New Delhi: The city of Markham in Canada has honoured Grammy Award-winning music composer AR Rahman by naming a street after him. Sharing the news on Twitter, the music maestro thanked Mayor Frank Scarpitti. In a long statement, he extended his gratitude to the people of Canada as well.
“I never imagined this in my life. I am very grateful to all of you, the Mayor of Markham, Canada (Frank Scarpitti), and counsellors, Indian Consulate General (Apoorva Srivastava) and the people of Canada.”
“The name A.R. Rahman is not mine. It means merciful. The merciful is the quality of the common God we all have and one can only be the servant of merciful. So, let that name bring peace, prosperity, happiness and health to all people living in Canada. God bless you all. I want to thank my brothers and sisters of India for all the love. All the creative people who worked with me, gave me the inspiration to rise up and celebrate hundred years of cinema; with all the legends included. I am a very small drop in the ocean.”
“I feel like this gives me immense responsibility to do much more and be inspiring; not to get tired and not to retire…yet. Even if I get tired I will remember that I have more things to do, more people to connect, more bridges to cross.”
Rahman began his career in films in the early 1990s and rose to fame after composing music for the hit Tamil film ‘Roja’. His next work will be filmmaker Mani Ratnam’s ‘Ponniyin Selvan’, one of the most anticipated films of 2022.
Honoured and grateful for this recognition from @cityofmarkham and @frankscarpitti and the people of Canada 🇨🇦 🇮🇳 #arrahmanstreet #markham #canada #infinitelovearr #celebratingdiversity pic.twitter.com/rp9Df42CBi
— A.R.Rahman (@arrahman) August 29, 2022