By Subhash K  Jha
In some  ways BAFTA was  more special than  any   of  the other  Slumdog awards so far.
  It also has  to do with   the sudden  coming-of-age of  Indian music.
Says Rahman, "For 18 years I’ve been hearing it  will happen now, it will happen now. It didn’t happen with some of my earlier efforts  like  the  staged musical Bombay Dreams. Finally  Indian music has gone  international. And frankly, the  expectations scare me."
On Tuesday Rahman returned from London to   Chennai for just a day  before heading to Los Angeles  for the Oscars.
Says Rahman,  "Danny, Dev Patel and the crew  are all Britishers.   To be honoured back home  is  another high altogether.  For me also, London  is like  a second  home. I’ve been coming here  since 1996. It’s my favourite city outside India. And to be  getting the BAFTA  is  special."
 Rahman thinks  the popularity  of  his Slumdog score has a lot to  do with   the  fate of  the overall product. "It’s the entire product that   audiences have liked  , and my music  is  part  of  that  product. My song    Jai ho has touched a  chord   because  of  the way  it has been  used.  It comes  at  the end  as a cathartic eruption of song  song dance and happiness. That’s  the spirit in which  people have received my music."
Rahman  looks back  on  his life  after Slumdog with some  amazement. "It’s been  like a rollercoaster ride for  one and a   half months. The Oscar will be the culmination  of  the  whirlwind of activities. Are  people  back home looking at me  with  expectations? I hope I don’t let them  down. I feel God has already given me much more than I  ever expected." - SAMPURN