Happy 90th Birthday Rafi - saab. Does this happen to you/? You been hearing this song for a long time and it would not have struck you as interesting or likable. But then you go to a karaoke night or a friends party and there you hear that same hitherto unimpressive song being sung by your friend quite well. As a result of his/her rendering you develop a new liking for that song. You start humming the song and before you know you are hooked to that song. It is as if another person has helped you appreciate the song at a different level. This has happened to me many times. Recently when I went to B R Chayas s concert for UVCE foundation I was spell bound by the performance of Mandeep Singh and Shridhar Ganapathi. They both sang many songs by Mohammad Rafi and after listening to them I wanted to go home and download all the Mohammad Rafi songs and listen to them. It is not that I suddenly developed a liking for Mohammad Rafi songs. I was indoctrinated into Rafi devotee circle by my dad. You are a sum of your parents and all their forefathers. The set of your likes and dislikes starts of by copying those of your parents. Later in life you may change them or temper them but the basis is your family environment. That is how you can explain why people think their mothers cooking is the best in the world. My theory is that the ingredient of moms love only add seasoning. The major ingredient of the bestness is that you got used to it for a long time and cant think enough of it. Any way this writeup is not about why moms cooking is in reality not so good. But that was one thing that was scrawling in my mind and I had to get it out. Now back to my indoctrination into Rafi fandom. It is more appropriate to say I grew up in a family which loved Rafis songs and so I must have believed that to be true. But as I grew up I have only appreciated him more. For the last few years I had lost interest in listening to music. While driving in the car with my daughters Rafi does not stand a chance in front of Rahana, Taylor swift Bruno Mars and gang. So that must have dried up my interest in music. When I am alone I any way listen to NPR and programs about current events and movies. So thanks to Mandeep and Shridhar for reigniting my desire to listen to Rafi. What makes me love Rafi songs is their variety in styles. From songs rooted in classical tradition like madhuban me radhika naachere to beautiful romantic songs like chaudwin ka chand ho to rock-n-roll numbers like aaja aaja mei hu pyar tera to songs reflecting pathos like ye duniya ke rakh wale and to songs which are simply fun like hum kale hai to kya hua dilwale hai - Rafi has sung them all. I have known Rafi as the classically trained elderly looking man who sang calmly showing little emotion other than a smile. So I could picture Rafi singing soulful songs but I just could not picture him singing songs like junglee or many of the masti ki gaane he did for Shammi Kapoor. But that he did and did a lot. That is what I love about Rafi. He has the dignity to sing fine songs as well as the desire and ability to be playful in his singing. Combine that with a fantastic talent you have songs which can soothe you or lift you up from a depressed mood. Now add to that the genius of Asha Bhosle and Lata Manageshkar. Now those, along with his solo numbers are classics. I was curious to see Mohammad Rafi singing live. I wanted to see how he looks when he does his famous Rafi-isms which comes once in a while in his songs and make us smile. So here is one video. Look at around 6:48 and 12:45 in this link which show Rafi’s fun side. https://youtube/watch?v=62Iw51x0-i0 Today Dec 24 marks his 90th birthday. Wishing him peace and thanking him and every one who collaborated with him for giving us the joy of music.
Posted on: Wed, 24 Dec 2014 18:07:25 +0000
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