Rafi Saab By Waseem Altaf That divine voice which gives the joy of that eternal beauty to millions today and for all times to come was not Hindu or Muslim nor was it Indian or Pakistani; Rafi Saab was a precious jewel of that culture which transcends religion and surpasses all geographical boundaries. A Hindu friend of mine says that he has several gods. One of them is Mohammad Rafi. Another one, a Muslim says he has never heard the voice of God, but if one day he hears it, he would not be surprised as day and night he listens to Mohammad Rafi. And then there are those who do not understand Urdu or Hindi and yet say that they feel the pathos in his songs. The voice of Mohammad Rafi was simply a gift to the entire humanity. Music has no religion and it is universal. The man who introduced Mohammad Rafi in the film world was the great maestro Shyam Sunder, a Hindu by faith, while it was Master Ghulam Haider, a Muslim who brought Lata Mangeshkar into screenland. Music fosters love, affection and brotherhood. It destroys geographical boundaries; Rahat and Atif in Bombay, Sonu Nigam and Sukhbir in Pakistan, Punjabi bands in UK and Canada, A R Rahman, Nusrat Fateh Ali and Micheal Jackson all over the world. Many of us grew up with Rafi Saab’s songs. Listening to these melodies is often a pleasant nostalgic experience often rekindling memories of the past. And sometimes, when in distress we listen to him and it relieves the pain. His voice mesmerizes us like a magical spell. It is indescribable and can only be felt. Look at the wide spectrum of songs that he sang; from westernized compositions to Indian classical songs to folk tunes, the range of his voice was spectacular. He would act and perform with his voice. While singing for Dilip Kumar you felt that it would be Dilip onscreen, while he would modulate his singing while recording a playback for DevAnand or Shammi Kapoor. Similarly, he would immediately grasp what Shankar-Jaikishan wanted while singing for S.D Burman or O.P Nayyar, he would follow a different strain; perfectly at ease while singing a Bengali, a Marathi or a Punjabi song; his versatility was infinite. As a person he was very simple and humble. He was a family man, married to Bashira’n, his cousin. Throughout his career there never ever was a scandal. Despite being a celebrity there was not an iota of self projection or arrogance in his attitude. For more than twenty years his voice defined melody in film music. He began his career at 13, having performed live in Lahore as a stopgap in a show while Saigal Saab waited for power supply to be restored. His singing was remarkably original .It was this strength and richness of his tone that he ruled the Hindi film music like a colossus. Kotla Sultan Singh is a small village near Amritsar where this great singer was born on December, 24, 1924.Even today people from all over India and abroad come to see this place and take with them some soil from here as a memento. On Rafis Saab’s death, on 31st July 1980 the government of India announced a two-day public holiday in his honor. “The Voice” and the immortal melodies today and tomorrow and thereafter will continue to rule millions of hearts and would always remain a source of eternal joy. A god came to earth on December, 24, 1924 and went back to the heavens on 31st July 1980. (Today is Rafi Saab’s 90th birth anniversary).
Posted on: Wed, 24 Dec 2014 15:05:39 +0000
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