I just want to say Thank you to ARR Sir. I really don’t know what I would do without his music. This has changed my life forever.
Chander
2020 has been an interesting year for the whole world. The year has definitely taught every individual something. The year could have have definitely changed lives and unfortunately, there are many (1000s) who would have lost their lives due to the pandemic.
It hasn’t been an easy year for sure. And just like anyone else. It has had an impact on mine too.
2020 brings back a number of memories & reflections. I had flown down to Trichy all the way from Australia for my idol (A.R.Rahman) Sir’s concert in the month of Feb. The concert as usual was just spectacular. And I had the most amazing time of spending time with the band and also great conversations with my idol. It just felt like I was flying in heaven.
I returned back to Australia with the hope that there will be another concert which will give me another opportunity to travel (I was planning to go for the US concert).
Things started to change from late February. We started to hear about the pandemic spreading in other countries. Around the 1st week of March WHO declared that the pandemic. I started to see vacant streets here in Melbourne which is something that I hadn’t seen (ever) before.
Things started to get gloomy. Things started to change in most organizations (businesses) – restructures, job cuts, pay cuts, employees getting stood down.
Almost everyone started to experience anxiety. I am usually a very optimistic person. I always look for the positives. I also became a victim of getting anxious about things (about various things) and interestingly I was getting anxious about things that were never going to happen either. This could also probably because of all the negativity that was (still is) flying around in the social media and various other forms. I really had to find ways to put an end to it. One of the things that I did was to unfollow things on social media, this way when I open up social media I actually saw nothing but my own boring posts. This would just deter me from using social media.
I have always believed that music does magic. And more specifically my idol (ARR) Sir’s music. It does something to me (all the time). It takes me to a world that makes me forget about everything else.
I remember around the 3rd week of March (last year) is when 99 songs (ARR Sir’s) album released. This was a blessing in disguise. This album had 14 songs. Each track was loaded with magic. I remember the very first track in the album itself was in an infinite loop for about 2 weeks and then I moved on to the second. (On the whole it took me 8 weeks until I got to the 14th track – nopes not kidding. This is me when my idol’s music releases). This album in particular help me heal. I was really struggling with everything that was going around me. Work was getting extremely stressful (I work in IT) and due to the pandemic every organization was forced to Digital transformation whether they liked it or not. I work in the Microsoft 365 space. The sudden influx of projects kept me on my toes and I felt I was losing myself. The sense of anxiety (for no reason) was still bothering me. Although, I used to feel better when I would play music and it would come back again when the music does down. So I decided to play music 24/7 (only ARR Sir’s music). I still remember playing music at a very low volume even when I was in meetings.
Things weren’t getting better around me. The pandemic was spreading like wild fire across the world. I felt (Thankfully) I had tapped into the magical ammunition called ARR’ music. I really wanted to do something that could bring a smile to the people and experience the magic that I experienced. Again, I wasn’t sure what I would do to make it happen.
Being in IT, I was invited as a guest for a Technical Podcast. I spoke for an hour and got back to my living room. That was when I thought “Let me look for an ARR Podcast”. And to my surprise nothing came up. I straightaway knew this is what I wanted to do. I still remember keeping my coffee cup on the table and making my way to the gadgets store close by and looking for things to start a Podcast. I had no clue what to even buy. My research was while I was in the store, and just buying it. I got back home with all the gadgets. I didn’t waste even a minute. I set it all up and I was all set for the Podcast. Now I had no clue who to speak to.
I called my very good friends “Sreekanth Hariharan” first thing, I told him about the idea of the podcast. I did tell him that I am not a professional podcaster, I wouldn’t even have a clue about what / how to talk. But I did say that I will follow my heart and let the conversations flow. We decided to record the very same night. The happiness that I got at the end of the Podcast was just magic. Simply because I were speaking about my most favorite person (ARR Sir) and his music. I could not sleep that night. I was filled with positivity. This was the first time I actually spoke about what was very personal to me. I knew I had tapped into something that was magical to me and would definitely be magical to everyone else too.
I spoke to Bamba Bakya who was my second guest. And it was magical yet again. The I❤️ARR Podcast was born.
The Podcasts were released on Spotify & YouTube. ARR Sir’s fans absolutely loved it and started connecting with me. They felt I was speaking the same language as them. They resonated with everything that was spoken in the Podcasts. The unanimous feedback that I received was that it brought a smile on their faces whilst everything else was going on in the world.
Lots of Sir’s fans (from all parts of the world) connected with me. The I❤️ARR Community was born.
I decided to take them all on the journey with me and most importantly to spread love an positivity.
And in the month of May, ARR Sir himself came on the Podcast. This was the best 55 mins and 4 seconds of my life. I still pinch myself to believe that this happened.
This Podcast has now turned into a talking autobiography of ARR Sir which is making the journey even more special.
I am doing this single handedly with no brands or sponsorship whatsoever. Just out of pure love for Sir.
So far the Podcast has had 64 guests (as of yesterday). It has been very special. I am on a mission to create these memories which will be cherished for a long long time. I feel extremely blessed to be existing in this era called ARR. It is even more special as Sir himself has been on the Podcast.
It’s amazing what music can do. I am extremely excited that the Podcast journey is helping me spread, love, positivity and most importantly a smile on the faces.
As part of the journey, I also helped Alphons Joseph to build his online school on the Microsoft platform. Microsoft was very delighted about this journey and covered it in their global news. You can read it here: Microsoft News
I am on a mission to create memories that will be cherished forever. And I am not giving up. Sir’s Music is magic man!
I just want to say Thank you to ARR Sir. I really don’t know what I would do without his music. This has changed my life forever.
Thank you Sir.
Love you so much.
Stay Hungry, Stay Foolish
Chander
I❤️ARR 