Rafi Sahab - The True Maestro

Rafi Sahab received his training from prominent  classical Ustads like Abdul Wahid Khan,  Pandit Jiwanlal Matto,  Ghulam Ali Khan and Firoz Nizami  -  all doyens and devotees of music.

'Bapu ki Amar Kahani',  a poignant song dedicated to the Mahatma Gandhi,  recorded just a month after Gandhi-ji's assassination in January of 1948,  had Nehru-ji shedding tears at the emotion in Rafi Sahab's voice.  Rafi Sahab sang over 26,000 songs in all the national languages of India in his fourty year career. He was the master of all forms of songs  -  he could sing ghazals,  qawwalis and bhajans with the same ease and greatness.    There came a time in the sixties when Rafi Sahab was the permanent voice of Shammi Kapoor,  Dilip Kumar,  Rajendra Kumar,  Dev Anand,  Dharmendra,  Shashi Kapoor and Raj Kumar.    In fact,  Shammi Kapoor's films were mainly popular because of the songs,  which were sung by Rafi Sahab in a very distinct style.    Rafi Sahab's voice personified the rebellious image of  'Yahoo' star,  Shammi Kapoor  ;   made Rajendra Kumar a 'Jubilee Star'  and Jeetendra a 'Jumping Jack'.    

The great Rafi Sahab even sang for singer-actor Kishore Kumar in movies such as Raagini,  Baaghi,  Shehzaada and Shararat. In 1965 he was honoured with the Padma Shree,  a coveted award of which any Indian citizen would justly be proud. In 1977,  Rafi Sahab received the 'Rajat Kamal' award from then Indian State President, Sri Sanjiva Reddy at the 25th National Film Festival Awards. Humble, unostentatious and soft spoken,  and yet a giant among musicians,  he was a man of tremendous integrity and very often sang without charging a fee for struggling music directors. Words cannot do justice to comprehend what this artist was about. Alas,  there is no substitute today to listening to his voice. His style truly reflected the man's character. The purity of his voice reflected the purity of his ideals and his mind. He was not affected by his greatness and material values never superceded human and social ethics for this spiritual and unassuming maestro.

Rafi Sahab scaled heights of fame and popularity that no other Indian singer ever has or ever will with his haunting melodies that enchanted lovers of music all over the world.     He had an unblemished illustrious career and retained an untarnished and highly dignified reputation in an industry which at times is more known for its vices than the good it produces. Humble in the extreme,  soft spoken,  a gentleman like no other and an embodiment of refinement, he was deeply religious and in a rare interview with Abu Parker in 1979 in Cape Town, South Africa,  Rafi Sahab declared that he held all religions in high esteem. He went on to say that he believed that we are all separate seeds that bloom into one single flower. A veritable king at heart,  he was a true friend of the poor,  ensuring that he regularly paid his zakaat (charity).

Rafi Sahab was the sort of genius who appears once in a life-time ;  unique,  his golden voice continues to flow like essence drawn from several jewels,  a constellation which enriches,  in a mystical way,  the firmanent of music,  the spiritual peak of eternal silence and of the celestial world that listens to itself through the voice of cherubic Mohammed Rafi,  the immortal singer who is interpreter of that very sublime silence.

Not only the nation,  but Indians the world over were stunned on 31st July 1980 when Rafi Sahab left this world to indulge the heavens with his silky voice. His 'last journey'  commenced from 'Rafi Villa'  in Bandra on that sad and wet day as tears from heaven fell on earth,  but The Voice never left us.     To his ardent fans Rafi Sahab will always be immortal,  for The Voice will always remain with us.