AR Rahman's awesome gift to children

It was an eventful birthday for renowned musician AR Rahman who turned 53 on January 6. The Mozart of Madras celebrated it by announcing a new initiative - Ta Futures, which would focus on capturing the culture of Tamil Nadu in the form of a new creative expression.

We ask the maestro what’s Ta Futures all about and he responds, “At a time when there is a lot of negative energy spread everywhere in the world like war, protests, I felt children should not be exposed to such an environment. Their minds should be free, which would help them grow as better human beings and channelise their energy towards a better future. And a peaceful atmosphere can be created spiritually through music, art forms and even movies.  As artistes, we should make the world beautiful with our music. I wondered what am I giving to my future generations. That thought triggered the start of the initiative - ‘Ta Futures’.”

“I met professor Tod Machover from MIT, a composer known for his musical innovations who was working in ‘City Symphony’ and capturing the sounds of the city in places like Detroit. I wanted him to bring it to Chennai as a collaborative project and we also brought on board filmmaker Bharat Bala. We will be capturing and creating sounds and anyone can join and suggest their ideas. In particular, I want to help them children nurture and share their knowledge and skills,” he added. Delving more into ‘Ta’ he said, “ ‘Ta’ is simple sounding iconic coinage of Words. Ta mean Thaai (mother), thandhai(father), Tamizh, Tara (Star), Tha Ka Thimi Tha (rhythm). It is just a cultural expression. We have just sown the seeds; it may become something over next 20 years. In collaboration with the public, we want to develop a museum in future.”

When the topic shifted to whether Vairamuthu is part of the film Ponniyin Selvan, the Isai Puyal said, “I cannot discuss anything about it now. Anything should come from Mani Ratnam office. I am meeting Mani Ratnam sir once he returns from his shoot. All I can say is that musically Ponniyin Selvan is a very challenging creative project,” he says and signs off.