While I'm ranting out here, let me address one other topic i've seen discussed till our brains ooze out.
The problem with most indians is(and before someone wisely starts to point out that I too am Indian, i'll say it beforehand : I too am Indian, so yah, i address myself as well) is that we tend to indulge in these comparision wars all the time. Who's better?! sachin/bradman, sachin/sehwag, kamal hassan/rajinikant, and so on and the problem is that most of these debates don't even make any sense.
And to add to this, comes one hoary old chestnut- Ilayaraja vs A R Rahman.
This one is particularly funny because i feel that both parties have formed their opinions based on-whatever-and the point of this debate is simply futile; neither one is going to emerge 'victorious' here. They ought to know that much at least!
I personally love the works of both these gentlemen and i think most of us are not competent enough to criticize their work. I could list an entire page of the kinds of ridiculous arguments people put forth to support/oppose either of these two but i don't think it is worth it at all.
The most common mode of 'proof of superiority' of either party is to quote examples (of various great songs written by Raja or ARR without actually saying why the song is great- but by simply using superlatives while talking about it). This thoroughly unscientific method proves nothing. It simply tells us that YOU think some particular work of this person is worth listening to.
And to respond, the other party, brilliantly rubbishes that piece of work.
all this does is not undermine either composer but makes humungous fools of those putting forth these arguments or those who take these debates seriously.
To me the whole thing smacks of a personal viewpoint more than any serious debate actually. It is simply to establish that (s)he has chosen the right party/person to back up and it somehow reflects upon his/her tastes or sensibilities if the other party pooh-poohs it.