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 New Age Islam, Islam Online, Islamic Website, African Muslim News, Arab World News, South Asia News, Indian Muslim News, World Muslim News, Women in Islam, Islamic Feminism, Arab Women, Women In Arab, Islamophobia in America, Muslim Women in West, Islam Women and Feminism