Nostalgic Nila Kaigirathu - 25 years of ARR!

Nila Kaigirathu' from Indira is a song which resonates childhood imprints and evokes nostalgic memories from yore. The song has traversed across 20 years but there is still an impish charm and innocence about it that makes you want to revisit it time and again.

This is a composition which is very hard to pigeonhole on a particular raga pattern as ARR generously alternates between the Gandharam's and Madhyamam's with nonchalant ease which perhaps could also be classified as the beautifying factor in this work of art. There are subtle gamakkas and variations which I wanted to explore and hence tried it on a string instrument.

A number that bears testimony to the magic of ARR of the 1990's. Celebrating 25 musical years of A R Rahman!.
P. S : Headphones recommended

♪♫♬♯♭ 25 Musical Years of A R Rahman! ♪♫♬♯♭

During my growing up phase in the 90's, there were 2 fields which attracted me immensely. One being cricket and the other music. 2 gentleman in parallel world's, Sachin Tendulkar and A R Rahman (incidentally both No. 6's 😉) were going about their work in supreme fashion which incidentally criss crossed with my childhood and that had an immense impact on me. Looking back it's hard to believe that 25 years have elapsed since ARR's advent in the musical space.

Personally I have a sugary soft corner for the early and mid 90's compositions where the melodies were simple and sound was profound making him capture a whole generation to dance to his waves. The alternations in the tones creating an unexpected fulminant billowing out from nowhere causing ripples in the minds of the listeners was his true hallmark. His entry was revolutionary and he shook the nation by storm. On our 70th year of independence, we also celebrate 25 musical years of AR Rahman who started his journey with Roja.

I just tried a small sample of some of his vintage 90's compositions which hold a special place in my heart. I am an absolute abecedarian and play purely based on hear. Just did a random unplugged of some of his songs with few own gimmicks thrown here and there. It was a little difficult to play bits and pieces of around 15 songs at a stretch but just tried whatever possible based on my limited expertise. This is at best amateur but I hope it wasn't all that bad. Presenting a small tribute to the man and his music.