Md. Rafi, Music, Heaven

Md. Rafi, Music, Heaven

Rafi was divinity personified. His voice instantly connected you to a realm of consciousness which can more appropriately be explored only through the discipline of meditation. While meditation needs you to close your eyes and urge your mind to direct itself towards a focal point, Rafi Saab's songs automatically make your eyes shut, mind focused and heart beat with a rhythm impossible to achieve through an intellectual procedure.

I have been a committed blogger for the past few years and have been trying to write on a variety of topics. Blogging is a wonderful way to express oneself beyond the expectations of the marketplace which any writer, desirous of being addressed as a `best-selling author`, cannot get away from. However, one of the subjects missing from a wide array of blogs I have written is one on Md. Rafi, especially given that I am such a huge Bollywood buff. I am correcting that anomaly through this piece.

One of the great things for an `abnormal` guy like me is that nobody looks at me with suspicion when I say I am a Md. Rafi fan. In fact, you would be counted amongst the abnormal and uncultured lot if you said you were not particularly a fan of India's most iconic singer. Yes, Rafi is not just representative of a great lineage of singers in our country, but is part of the overall Indian artistic tradition. When you think of music, you cannot but think of Rafi as a top-of-the-mind recall.
My generation grew up listening to Rafi Saab, Kishore Kumar, Lata Manageshkar and Asha Bhosale. My favourite has always been Rafi, simply for the divinity in his voice and the charm of his singing. In our growing up years, we are deeply influenced by certain public figures who leave a permanent impression on our psyche. Rafi Saab is one of them, besides my generation's other usual favourites like Sunil Gavaskar, Kishore Kumar and Amitabh Bachchan. But what is incredible about Rafi is that over three decades after he passed away, far from his voice being silenced by the destiny of death, his songs reverberate with even more freshness.

Rafi was divinity personified. His voice instantly connected you to a realm of consciousness which can more appropriately be explored only through the discipline of meditation. While meditation needs you to close your eyes and urge your mind to direct itself towards a focal point, Rafi Saab's songs automatically make your eyes shut, mind focused and heart beat with a rhythm impossible to achieve through an intellectual procedure.

Hindi films, in general, have always been thought to provide a mechanism of escapism to tired masses from the humdrum realities of life by transporting them to an unreal reel life. But what Rafi achieved by leveraging the same platform was spiritual in nature – he provided joy when alive and continues to do. That truly is his legacy.

Rafi was not just a great and one-of-a-kind singer, but also a stupendous human being. His humility was legendary. His career evolved through tumultuous times in post-independence India and he sang songs with equal conviction across genres as well as those which represented part of any religious tradition. He was equally at ease with classical as well as non-classical and racy numbers.

No doubt, his talent, range and versatility are the stuff dreams are made of. It may even make one feel envious that one man can be bestowed with so much grace, while we mere mortals are left wondering about our own talents. After all, we all could so easily be singing for Rafi the song he rendered: `Khuda Bhi Aasmaan Se Jab Zameen Par Dekhta Hoga, Mere Mehboob Ko Kisane Banaya Sochata Hoga`.

But to attribute greatness merely to talent is grossly unfair. Sure, God perhaps constructed Rafi's voice in his own image, but what made him a legend amongst legends was his commitment and inventiveness. He ensured the actors he sang for received as much glory as his own singing by employing imagination and transporting himself into the shoes of the actors' personalities and roles.

While actors like Dilip Kumar and Shammi Kapoor made Rafi's voice their own, Rafi too made the actors' `voice` his own. That's why even today when we listen to a Rafi song, what simultaneously flashes across our mind is the image of the actors on screen lip-singing that song. You feel as if Dev Anand, Shammi Kapoor or Dharmendra themselves are singing the song.

Rafi had this unique power to surrender himself to the character on screen, thereby ensuring that not just his, but also the actors' careers flourished. Today, when we think of a Shammi Kapoor or a Dev Anand, we think not just of their films, but also their songs. Today's generation of actors do not have this luxury. They need to fend for themselves purely on the basis of their talent and the roles they portray.

It is unfair to compare any modern day singer with Rafi, for Rafi was the original, whereas, everyone else, be they professional or bathroom singers like me, simply sing by picking up the threads from the Md. Rafi gharana. Rafi Saab was absolutely right when he sang `Tum Mujhe Yun Bhla Na Paoge. Jab Kabhi Bhi Sunoge Geet Mere Sang Sang Tum Bhi Gungunaoge`.

Generations to come will experience the Rafi magic, for Rafi Saab is not just part of our culture, he is part of the Indian consciousness. Rafi the person will be missed, but his music – Never.