The hero fascinated me. But his voice fascinated me even more. Little did I know that it was the voice of a person I was going to worship over the years. Little did I know that the hero actually never sang. My grandmother kept making fun of me as I tried singing the same song after we got home. I never got it right. I realized many many years later that I could never ever get it right. It was no use trying to be so perfect. Only God can be so perfect.
But one film, and a song, and the same hero again. With a cigarette and a lighter. And his own reflection in a pond. Main Zindagi Ka Saath Nibhaata Chalaa Gayaa… and I was well and truly hooked as a fan, a worshipper and a big big music lover.
Even though all three films had Dev Anand as a common factor, and he is still a great idol for me, the real magic was Rafi Saab’s evergreen voice. I have been an unashamed and absolutely besotted fan since.
As I grew up in Delhi and switched schools I used to sing at school functions and class celebrations. The songs were always- Tere Mere Sapne or Likhe Jo Khat Tujhe or Abhi Na Jaao or Chale The Saath Milkar or Mera Man Tera Pyaasa…. the years were different.. the class was different.. and the schoolgirl I sang for was probably different. But the voice I tried to imitate with very little success was always Rafi Saab’s.
There was a big fight at home one day. And as a result I didn’t eat food for a full day. My elder sister was a Kishore Kumar and Rajesh Khanna fan. I was a Rafi fan. Full stop. We had such a big argument that my parents had to intervene. Luck stepped in in the form of my mother, who declared with authority….”nobody can sing Nache Man Mora Magan …like Rafi”. My sister sulked. I fasted. And the world feasted on more songs from Rafi Saab.
I shall always remember Rafi Saab with doses of cricket. The first ever Ranji Trophy Match my father took me too was a tame affair. Bengal succumbed to Delhi. I had my first glimpse of the handsome Nawab of Pataudi- Mansur Ali Khan. and I also witnessed the great Pankaj Roy losing his middle stump to a devilish yorker from Rajinder Pal of Delhi. A little later in the day dad took me for the first ever time to Wenger’s at Connaught Place. I was overawed by the ambience and the juke box, and the song that played over and over again there was….”kaarvaaan guzar gaya…ghubaar dekhte rahe“. just a few days later dad got tickets for a movie which I never understood at all. I remember being scared of an old man who kept hollering at a younger man. But there was another old man..a mad man…who sang loud and clear..and I loved that song… Zindabad Zindabad..ae mohabbat zindabad.
Watching Bishen Bedi and e.a.s Prasanna Rout Australia for 107 in the second innings at Delhi on a sunday afternoon was laced with the title songs of Pyaar hi Pyaar that kept playing on various transistors in the stadium. My mother and sister had gone to watch the movie that day while dad and son went to the Test Match.
After this… it was winter nights in cold cold Delhi.. a razaai to keep me warm..and the Philips Vikram medium wave transistor, which I coaxed and cajoled my father to get us. He could never understand why the big fat Eveready batteries needed to be replenished so often. The cause was Man Chaahe Geet on Vividh Bharati.
After this it was always… lakhon hain nigahon main…and pukarta chala hoon main and kyaa se kyaa ho gaya.
I am and I shall always remain a Huge Huge Rafi Fan. My son has taken after me. He was born in late ’85 but he enjoys some numbers like Woh Hum Na The Woh Tum Na the…and the Guide songs.
Some traditions continue. My wife is a Kishore Fan, but I don’t stop eating because if I do that she will fight and I wont be able to enjoy my songs. Thank God I travel a lot. I have Rafi Saab for company in CDs.. on my iPod.. and at office… oh.. right now I have another delightful number playing… Ek Jaanib Sham e Mehfil…..from Abhilasha.
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16…..Post..Pls tell me whether “Mere sapanon ki rani is heart today in radion or in channels??
r d burmans music is the best in teees manzil. its songs resound in every channel, music shows and through innumerable compact discs at homes.
even today its a trend setter and its pristine music is from the school of music from shankar-jaikishan taken forward ‘stylishly’ by r.d.b.
do we need kishore kumar to say that mohd rafi is ‘awesome’ .
dear friend, mohd rafi saahebs record is there for everyone to listen and relish for a life time……….no one can come near the versatile mohd rafi.
one can ‘spend’ a lifetime listening to rafi saaheb’s songs but yet will not be able to finish the 8000 songs – that rafi saaheb has sung.
There are hundreds of songs recorded but not released.
show me one song in which anyone other than mohd rafi has sung in the style of johny walker….
its said that rafi saaheb sang the highest for johny walker. johny must have acted in 200 movies and this is quite possible.
it could be more that that of our own shammi kapoor saaheb according to leading journos in mumbai.
to return to teesri manzil, ( the third floor ) musical movie, even today one can see groups of people in age group of sixties swaying and shaking their feets in an auditorium when Oh …….haseena juljon wali is played.
i have witnessed this myself recently where a great classically trained singer and his daughter were essaying the song at mumbai shivaji parks latest savarkar hall.
what i mean to say is that the “recall” value of mohd rafi songs are the highest, greatest and for all times.
there will 12,000 music programmes dedicated to rafi saaheb this july around the globe…………as it will be the 32nd jayanti of amar singer mohd rafi saaheb.
