Did You Know! A Canadian city honoured AR Rahman by naming a street after him

Today, on January 6, 2023, prolific Indian musician AR Rahman turns 56. He is one of the best musicians the nation has ever had, and he keeps bringing honour to the nation on international platforms as well. The fame of A.R. Rahman's music has spread outside of India. But did you know that the musician has a Canadian city's street named after him? The City of Markham in the nation bestowed an honour upon the Grammy Award-winning composer by renaming a street in his honour.

AR Rahman thanked everyone for the honour by posting a note on his Twitter account. He wrote, "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.” Back in 2013, he had shared a picture of himself holding a board which read, 'Allah Rakha Rahman st.'

He added, “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 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,” he concluded.

Rahman started his career in the early 1990s. The music from the Tamil movie Roja, which is still loved and cherished by people today, was his first big success. He most recently collaborated on the movie Ponniyin Selvan:1 with Roja director Mani Ratnam. Aishwarya Rai Bachchan, Trisha, Vikram, Jayam Ravi, Aishwarya Lekshmi, Jayaram, and Sobitha Dhulipala, among others, appeared in the magnum opus, which was composed by Rahman.