HOW I BECAME A RAFI FAN
By A S MURTY
This question has been dodging me since the 1970s when I realized in the face of friends who were otherwise fond more of Mukesh and later Kishore Kumar. I did not have too many friends who had liked a Talat Mahmood or a K L Saigal or the other singers like Hemant Kumar, Mahender Kapoor, etc. I suddenly realized that I had, many a times, to counter, some of these friends why Mohd. Rafi seemed a much more versatile singer who could sway. And I wanted these friends of mine to realize this as early as possible. For, I began sensing that some songs of Rafi Sahab that I had all along known to be exceptional pieces in playback singing, were either unheard by them or even when they did get to hear them, they would not appreciate the beauty that lay embellished in these gems. I took it upon myself, therefore, to propagate Rafi more and more. Note that I had never thought of my idol as “Rafi Sahab” – a term that I began using only as recently as perhaps a decade back. For me, it was always a plain Mohd. Rafi. The name cast a spell in me for its unique blend of texture, softness, clarity, melody, the distinct aura of the “feel” of the song and above all, the depth into which a Rafi song can take me to. I would become totally involved with the song.- as though I am there. It is just as one goes to see a movie in an Imax theatre and feel part of the surroundings that such a huge screen can create in our mind. One would get lost to other worldly things. So was the case with the songs of Rafi Sahab. For this reason, chiefly, I was drawn to the lyrical content of a song, just as much as I was drawn into the musical instruments. Every bit of the music in a song would remain deeply within me, making it easier for me to remember a song from “tip to toe”. Once I understood the underlying message of the lyrics and matched the music with them, I realized the genius of the music directors who composed such marvelous creations. It is their “creation”, for without a good composition, even the best of poetry can lie gathering dust. They give it the body and shape, an aakaar to work on and fine polish it later by asking the playback singers to give it the glitter. And when Mohd Rafi was chosen for any song, the song would suddenly spring with life. And remain eternally so forever.
As a very young lad, I grew up to the toast of songs of Mohd Rafi. I distinctly remember the film Beti Bete where Rafi Sahab’s song – AAJ KAL MEIN DHAL GAYA DIN HUA TAMAM brought tears to our eyes. Long after the movie got over and we were heading for home the song rattled in my mind, absorbing whatever little I could remember of it having seen the movie just then. I wondered if it was indeed the hero - Sunil Dutt - who sang it and as I asked my eldest sister about it, she simply laughed and remarked "Oh No!! Sunil Dutt was only acting as though he was singing. The singer is Mohammed Rafi". Mohammed Rafi - or Mohd Rafi - registered in my mind and I visualized this man to be the sketch of a most handsome man, a complete man. I wanted to be like this man who could put shake a young boy out of his senses. I also remember another incident of my sudden encounter with another song which would go on to be registered in my mind for ever. We were staying in Gol Market area of New Delhi and I was studying in my 4th Standard in Central School. Those were the days when the radio was a luxury each household must have. Murphy Radio was centrally placed in the drawing room and at the dot of 6.00 a.m. my father used to listen to English news for ten minutes. Then it was left to my sisters to change the radio stations and if it was All India Radio's Vividh Bharati for some time, it would invariably shift to Radio Ceylon soon. For, on both these Radio Stations, at allotted times, would play continuously some of the sweates and most melodious of songs from the Hindi films and my three elder sisters would vie with one another in choosing the right Radio Station. I would have to listen to whatever they opted for, as I was still far too young to demand my pound of flesh. But I needn't have bothered, for I too liked almost all the songs that played on the small square box which had a round speak in the middle with some panel for radio stations on the upper layer. There were other buttons for changing the Radio from Medium Wave to Short Wave (no FM on those days) and the SW had to be always monitored by sliding the Radio in any one direction to get the optimum