ARR GURUS

Many people contributed to making Rahman what he is today.Though he completed his schooling from the prestigious Padma Seshadri Bal Bhavan in Chennai, and then shifted to the Madras Christian College , Chennai.there are many others who contributed to his success – as gurus and teachers.
Music Teachers

Dileep’s initiation in music happened in the early years. He obviously took the first music lessons from his father, RK Sekhar.

According to a story behind his music baptism, once a music director and colleague of Sekhar, Sudarshanam Master found the four year old playing a tune on the harmonium. Master covered the keys with a cloth. It made no difference. Dileep replayed the tune effortlessly. This impressed the music director who suggested that he be trained in music.

Dileep started taking his first music lessons on a piano and a pedal organ when only four. He also began to formally learn Indian classical music, carnatic from Dakshinamoorthy and N. Gopalakrishnan and Hindustani from Krishnan Nair. He took classes in film music from Nithyanandham and Western Classical from Jacob John. All this learning experience enabled him to earn a scholarship to the famed Trinity College of Music at Oxford University London, from where he obtained a degree in Western Classical Music.

Once back in India , he continued to be a part of various music troupes called Roots, Magic, Memosis, Aristocrats, and Nemesis Avenue etc . He also learnt the Sufi Qawwali style from Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan, in 1997, when he visited Lahore and met the great Pakistani Sufi singer.There is one more in the list – his favorite singer Hariharan – who teaches him Ghazals in relation to Hindustani classical music. In late 1998, he formally learnt the ‘Hindustani Khayaal Gayaki’ from siblings Ghulam Kader Murtaza Khan and Ghulam Kader Mustafa Khan.
In 1998, while composing for Subhash Ghai’s ‘Taal’, he thought learning Hindi and Urdu would help him compose music for the North Indian style, and got in touch with Anand Bakshi, the famous lyricist.

Spiritual Teachers

When his sister was ill, he came across Pir Quadri. This was well before Rahman was ‘born’.and Dileep was still ‘alive’. Pir advised him frequently and taught him the purpose of life.

For Dileep, the meeting with Pir was an inner awakening and cleansing. Pir taught him a different perspective of life. Soon he and his family accepted Islam. Thus Dileep became Abdul Rahman.

It was Pir Quadri, who gave him the first lessons of Islam. After the demise of Pir Quadri, he came in contact with Mehboob Aalam and Mohammad Yusuf Bhai, who now continue to be his spiritual guide, mentor, adviser, and guru.

For Rahman, learning is divine process. He says: “You’ve to learn from the inside out. No one can teach you, none can make you spiritual. There is only teacher, and that is your soul.”