Though I am in India, where fan-following reaches some of the unbelievable heights of fanaticism, I am not a person who hails stardom. But this was the case until I became irrevocably pulled into the greatness of two men about whom I'll be writing in this post.
One is Pete Sampras, undoubtedly one of the greatest champions in the history of lawn tennis and the greatest player in the last decade. I was a little boy when Sampras won his first grand slam-the US open. I was always an avid tennis watcher, for, my father is a tennis fan too. Also as I play shuttle cock, tennis, which has a likeness to shuttle, naturally attracted me. I am mostly attracted to the 'road less traveled'. So, Agassi, who was considered hot, didn’t favor my support and I went on to support Sampras and he won his first grand slam in 1990. It was later that I realized that I had at least one similarity with Sampras ;-) Yes, he was also born on August 12th and so do I :-) But it was as I grew up that my naive attraction to Sampras became sophisticated. One of the most powerful serves, the 'serve and volley' game style, single-handed back hand are just a few characteristic features about the great champion which I can say in this short space.
The other is A.R.Rahman, the Indian music director who is now gaining world wide acclaim. What ARR had done to the Indian music industry is nothing short of revolution. I still remember the days when tabla used to be the only percussion instrument of choice (and which is of course drab). Though I am not refuting the fact that there were many good numbers in those times, I strongly state that ARR brought a whole new set of changes that still prevail, even after a decade of their introduction. ARR started his career with one of the greatest hits which is current even now-Roja, a ManiRatnam flick. (For those who don't know about Mani Ratnam, I'll write about him in the subsequent posts :-)) It was he who gave the taste of western instruments to the Indian people. The Tamils were particularly fortunate (or even blessed), for, ARR is a Tamil and he started and is still composing for the Tamil industry. The numbers themselves speak for this great genius, who entered the international arena with his album-'The Bombay Dreams'. And now he's composing for Hollywood movies as well. The mixing he brings into his songs, the freedom he gives to his singers to include their impromptu additions, the encouragement he gives to the new singers are just a few of the remarkable changes he has effected in the Indian music industry. From a period when it was just a choice of SPB or Yesudoss (for a male voice) and one among Janaki, Suseela or Chitra (female voice), the scenario is unimaginable now. You have not less than 20 singers for a song now. KayKay, Karthik,Chinmayee,Udit,UnniKrishnan...and the list goes on. I cannot help but say just one more piece of information about my hero. ARR has composed and sung a number in one of the most beautiful movies I have ever seen: "Kannathil Muthamittal", directed by Mani Ratnam. This number is "Vellai Pookal" and the song calls for world peace in this film, which is about the war between the LTTEs and the Colombo government in Sri Lanka. Believe it or not, weeks after the composition of this song, a truce was declared in Sri Lanka, and since then, there are repeated attempts to reach an agreement among the dissenting factions.{This incident was stated by ARR himself in an interview}. Such is the magic in his songs.
Now, to justify the title of this post. There is one most important thing that these two great men have: humbleness. There is no other term which I can use to define these people other than 'Humility personified'. Whenever Sampras wins a Grand Slam, he just raises his hands and smiles-that is all that he does after conquering the pinnacle!!! And he doesn't talk with the pride/arrogance/ that he is the greatest tennis with the world record number of grand slams. He is as simple as that! Any people to have heard about ARR should definitely know his humbleness. Whatever be the award he gets, be it the state award or nation award, all he has to say in the mike post award declaration is "God is great". These two people won my heart not only because of their talents, but because of this one supreme quality which I cherish sooooooooo much: humility.