output. Invariably, the music would come in waves - sometimes loud, sometimes barely audible. There used to be an aerial too which had to be adjusted too. The time from 7.00 a.m. to 8.30 a.m. was when we had to get ready for school and also derive maximum out of the Radio. Fortunately for me, I could get to listen to some of the most melodious songs from Lata Mangeshkar, Asha Bhonsle, Mohd Rafi and Mukesh. I did not like much of Talat Mahmood in those days and Mukesh always sang the songs of despair and self-pitying. It was then only Mohd Rafi to give me all the songs of joy, of fun, of mardanagi, of patriotism (Mukesh too sang many a patriotic songs and they were good too, but it was the songs of Mohd Rafi that boiled my blood for my country). Go to anyone's house, the good old Radio was always there. Go to their house at any time, the Radio would be playing in full blare, just as it would in my own house. Go to anyone's house, you would only be listening to Vividh Bharti or Radio Ceylon. It was as if a cult movement - to listen to the Radio and to enjoy the songs. If it was not the Radio, the juke boxes played the same songs in restaurants, the chaiwallahs played the radio too. At the corner of our street was this main sweetmeat shop (mithaki ki dukan) which had a juke box and elders (boys who were in college by then) would pay a chavvanni (25 paisa) for a cup of tea and a choice song on the juke box. Invariably, being boys and men, they would play a Mohd Rafi song. On one afternoon, as I was returning from school, the announcement on Vividh Bharti -aur ise prastut kar rahe hain Mohammed Rafi - left me stranded. I took to a shaded spot near the restaurant which was playing its radio and not the juke box to know what Mohd Rafi would sing now. And soon enough came this voice from the heavans - ZINDAGI AAJ MERE NAAM SE SHARMAATI HAI, APNI HALAT PE MUJHE KHUD BHI HASI AATI HAI. I always believed then that Mohd Rafi was singing from his heart as the words flowed through his vocal chords. I never had known that a certain lyricist had written those words. I had always believed that when Mohd Rafi was singing, the accompanying music came by itself from all sides. I never knew that a certain music director had composed it with the help of several men/women in his troupe. No, for me it was the aura of Mohd Rafi that was singing and everything else was just happening. EK GHAM CHAIN SE JEENE NAHI DETA MUJHKO EK ULJHAN HAI JO AKSAR MUJHE TADPATI HAI would not mean much to me by way of the lyrics, but the mood that Mohd Rafi can create had begun to engulf me. While the first line touches unfathomable heights, the second line is brought down so smoothly that one is left wonder struck. And the second antara and then the third one. I could sense the variations even at that young age and the song registered in me. I would leave the street corner trying my best to recollect the song and sing at the top of my voice as I head home. Carefree that I was from the very begining, I never even bothered when people on the streets began commenting on and laughing at me. Who cares ?? All I had to do was to enjoy every bit of this song. By sheer chance, the same song was again on the radio that evening and it took me no time in scribbling away the two-liner antaras - all three of them. My knowledge of the tune was half baked and I practiced the song in my own style, but without any lyrical mistakes and I would sing the song on my way to school, back from it, in my spare time, doing homework, well almost all the time. Having shifted from Gol Market area to the new and sprawling R K Puram (Sector III) and changing to the Central School (Sector VIII) was no big deal, but finding a restaurant with a juke box was. RK Puram did not have any hotels then except in Sector IV but no juke boxes there. We had to depend only on the radio and the songs that many would farmaish. After my father gifted me with a cycle, I had wings literally and I explored the far-off surroundings. Safdarjang Enclave, Nauruji Nagar and then Vinay Nagar (now Sarojini Nagar). It was in the Sarojini Nagar market that one restaurant proudly advertised having a juke box. Finding a Chavvanni was difficult though and I used to hop around that restaurant and sometimes even requesting people walking in if they would also use the Juke Box. My persistant questions often found fruitful results when people used to pay that Chavvanni, have their tea and play my choice of songs. I used to loiter around the hotel