Rafi sahab was world gem, there has never been another: Shahid Rafi

The son of the best singer of the millennium, Mohammad Rafi sahab, was present in dialogue program of the State Press Club.

Indore (Team Newsbuddy): “We, the family members, along with music lovers from all over the world, want Rafi sahab to get Bharat Ratna. But then this thought also comes to mind that Rafi sahab is settled in the hearts of music lovers from all over the world. In fact, he is a world gem.”

This was said by Shahid Rafi, the youngest son of immortal singer Mohammad Rafi sahab, in response to questions of cultural activist and journalist Alok Bajpai in the dialogue program of State Press Club, MP. In the context of the events being organized in the world in the birth centenary year of Rafi sahab, he said that on 24 December, no auditorium, big or small, was empty in the whole of Mumbai. Rafi sahab’s popularity is increasing with each passing year, which is the grace of God. Rafi sahab was a very humble, God fearing, clean hearted and helpful person. He considered his voice, its qualities and all his achievements as a gift from God and always taught us to always keep our eyes on the ground, looking at the sky can lead to a setback. He never let us feel that he is such a big star singer and we always saw him as a very loving and family devoted father who spoke in a very soft and low voice.

Regarding the honesty of Mohd. Rafi sahab, Shahid Rafi said that if he had collected money like others, then half of Bandra would have been ours. Narrating an incident, he said that after Rafi sahab’s death, a fakir came home from Kashmir and insisted on meeting Rafi sahab. When he was told that six months had passed since Rafi sahab’s death, then that fakir said that only then I should think why the money stopped coming every month.
Describing Rafi sahab’s preparations for recording a song, he said that he would first write the song, correct its maatra etc. with our uncle, mark it and then rehearse it till he was satisfied. This rehearsal could go on for several days or even weeks. He rehearsed the song ‘O Duniya Ke Rakhwale’ for a month. Revealing the secret of film producer B R Chopra’s not singing in films for a few years, he narrated that Chopra had demanded that Rafi sahab sing only for his banner, which Rafi sahab politely refused. After this, Chopra ji did not make Rafi sahab sing a song, but finally he had to sing for the film ‘Waqt’ because the music director said that only Rafi sahab could sing this song and Rafi sahab recorded the song without any complaint. Narrating the story of the song ‘Babul Ki Duniya Leti Ja’, he told that just seven days before the recording of this song, it was the wedding of his eldest and beloved daughter. Abba kept his emotions in check at that time. He remained composed during the rehearsal of this song but during the recording of the song, he burst into tears in the memory of his daughter in the last stanza and his hiccups in the song were real. This song was released as it was on the request of the composer. On being pressured to compare himself with Rafi sahab, he humbly said that there can be only one Rafi sahab in the world.

In the first phase of the program, State Press Club, MP President Praveen Kumar Khariwal, Bansi Lalwani, Sudesh Gupta, Deepak Pathak, Kumar Lahoti, Sanjay Mehta, former RTO RR Tripathi, Pushkar Soni and Rajendra Kopargaonkar welcomed Shahid Rafi, RK Sharma and Manish Shukla. Alok Bajpai conducted the program with questions. In the end, Praveen Kumar Khariwal expressed his gratitude.