I am a mad fan of Md.Rafi saheb.. At the same time I hate lata from my core, coz she had a controversy with my Rafi Saheb.. Lata ko duniya hi jannat hai, aur Rafi Saheb ko Jannat-jannat hi hai.. Also Md.Rafi is far far better than Kishore Kumar.. KK got chancebto sing the song “Mere sapnon ki Rani kab ayegi tu” just bcoz Rafi Saheb was not available while singing, as he had been for tour with his family..Rafi Saheb has even sung songs which KK failed to do so, and KK has admitted that Rafi is just awesome..
Anyone who has heard Rafi singing will become his fan. A lovely honey coated voice and in full control of the Surs and Taals and Raags. Rafi sahab was not only a great singer but a wonderful human being too- so very kind and compassionate.
thank you very much all of you for your great feedback.
murtygaru, pls count me in on this wonderful book idea that you have. as for Ek Janib..i just love that song and it plays many many times on my comp.
venkat ji and bina ji – it is very natural for us to be influenced by such a powerful personality even though he was so soft by nature. the voice was so commanding and powerful that anybody would be influenced.
binu ji, coming from a big big rafi fan like you it is a compliment which i accept most humbly.
akbar sahab, bahut bahut shukriya is hausla afzaai ke liye. main aapka shukramand hoon. you are so very right when you say that Rafi Saab has enriched our lives and that nobody can match him.
Plz vote for our beloved Rafi Sahab and glorify India.
becoming one of the greatest fans of rafi sahab.
reading – especially your tiff with your sis.
poetry than prose as we go on…………..
Nice write up Achalji. I feel you remember the incident isnt it everytime when you hear this songs. Some of the incidents will be remembered everytime when this films or songs which see or hear. I feel that the admin has done a fantastic thing that only after registering we should give our comments. good it is.
After the recent changes that were made for posting of readers’ comments, I feel the inflow of comments has come down drastically. Maybe friends are all visiting the site and reading the articles, but the comments are far too less when compared to earlier. Normally, an article would receive at least one or two comments daily until it goes to back pages. But our friends seem to be a little hesitant in registering the names and posting their comments under their regd. user name. My appeal, please continue to read all the articles and post your valuable comments.
Achalbhai, your post 8. We know you are going to be with us in all the activities and now with newer activities the Rafi Bhakts are showing greater dedication to Rafi Sahab. Keep it up.
A stunning article which is like the mirror through which an ardent Rafi fan like you and me and countelss others can turn the clock back and see how their life has been enriched by the sheer joy associated with listening to a rafi Song. Rendering songs of the master in school, college, or office and imagining oneself to be the hero in those situations for which those gems had ben created is a feeling which is very difficult to put in words, and you have done this with elan.
Khush Rahiye aur Khushi baante rahiye!
Rafi Sahab ka koi saani nahi!
ACHAL BHAI : FAN HO TO AISA ……..DIL SE AUR THODA HATKE…wah, wah aaur kahin baar woh….
Achalji, breath-taking article. Loved the eastman colour 18-reel flashback of your life. So well retold mixing it delightfully with howzzat and ab-gend-ko-lekar kind of running commentary.!
You have a way with words. Saw the litle boy who fell down and at whom the world laughed/ Met the teen who was trying to act like a big boy and serenading the beautiful girls with Dev-Rafi songs. Saw a bigger boy chedfying and singing to the girls in the neighbourhood. What a colourful life.
Didn’t a single girl sing for you? Like Awaz deke hame tum bula or tasveer tere dil mein or unse mili nazar ke mere hosh udgayi.
Never mind, Achalji. Your wife must have sung all these songs.
Am glad you don’t fast these days.
A truly bhaktipoorn yet matter-of-fact, emphatic writeup. You pen your thoughts so strikingly well and its a pleasure to read about the Rafi-effect on your personal life.
Many thanks, Achal Rangaswamy, for a nostalgic account of your evolution as a die-hard Rafi fan!
I can relate myself to what you said because even I have many memorable events in my life which have a natural association with a number of Rafi songs! Even today, when I hear a particular Rafi song, I immediately recall a certain event of my earlier days!!
And Achalbhai, “oh.. right now I have another delightful number playing… Ek Jaanib Sham e Mehfil…..from Abhilasha” has it been playing since the time you wrote this one ? I am sure if not for this song, some other song of Rafi Sahab must be giving you the bliss.
Achalbhai, this is just what the magic of Rafi Sahab does. Countless fans of Rafi Sahab have undergone similar experiences in their life and they are longing to tell their tales. You have earlier sent me this write up which I relished and this second reading makes it doubly more delightful. In fact, I was planning to do a sequel to “Discovering Rafi Sahab” incorporating some of the finest write ups (indeed some of the finest real life tales), including yours. But you have done the right thing by posting it here for a wider audience to co-relate your story with their own lives and trysts with Rafi Sahab. I request all the other Rafi Bhakts to also send me their real-life experiences with Rafi Sahab as it will make one of the best collection of a living legend’s (Rafi Sahab’s) fables. The write-ups can be in English or Hindi. Friends, we have taken now another route to discovering Rafi Sahab – through the voices of Rafi Bhakts. It is a matter of great pride that millions of Rafi-fans have been glued to the songs and voice of the greatest legend in music industry – Rafi Sahab.
We plan to come out with a book on this topic “How I became a Rafi Fan” which will be a collector’s item. More on this in subsequent comments and articles.
Keep up your good writing Achalbhai.
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