for an hour or so and get to listen to some of the most melodious songs of Mohd Rafi. I would be making that hotel my regular abode in the later years, ordering tea and playing my kind of songs. Then came Dil Ek Mandir, Dooj ka Chand, Door Ki Awaz, Aao Pyar Karein - all with the loveliest of songs of Mohd Rafi. We used to see only the movies which my three elder sisters decided and I used to simply accompany them. But, they always chose the movies for the good songs rather than by the actors or the story. Strange as it may then be, even my sisters opted for movies which had loads of songs by Mohd Rafi and Lata Mangeshkar. I missed out, therefore, on many movies of the Raj Kapoor clan - only because there were less and less of Mohd Rafi songs. Dosti once again threw up Mohd Rafi before me. Sitting in the theatre, watching as one song after the other unfolded, convinced me that Mohd Rafi was something different from the other singers. He had that something extra, something additional which was absent in the other singers of that era. His delivery was different. It was perfect and designed and crafted. While others sang a song, Rafi lived the song. It was beginning to tell on me. A few years later, the title song from Pathar Ke Sanam and the three great ghazals from Do Badan sealed my fascination for Mohd Rafi. Jigri Dost, Humjoli, Himmat, Mere Humdum Mere Dost, had loads of songs of Rafi. The Yahoo in Rafi came alive once again in PHOOL HAI BAHARON KA duet where Rafi Sahab yelled an outburst AHHAAAAAA that only he can produce. Even in songs like AKELE AKELE KAHAN JA RAHE HO from An Evening in Paris, the shiver that Rafi could produce several times in the AKELE AKELE was mesmerizing. Aman, Night in London, Phir Wohi Dil Laya Hun, Love in Tokyo, Suraj, bombarded us with unforgettable songs by Mohd Rafi. I was not into the lyrical content even now and was only infatuated with the style and lustre in the singing style. I was begining to understand the intricacies in Mohd Rafi's forte as I compared similar songs by Mukesh whom I found rather dull and one who would sing in the same fashion the entire song. The variations, the emphasis on certain words, the delectable diction and voice modulation were sadly missing in other singers of that period. I wondered why no one was able even to copy Mohd Rafi and sadly there were no answers.
There was this election time and I do not remember now whether it was the General Election or what. But right outside our street was this big Tambu (tent) of Congress Party and as kids we were fond of collecting the "billa" and the flags which were freely given to all passers by. Those were the days when the Congress Party Tents adorned with the photos of Mahatma Gandhi, Subhas Chandra Bose, Bal Gangadhar Tilak and other eminent national leaders. And they were playing the Patriotic songs from Hindi films. Now, as far as this genre is concerned, Mohd Rafi has contributed not only the maximum number of songs, but also the most joshila and fervor filled ones. Even now in Hyderabad on the occasion of the national days, all streets will be blaring these very songs - KAR CHALE HUM FIDA JAN-O-TAN SATHIYON; AYE WATAN AYE WATAN HUMKO TERI KASAM; WATAN KI RAH MEIN WATAN KE NAUJAWAN SHAHEED HO; SARFAROSHI KI TAMANNA AB HAMARE DIL MEIN HAI; WATAN PE JO FIDA HOGA AMAR WO NAUJAWAN HOGA; APNI AZADI KO HUM HARGIZ MITA SAKTE NAHI, etc. etc. When we went to see the Manoj Kumar banner Shaheed, I was transformed instantly into a hardcore Rafi pujari. I simply started worshing him when in the movie Bhagat Singh vows to taking India's krantikari movement ahead until Inquilab is attained. He places his palm over a lighted candle and even as it gets burnt, unshaken Bhagat Singh sings AYE WATAN AYE WATAN HUMKO TERI KASAM (Jalte Bhi Gaye, HANSTE BHI GAYE, AZAADI KE PARVANE, JEENA TO USIKA JEENA HAI JO MARNA WATAN PE JAANE). I became a patriot the same moment. I became a Rafi fan the same moment. I thought I should have been born in the same period when the likes of Bhagat Singh took that vow to throw the aliens out of our motherland. I felt so ashamed that I was born into an already free India and had missed out on the trauma of living under an alien's misrule. I would have liked to partake in the freedom struggle which I was not destined to. One song too many from Mohd Rafi alone can convert an otherwise "carefree" lad into a nationalist, into someone who still thinks all the time of how and why the motherland is the most precious one.
