Do you know it took me 27 years to understand the C major chord on the piano?

Ilaiyaraaja

Success isn't about the end result; it's about what you learn along the way.

Western, jazz, folk, or tribal music, whatever the form, they all have the same sapta swaras as the basis.

Art is a unifying language for all of us from across the world, and it transcends boundaries.

Questioning the origin of music is like asking why the breeze is soothing, why you shiver in exhilaration when the spray from the waterfall hits you.

Genuine music, to me, is the one which has no purpose. It should be as natural and as purposeless as the flow of the river.

Music is nothing but sound, and there is no place for value judgement among various sounds.

I consider all women as mother. I compose poems for any female considering her as mother.

I think of the Tamil poet Subrahmanya Bharati every day, and he is an inspiration in my musical creations.

Can someone do music for 24 hours at a stretch and never get tired? It's me. Because I don't 'work'. I enjoy what am doing. It's not like a regular job.

I had difficulty in grasping how music was made for films. It was a huge learning curve and the toughest phase of my life.

A director should concentrate on his storyline and his characters.

One could work on a lot of albums such as 'Thiruvasagam in Symphony,' but with issues such as illegal downloading from the Internet and piracy, it is difficult.

Taking legal action against pirates is a headache for artists like me.

Music and religion keep me young.

Good music is made with the help of many musicians who express their joy in the swaras.

When you listen to a song, it should make you sit up and wonder, 'Hey, what is this!' or give you an inexplicable feeling of joy or relate beautifully to the music in you.