vedas say that knowledge is that which fashions freedom."

"FS Growse, in 1883, in Meenakshi Jain, The Battle for Rama: Case of the Temple at Ayodhya (2017)(p.87"

"The fact of its universal acceptance by all classes... is surely worthy of note."

"The billboard outside the Broadway Theatre reads, A R RAHMAN'S BOMBAY DREAMS. That name may mean little to musical-theater devotees, but in the rest of the world it's golden. Like Gershwin or Lennon-McCartney, the name stands for melody, quality, energy, instant hummability — a sound both personal and universal, devouring many older forms and transforming them into something gorgeously new."

"The reason I love 'Slumdog' is because the music is all world cultures, all celebrating. In India, I know people feel other film scores [of mine] are closer to their hearts. But when you are doing a film, it's very important to make the film look like one full piece of artwork. I think scoring 'Slumdog' with every kind of music possible, from Chinese to hip-hop to M.I.A. . . . was really fresh ground for me."

"I think musicians here [India] get ripped off. Music production houses take good care of artists abroad and though the upfront signing amount is much less than what I get here, the royalty takes care of future returns."

"Bombay, which sold about 120,000 copies, is widely rated as my most successful work, though Roja is definitely the score that brought me where I am today."

"An ideal world can definitely be created with a pure mind and optimistic results."

"I'm always fascinated by the innocence of children and the baggage that we carry as adults which manipulates our decisions."

"The first day I was in a daze thinking, ‘What am I doing? What’s my role?’ and then slowly we started writing with each other, and it was great. It took me way back to my high school days when I was playing in a rock band."

"I wanted to produce film songs that go beyond language or culture."

"It's an approximate count. If you have a hit film, you'll sell 5 million or 6 million CDs. Of my movies, at least 20 or 25 were really big hits. [Mind you, he adds], in India, we don't get royalties. Otherwise I'd be a very rich man. I wouldn't have to come to America!"

"Musical theater had become very predictable. I think Andrew felt that Bollywood musicals could be a new treat for the Western audience."

"My mother's belief in spiritual healers grew stronger after our family went through a rough patch following my father's death. Sufi saint Karimullah Shah Kadri changed our lives and all of us converted to Sufism. But it wasn't an instantaneous decision — it took us 10 years to convert. The change in religion was like washing away the past."

"I never exert pressure on my children: I encourage the children, Katija and Rahima, to pursue their dreams. Rahima is embarrassed by autograph-seekers and doesn't want me to visit her school. In fact, I have never attended a single PTA meeting or gone to pick up the report cards of my children."

"Ever since I embraced Sufism, I have learnt to separate myself from my desires and my success. Now, I can distance myself from all the adulation showered on me."

"I had been doing the same kind of stuff for 15-16 years and was desperately seeking a change. But there was no opportunity to reinterpret Indian music. With Roja, we wanted to strike a new note. Mani's amazing visuals, Mutthu's romantic lyrics, relatively unknown singers... we wanted to impart to Roja an international flavour — and we succeeded."

"It needs a lot of courage to pick up someone from another country and support him. When I first heard from Andrew Lloyd Webber in 1999, he praised my work. But I must say that choosing me over others to compose for Bombay Dreams was a brave decision."

"In my case, dust has become gold: Today, I work with people I grew up admiring. But, internally, I am the same person I always was. Ever since I embraced Sufism, I have learnt to separate myself from my desires and my success. Now, I can distance myself from all the adulation showered on me."

"What one thinks is possible might not always be so. I try to do my best but, finally, everything lies in God's hands. I consider my skills as a musician to be a blessing from God. Even today, before I perform, I am unsure of whether I will be able to move my audience. I leave everything to Him... He pulls the strings in my life."

"The way I work takes more time for me to get satisfaction. So it's better to take lesser load and do better work. Money can be earned anytime."

"The trend in the north is more Punjabi folk and simple music. But, in the past, people like Naushad experimented with Hindustani classical music which I think has been completely forgotten. People don't experiment anymore and think that Hindustani classical music won't work. For me, coming from the south, it was just a little step to learn Punjabi music. The nuances are louder in Punjabi music. Songs like Mukkala muqqabla or Humma humma had more of the Tamil folk music in it."

"Jazz was my passion for a little while. I felt that all other kinds of music were stupid when I was into jazz. But I got over the addiction very soon"

"The ultimate enjoyment for a composer is when his compositions get recognised and appreciated. For me, a small village in Kanyakumari is as important as New York or France."

"Yes, 6 songs... Thiruda Thiruda: Great. I felt honoured since it was the last song Ustad Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan did before his death. We miss him a lot, it was an emotional bond in the 50th year to bring a synergy between India and Pakistan."

"Rahman, the world's most prolific and popular composer, lent his irrepressible melodic gift to Danny Boyle's Slumdog Millionaire, set in Rahman's native land, and nearly tops himself here with music that is tense, oppressive and finally exalting."

"In India, a country of a billion inhabitants, where film and pop music are one, A.R. Rahman, 43, dominates the music industry so totally that he has supplied the sound track for a whole generation. He enjoys the godlike devotion of India's youth, but everyone from the street child who sweeps train platforms to the middle-aged doctor in Mumbai's posh Malabar Hill hums his tune."

"Now the "Mozart of Madras" has the world's foot tapping along with him."

"[Rahman sees music] as a way to connect to spirituality and embrace it [and for] creating harmony in troubled times."

"Commended, multi-talented and innovative Rahman for bringing East and West closer through music and for making the world look at Indian film music more seriously. Diversity of his styles and themes was appealing to different sections of the society."

"I've always told him, a composer is someone who composes soulful music. There are some of A.R.'s songs that have made me very emotional and I have cried. It is something that he creates from within."

"The Oscar is definitely the biggest moment in my life. I know he has won so many awards. But this one is special because he is representing India."

"He's not imitative, he spaces himself out unlike other directors who sign up whatever they can get and are looking at quantity rather than quality. As a result, in 60 per cent to 70 per cent of the cases he delivers."

"He works less but he has given Indian music a completely different sound which has worked."