Come Aradhana and everything changed. We had just returned back to New Delhi from Madurai after a three year absence. Madurai is a town where hardly anyone spoke Hindi. At the Central School (it came to be called as Kendriya Vidyalaya just then) we still could speak Hindi and English, but outside of it nothing other than Tamil worked and I did not know any bit of it. I did find one friend outside the school who too seemed interested in Hindi film songs and it was on his bike that he used to take me around in the evenings and I would sing Hindi songs for him - all the time Mohd Rafi being my preferred choice. But with Aradhana came Roop Tera Mastana and Mere Sapnon Ki Rani by Kishore Kumar and with Rajesh Khanna to boot, I was carried away in the sway. While I still got to listen to Mohd Rafi songs on the Radio, it was showering Kishore Kumar, with movie after movie bringing out some of the most melodious songs. Mohd Rafi also found an equal measure of good songs, but Kishore Kumar took centre stage. But the magic would last only a decade, as Mohd Rafi once again staged one of the mightiest comebacks on Binaca Geet Mala. The Bigul would play for a Mohd Rafi song and in all the other programmes on Radio Ceylon (much clearer in Madurai), the farmaish from a Jhumri Tallaiya or a Rajnandgaon would be for more and more Mohd Rafi songs (including duets). Aaj ka kalakar, Ek hi film ke Geet, Vishesh Jaimala, Aap Ki Farmaish, Geet Gunjan (I don't remember the exact title of this programme though), etc. often played more and more of Mohd Rafi songs from the 1960s or even earlier, than the songs from the 1970-72 period. Yes all the songs of Rajesh Khanna movies were also the choice of music lovers, but we never lost out on the songs of Mohd Rafi as far as the Radio was concerned.
Even in my college days, I used to sit with a handful of friends in West End area park and sing the songs of Mohd Rafi at the top of my voice. This used to be towards evening when most residents around that park would close the doors and sit back to listen to radio. But my singing would invariably open up a door here or a window there. People would not frown. They would appreciate my singing of Mohd Rafi songs at the top of my voice. I was becoming the cynosure of many eyes, including girls. The songs would draw them from their rooms to the balconies, to the gardens in front of their houses, on the terraces. The power and magic of Mohd Rafi was performing. I had no interest other than to sing and I would want everyone to listen. As many people as possible. I was then studying in Ram Lal Anand College in a stretch of road between Dhaula Kuan and Basant Gaon (off Vasant Vihar and the Palam road). The West End colony had also housed many a diplomatic corps from various embassies. Some of these foreigners would ask me what these songs were and without understanding anything of the song, they would still applaud me for the effort that I displayed in singing.
In Delhi we have the Palika Bazar today. It used to be the India Coffee House earlier which got demolished to pave the way for the underground market. We had moved from the RK Puram area to Atul Grove Colony, squeezed between Janpath and Curzon Road (now Kasturba Gandhi Marg and beginning as an offshoot of Tolstoy Marg). Connaught Place was just a five minutes walk from my house and the Coffee House became a joint that I used to frequent every day. At the Coffee House, I had made friends with an elderly man - Rishi Kumar Dogra, a Kashmiri. Rishi used to sing Mohd Rafi songs of the pre-1960 era which I had not known then and the two songs that he often sang, and with a lot of passion too were (1) O DOOR KE MUSAFIR HUMKO BHI SAATH LELE RE and (2) MUHOBBAT ZINDA REHTI HAI MUHOBBAT MAR NAHI SAKTI. I had never given much ear to these songs of Mohd Rafi as they seemed to be in the mould different from the Rafi I had known all along. But the songs stayed with me, and when I listened to them in the later years, I understood the depth of these songs too, and began liking them.
