AR Rahman's mother, Kareema Begum, passes away

Chennai, Dec 28: Music maestro AR Rahman's mother Kareema Begum passed away on Monday in Chennai. She was suffering from age-related ailments and her cremation would take place later today.

The Oscar-winning musician paid a tribute to his mother by sharing a photo, without any text on his Twitter page.

Kareema Begum was the wife of famous music composer RK Sekhar who passed away in 1976 and is survived by her daughters AR Reihana, Ishrath Qadri, Fathima Shekhar apart from Rahman.

Rehman, in an interview to a private channel had said that "She has music instincts. Spiritually, she is much higher than me in the way she thinks and takes decisions. For instance, her decision of making me take up music. She made me leave school in Class XI and take up music. It was her conviction that music is the line for me."