"Meri Aawaz Suno....."

27th December 2000.

It was a chilly night and I was huddled up with a book. Just then the phone rang."Quick! Switch on the TV! " said she, "Doordarshan channel."

Dumbfounded, I did as instructed.On TV, There was a bald man in a suit, standing before the mike and waiting for the narrator to finish.Thinking it to be some kind of joke, I was about to turn away, when the words came out ...

"Suhaani raat dhal chuki .... na jaane tum kab aaoge

Jahaan ki rut badal chuki... na jaane tum kab aaoge"
And I stood there, mesmerized.... listening to one song after the other.

The programme was a recording from the Doordarshan Archives... and the man whom I had just listened to was one of the legends in Hindi Film Music .... Mohammad Rafi.

Next day, I went to our local music shop and bought a couple of his audio-cassettes. After listening to them, I wanted to have more, so asked my friends to lend me what they had of him. Very soon, I was listening to him day-in and day-out.

The reason Rafi appeals to me is his awesome vocal range. He has sung some of the best songs in almost every genre of contemporary music. Be it :

• Qawwali ( Parda Hai Parda),
• Saddy ( Din Dhal Jaaye Haay),
• Playful ( Achcha Ji Mein Haari),
• Romantic ( Abhi Na Jaao Chhodkar),
• Ghazal ( Koi Sagar Dil Ko Behelata Nahi),
• Classical (Madhuban me Radhika Nache Re),
• Soulful ( Mann Re Tu Kaahe Na Dheer Dhare ),
• Devotional (Mann Tarpat Hari Darshan Ko Aaj),
• Patriotic ( Ab tumhare hawaale watan saathiyon),
• Mischevous ( Aaye Ga Aaye Aaye Ga Ye Kya Ho Gaya )...

..... You name it and you have it.
As my net-pal Varsha rightly says, devotional songs in Hindi films are often too melodramatic, but listen to the ones rendered by Rafi, and you can't help feeling drawn into it.
I am also quite fond of Kishore Kumar, Mukesh and other male singers. However IMHO, there are very few songs of these which Rafi couldn't have done an equal justice to ... but there is quite a huge number of songs of Rafi which no one other singer could have sung with such a panache.
Apart from being a music virtuoso, Rafi the person was also equally as good. He was humble, a tee-totaller, and deeply religious. There are n-number of anecdotes about how he helped upcoming music directors by singing for them almost for free.
Some people accuse him of over-exposure. To some extent I do agree that he could have done without some trashy songs. But there might have been some compulsions.
Today, I have a collection of about 500 of his songs. Indeed, there was a time when I thought I had heard him all .... but discovered very soon that my collection is a drop from an ocean.
It's futile to list top favourite songs since they keep on changing as per my mood and atmosphere, but there are a few which would make the list anytime...

1. Suhaani raat dhal chuki

2. Ek haseen shaam ko

3. Abhi na jaao chhodkar

4. Paaon chhu lene do

5. Aapke haseen rukh pe aaj naya noor hai

Mohd Rafi passed away five months before I was born. They say his funeral procession was the biggest one the city of Mumbai has ever witnessed. Though he may have ceased to exist in physical sense, his songs continue to accompany us in our moments of joy and sorrow, triumph & tragedy.

To quote lyrics of one of his own songs ....

" Tum muze yun bhula na paaoge

Jab kabhi bhi sunoge geet mere

Tum mere sung yunhi gun-gunaoge ''

Yours,

- G.