Mohammad Rafi's Disarming Humility Added Divinity to His Singing Prowess
By
Sumit Paul, New Age Islam
27 July
2022
To
Become Great In the Sphere Of Creativity, One Needs To Be An Exceptionally Good
Human Being
------
“Ek Behatareen Fankaar Ke Liye Yah Zaroori Hai
Ke Woh Bataur Insaan Bhi Shaandaar Ho. Iss Kasauti Par Rafi Sahab Poori Tarah
Khare Utarte Thay. Ve Ek Azeem Gulukaar Toh Thay Hi, Ek Insaan Ke Taur Par Bhi
Ve Laasani Thay."
Nida Fazli, in an interview that appeared in the Urdu magazine, '
Beesveen Sadi '
(It's a
must for a great artist that he or she should also be a remarkable human. Rafi
sahab was a proverbial perfect artist as he was undoubtedly a great singer and
also as a human, he was simply unparalleled)
Mohammed Rafi was the most amazing singer. In 1967, he was honoured with
the Padma Shri by the Government of India/ Photo: IWM Buzz.com
----
"Some
are born great; some achieve greatness, and some have greatness thrust upon
them."
-The Bard
of Avon
Someone
asked the great philosopher and logician of the last century Sir Bertrand
Russell, how Michelangelo and Leonardo Da Vinci could create such magnificent
masterpieces that survived the vagaries of time and tide. The taciturn English
philosopher succinctly put it: Because both were basically and intrinsically
great humans. So very true. To become great in the sphere of creativity, one
needs to be an exceptionally good human being. That's a sine qua non or the
most fundamental condition. The same can be said about the legendary Mohammad
Rafi whose 42nd death anniversary falls on July 31. Jalaluddin Rumi wrote that,
' The inspiration to create something immortal comes from heaven and descends
on a nice and guileless human ' (Sheen Aftam Nizamat Meen Naazil-E-Ghaib
Uzmat An' Firdaus). The great mystic must have had the idea of a person who
was like the legendary Rafi.
Rafi was
goodness personified and that innate goodness manifested through his songs.
Though a devout Muslim who offered namaz five times a day unfailingly, religion
was a private affair for him. During the shooting of an old film ' Nazrana'
(1961) at Shanivar Peth, Poona, the actors Usha Kiran and Gemini Ganesan asked
Rafi rather apprehensively whether he'd accompany them to a famous Shiv temple
in the city? Rafi was in Poona for a show at NDA. He was more than willing to
visit the old Mahadev temple and said, ' Aap Mujhe Le Chalenge Toh Main
Zaroor Chaloonga ' (if you take me along, I shall surely go). He was so
broad-minded in the matters of faith. That's the reason, he could sing with
pathos: Man Tadpat Hari Darshan Ko Aaj in Baiju Bawra (1952).
Rafi's best friend and Bengali matinee-idol Uttam Kumar wrote in his incomplete
memoirs that whenever Rafi visited Calcutta, he never missed to go to a mosque
at Esplanade and a Church on the Park Street where his Anglo-Indian guitarist
friend S Claudius lived. And with Uttam Kumar, he'd go to the Kalighat in
Calcutta.
Not only
that, Rafi would recite verses from his gold-plated Guru Granth Sahab, gifted
by his friend and great Urdu poet from Punjab, Kunwar Mohinder Singh Bedi '
Sahar'. It's interesting to note that Rafi couldn't read Devanagari or
Gurumukhi. So, he'd read Guru Granth Sahab in Shahmukhi (Gurumukhi written in
Persian script). The late composer S Mohinder always marveled at the way Rafi
recited verses from the Sikh Holy Book. He was adept at Japa-ji/Shabad-Keertan/Ardaas
as his mother tongue was Punjabi, having been born and brought up at Kotla
Sultan Singh in district Amritsar in Punjab. He was so attached to Punjab that
in his entire life, whenever he sang for a Punjabi film, he refused to take
money because he knew it well that producers of Punjabi films were not so
well-off. Amrita Pritam wrote a moving tribute immediately after the demise of
Rafi on July 31, 1980. She wrote that we'd never come to know as to how many
Punjabi films this great singer financed without ever mentioning his name!
He was so close
to Punjab and its people that when his ancestral home was partially damaged by
the miscreants during Partition, he blamed none and just said, ' Mujhe Kisi
Se Koi Gila Nahin.......Woh Waqt Hi Aisa Tha...' (I harbour no
ill-will......that phase was like that). Such was his greatness and level of
tolerance!
He never
said no to any director, producer, lyricist or composer. For so many poor
producers, he sang for free. His refrain was, ' Allah Ne Zaroorat Se Zyada
Diya Hai Mujhe ' (Allah has bestowed upon me more than enough). Even when
he was passing through a rather lean patch and a lull period in the early
seventies, he didn't complain or sulk. When his dearest and most trusted
friends from film and music industry Chetan Anand, Kaifi Azmi and Madan Mohan
gave away songs like ' Har Taraf Ab Yahi Afsane Hain' (Film: Hindustan
Ki Qasam, 1973) and ' Har Koi Chahta Hai Ek Mutthi Aasmaan' (Film: Ek
Mutthi Aasmaan, 1973) to Manna Dey and Kishore Kumar respectively, Rafi
didn't say a word. Rather, he complimented Kishore and Manna De on singing the
numbers so soulfully. That he was ignored, nay let down, by his dear friends
didn't strike him!
He was
happy with whatever he got in life and never cribbed, a hallmark of a truly
great human who had no expectations from anyone in life and who forever surged
ahead on his own steam and without an iota of rancour for anyone.
Gentleman
to a fault, Rafi cared even for the spot-boys and small-time musicians.
Whenever he recorded a song, he never forgot to thank each and every
instrumentalist in the group and even acknowledged the role of the unknown
members in a chorus. Sabki Barabar Mehnat Se Ek Gaana Banta Hai
(Everyone's equal efforts culminate in a number), he'd say.
Whether it
was a Bhajan, Naat or Qawwali, his commitment was complete and never
half-hearted. So soulfully he'd sing Bhajans that the head priest at the
Radha-Krishna temple in Vrindavan in UP requested him to come and sing the Bhajan
' Moray Shyam Tera Naam, Bolay Man Subho-Shaam ' before the deities. And
Rafi sang with utmost devotion and sense of fulfilment!
It's
difficult to encapsulate the greatness of the man, who sang throughout his life
as a divine duty and never hurt a single person. No envy, no bitterness and no
ill-will, Rafi was an embodiment of all that's fundamentally good in mankind.
He was an
inherently sublime human whose nicety shows through his songs which will
continue to enthral his countless fans till music exists. His remarkable
humility and humanness lent divinity to his singing prowess. In these times of
Hindus and Muslims, locking horns with each other on unthinkably puerile
issues, one must remember the immaculate persona of the great Rafi who was
above all pettiness and whose immortal songs are still loved even by those
belligerent and highly communal Hindus, for whom the very word Muslim is an
anathema. Take a bow. We remember you, Rafi Sahab. You'll remain etched in the
hearts and minds of music lovers till eternity. Let's remember him on his Death
Anniversary and try to imbibe his contagious spirit of nicety and magnanimity,
the necessary attributes we're all badly in need of.
----
A regular columnist for New Age Islam, Sumit Paul
is a researcher in comparative religions, with special reference to Islam. He
has contributed articles to world's premier publications in several languages
including Persian.
URL: https://newageislam.com/islamic-personalities/mohammad-rafi-humility-divinity-singing-/d/127577
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