AR Rahman pens emotional note as a street in Canada gets named after him: ‘The name AR Rahman is not mine, it means…’

Music composer AR Rahman says he is humbled that Markham city in Canada has named a street after him. The Academy award winning composer, who has given acclaimed soundtracks right from his debut Roja to Atrangi Re and Vikram, took to Twitter and shared a heartfelt note, thanking the officials for the honour.
“City of Markham honours AR Rahman naming a street after him. I never imagined this ever 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,” he wrote.

Rahman said his name means “merciful”, a quality of God, and hoped it brings peace and prosperity to Canada. The composer also thanked his countrymen and especially his creative collaborators for inspiring him to make music.
“The name AR 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 the people living in Canada. God bless you all.
“I want to thank my brothers and sers of India for all the love. All the creative people who worked with me, who 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,” he wrote.

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
Rahman, who has been composing music for films for three decades now, said the honour has made him feel responsible and instilled in him more strength to keep going and “not retire”.
“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’ll remember that I have more things to do, more people to connect, more bridges to cross,” he added.
On the work front, Rahman has composed music for upcoming films like Mani Ratnam’s Ponniyin Selvan: I, Vendhu Thanindhathu Kaadu directed Gautham Vasudev Menon and the Hindi film Pippa, starring Ishaan Khatter and Mrunal Thakur.