Call him a maestro or a legend Ilayaraja has carved more than a niche for himself in the history of music. The Isai Gnani who started his musical journey with his first film Annakilli is now ready to work on his 875th film titled Vilayadu Raja Vilayadu. His song Poove sem poove is my all time favorite song. The track Rakamma kaiya thattu was amongst the songs listed in a BBC world top ten music poll. He has millions of fans all over the globe. Every song of his is unique and lends a great learning experience to music students. One of my friends who learned music professionally always tells me that Ilayaraja’s songs are very difficult to perform in competitions and functions. All his melodies will be etched in the memory of people for eternity. Today people talk about fusion of music styles and culture eventually losing authenticity and flavor. Either they compose banal songs or go mad in the name of remix. Everyone sees the commercial side of deceiving people to earn money rather than the musical side. They just run out of ideas. Even today a person like Ilayaraja holds on to his place in the hearts of true music lovers. Today’s younger generation will one day realize the authentic spirit of south Indian music and revert back to olden days. Music beckons those who preserve the culture for posterity. Long live the legend...

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