A R Rahman to campaign for a noble cause

Rahman, whose music has cut across cultural boundaries into Europe, will perform at a concert at the Indira Gandhi Indoor Stadium here on December 3 before an international audience that is expected to include UN Secretary General Kofi Annan and Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates.

The concert, jointly organized by Indian Health Ministry and World Health Organization, will raise the curtain for the second meeting of Stop TB Partners Forum, consisting of Health Ministers from 22 countries where the disease has a serious proportion, on December 4 and 5.

The main reason why Rahman was chosen to join the list of eminent personalities to wage the anti-TB war is that he is a good and modest human being and it becomes easy to relate to such people, Indian Health Secretary J V R Prasad Rao .told reporters here yesterday.

Rahman was very happy to be the ambassador when approached recently and promised to lead the fight against TB whenever required, he said.

According to WHO estimates, over 4.5 million people are afflicted with the disease, one third of the total incidence the world over.

Amitabh Bachchan and Mohammed Kaif are already in the publicity blitz to caution the people against TB and Rahman will join them by making a number of appearances in the drive against the disease.

Increasing number of noted personalities from the world of film and cricket are being roped in to propagate noble causes as the cinema and the game are the two most popular segments with the masses in India and the message is driven home much faster, say advertisement film-makers.

This is probably the first time that Rahman's services have been secured for a noble cause.