[Beerinkol]

Originally Posted by thamizhvaanan So its not surprising for you to have met those 51 guys. Doesn't mean that there is some mysterious factor capable of converting ARR fan into a IR fan :P ... ellaa one off case nu dismiss pannidalaam :P

Thamizh,
I think you are also missing a small section in the diaspora. The surface level listener who doesn't have more than a passing interest in the intricacies or details. While vociferously declaring themselves fans of ARR/rAjA they may be unable to articulate why. IMO these are the people who are most likely to vacillate. Yup, you are right. Those who get into such intricacies will note that the taste element in ARR's music belongs to a different dimension compared to IR's music(not totally orthogonal, but still not comparable). My preference stems from the fact that ARR covers more dimensions of my musical appreciation than IR does.

Music doesn't begin and end with either IR or ARR, one should understand that. One advantage with ARR is that he is still open, and probable to expand his scope in various musical directions, whereas IR has already defined his borders IMHO.

But I am not sure about your second point. One need not be able to articulate why something appeals to them. Can a mother articulate why she feels affection towards her child? One can still describe his taste in words, but that won't be complete neither would it describe exactly how he is moved by that particular piece of art.