Keying the board..

January 6 1966:
Shekhar gazed out of the window and looked at the sky as drops of water came down rapidly, as if they had been in solitary confinement for years and were released now. His heart beating fast, his hands jerking without control, with ambulance sirens dominating the air, with an expression that had a mixture of fear and expectation, he looked up at the sky, for it is a common place to search for god. He needed some support, he needed the confidence. And the sky seemed to be the only source of it. With the mind swaying from one thought to another, with legs not willing to stay at the same place, he started walking towards the room where his wife was crying out in pain. He had faced it a few years back, but still he couldn't bear the voice crying. He just prayed that it gets over soon. Following a deep cry came the cry of a baby. With his face bearing relief and eagerness, he waited outside the room when the nurse brought the baby out. Holding the baby with fragility, he kept staring at it with happiness, tears rolling out of his ears. Dileep, he wanted the baby to be called as decided by him and his wife. With a light heart, he went to see his wife. She was safe, the nurse had said.
In a few days, he got back to his work, composing music and arranging equipments. He owned a lot of musical instruments and considered them to be like one in their family. He was a good composer, Shekhar with all the heart and compassion and devoted his life and soul to music. Even though he had a new addition in his family, he gave most of his time to music and its compositions. He tried to find sometime for Dileep but he could not do it wholeheartedly. Yet he did find some time during weekends. He had loved the kid, the kid`s cute smile melting his heart away to glory, a feeling that was similar to what he felt when he was immersed in his work. Life had not been too harsh on him, he had earned the money to support his family. Happy, was the way of life.
Right from the age of two, dileep had shown immense interest towards music. He had admired his father more than Shekhar had admired music. He had a great liking for music and his fathers instruments. He enjoyed pressing the wrong keys and listening to awkward sounds in the beginning. His mother, a silent listener had the pleasure to watch her son lose himself in glory. He had liked the keyboard more than any other instrument. Within a short span of time, the awkwardness in music had slowly taken a backseat and he was able to make serene music. He played the keyboard at the age of four making his father`s gaunt visage still in amazement. Music became an ally to the family which was affluent with happiness. Time had gone fast, atleast it seemed to. He had to go to school. At the same time, when he got the time he would accompany his father to shows and studios. Hence the spirit of music had engraved deep in him right from the early age of four. In one such trips, he had played a tune in his father's harmonium that had attracted a person in the studio. After seeing this kid playing such a good tune, he urged dileep to start classes and learn formal music,for he had seen the potential in Dileep. His father acquiesced and made dileep learn formal music. He had learnt music for five years. At the age of nine, his interest in music had further deepened.
When Dileep was nine years old, his father had fallen ill. In a couple of days, unable to bear the pressure, he had failed to expand his lung. He had died, leaving behind his wife and four kids. The entire burden of supporting the family fell on Dileep's shoulders. Having no source of income, the family was forced to sell out the musical instruments, the lifeless creatures that gave life to music. Life got tough, and it was not easy to run a family of five with no income. When the instruments had exhausted, Dileep had no other way but to start working. Hence he joined a big music troupe at the age of 11 as a keyboard player. He had got to know of the troupe as he had sold a lot of his instruments to them. Seeing the potential in her son, his mother had really encouraged him to learn music with all devotion. The journey began. An ocean that can never be conquered.
For the next few years, dileep had worked with various composers and music directors. He had to travel a lot. His schooling, which was intermittent because of this had to be stopped completely in a few years. He had sacrificed his studies for music. Was this a worthy sacrifice?
Of course it was, for we now know dileep as A.R.Rahman.