A Snub To Rafi Again
By
Sumit Paul, New Age Islam
7 February
2024
Granted,
some individuals are greater than any award just like the Nobel Prize Committee
publicly admitted that M K Gandhi was greater than the Nobel Peace Prize (he
never got it), awards are often official acknowledgements and stamps of an
individual's excellence in any sphere.
Mohammad
Rafi
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The
legendary Mohammad Rafi getting only Padma Shri, that too way back in 1966, and
never getting Dada Saheb Phalke or Bharat Ratna is a clear sign of governmental
apathy. In fact, a Padma Shri was the only State honour that the great singer
received during his lifetime. If Vinod Khanna (!) and Prithviraj Kapoor could
get Dada Saheb Phalke Award posthumously, why can't Rafi get? If Lal Krishna
Advani can get it at the fag-end of his life, why can't the government confer
it upon Rafi?
All awards
have lost their importance. Now anyone can get any award. If you're
well-connected and hobnob with people in the political corridor, you can manage
to get any award.
Rafi's
universal greatness has never been questioned. His songs still warm the cockles
of our hearts. And he's perhaps the only great from Bollywood whose fame has
never diminished. Rather, it's on the rise by the day and Rafi is now a cult.
Yet, no government has ever officially recognised the greatness of one of the
finest voices in the world.
Music has a
universal appeal. Whether it's vocal or instrumental, it echoes in our consciousness.
P B Shelly wrote, "Music, when soft voices die, Vibrates in the
memory—Odours, when sweet violets sicken, Live within the sense they quicken."
We still
listen to Mozart's immortal compositions like the motet Exsultate, Jubilate, K
165 (1773) and the Jupiter Symphony (1788), Beethoven's 'Choral' symphony
(Symphony no. 9 in D minor), K L Saigal's ever-verdant 'Jab Dil Hi Toot
Gaya' (Shahjahan, 1946), Frank Sinatra's timeless anthem, ' My Way '
(1969), Pankaj Mullick's soulful 'Tere Mandir Ka Hoon Deepak Jal Raha, '
Harry Belafonte's unforgettable, ' Jamaica Farewell ' (1956) and Rafi's
otherworldly, 'Man Re Tu Kaahe Na Dheer Dhare' (Chitralekha, 1964). We
may forget Dilip Kumar, Paul Newman or Laurence Olivier's wonderful acting on
the celluloid, but we can't forget the reverberations of immortal music. We can
never be tired of humming Rafi's countless gems be it 'Suhani Raat Dhal
Chuki' (Dulari, 1949) or 'Din Dhal Jaaye Hai' (Guide, 1965).
By the way,
this is Rafi's centennial year. He was born on December 24, 1924. Let's hope,
this partisan political dispensation bestows Bharat Ratna upon him on the
ensuing occasion. But I'm doubtful.
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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 the world's premier publications in several languages including Persian.
URL: https://newageislam.com/spiritual-meditations/rafi-bharat-ratna/d/131668
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