दोस्तों, मेरी ये दास्तान शायद आप सभी की कहानी भी है। मैंने खुद ये पाया है की मेरे पहले जिन तमाम रफ़ी भक्तों ने जो वर्णन उनकी जीवनी का दिया है, जहाँ तक रफ़ी साहब का ताल्लुक है, ज़्यादातर मेरी अपनी कहानी से मेल खाता रहा है। ऐसी परिस्थिथि में जब मैंने लिखना चाहा, तो कदम थामने पड़े। मेरी इस दीवानगी को घर वालों ने कई बार धिक्कारा था। दोस्तों और बाकी के साथियों को भी ये व्यर्थ समय गवाने का एक बहाना लगने लगा और इन सभी ने कई बार मुझे समझाने की कोशिश भी की। पर अगर मेरे बस में कुछ होता, तो अवश्य मैं अपने घर वालों और मित्रगणों का सुझाव अपना लेता। पर मुझे इसमें क़तई कोई हानी नज़र नहीं आती थी, चूँकि मैं अपने शौक को पूरा करते हुए अपने पैरों पर खडा होने की राह भी देख रहा था । धीरे धीरे मुझे पद्य से भी उतना ही लगाव लगने लगा जितना की संगीत से था और मैं हिंदी की कविताओं के अलावा थोड़ी बहुत शायरी में भी दिलचस्पी लेने लगा। इसी रुची के परिणाम स्वरुप हिंदी फिल्मों से ली गयीं ग़ज़लें भी मुझे अब अच्छी लगने लगी। मोहम्मद रफ़ी की गाई हुयी ग़ज़लों ने अब मुझे घेरना शुरू कर दिया और इन्हे मेरे मन में घर करने में कोई ज्यादा देर नहीं लगी। अब इसका अंदाज़ साफ़ हो गया की बचपन में मुझे लुभाने वाला वोह नगमा - ज़िन्दगी आज मेरे नाम से शर्माती है एक बेहद जज्बातों से भरी हुयी शानदार ग़ज़ल है। "राह चलते हुए कुछ सोच के रुक जाता हूँ, हर कदम पर कोई भूली हुयी याद आती है" से लेकर "इस क़दर छोड़ के निकला हूँ मैं अपनी मंजिल, जैसे "हसरत" कोई सीने से निकल जाती है" (यहाँ पर मैंने "हसरत" को गहराई से इसलिए लिखा है, क्योंकि रफ़ी साहब अपनी एक छाप छोड़ने ने में माहिर थे और इस पंक्ति में इसी जगह पर उनका ये ख़ास अंदाज़ था)। मुझे गीतकारों एवं संगीतकारों का कोई ख़ासा ज्ञान कभी नहीं रहा है। याद रहा है अगर कुछ तो वो था रफ़ी साहब का गीत, रफ़ी साहब के नगमे, रफ़ी साहब की ग़ज़लें, उन्ही के देशभक्ति और भक्ति के भजन। मैं वैसे भी एक भावुक इंसान हूँ और इंसानियत के हर पहलु ने मुझे हमेशा से ही खरोदा है। मिसाल के तौर पर फिल्म खानदान के ये दो गाने - एक ग़ज़ल है "कल चमन था आज इक सेहरा हुआ" और दूसरा एक गीत "तू होके बड़ा बन जाना अपनी माता का रखवाला" दोनों ही मुझे बेहद प्रिय हैं। एक की तुलना में दूसरा भी मुझे उतना ही लुभाता है क्योंकि इन दोनों में इंसानी जज़्बात कूट कूट कर भरे हैं। फिर और एक गीत "ओ नन्हे से फ़रिश्ते" जो की फिल्म "एक फूल दो माली" से लिया हुआ है, मेरे जिगर में बस समां सा गया है। इस गीत को भी मैं वो ही दर्जा देता हूँ जो की हम सब शायद बैजू बावरा के गीतों को देते होंगे। मेरे लिए, हर एक नगमे में रफ़ी साहब ने जी तोड़कर मेहनत निभाई है और किसी एक गीत में कभी कोई कसर नहीं छोड़ी है। "सिर्फ अंदाज़े बयां रंग बदल देता है, वरना दुनिया में कोई बात नयी बात नहीं"।
रफ़ी साहब की गायकी का अगर कोई विश्लेषण करने लगे, तो सबसे पहले ऊपर कहे को समझना अनिवार्य होगा। जिस तरह के गीत और गाने रफ़ी साहब की झोली में आये, उसी तरह के बेहतरीन नगमे तलत महमूद, मुकेश ने भी गाये हैं। इसलिए "कोई बात नयी बात नहीं" यहाँ महत्वपूर्ण सिद्ध होती है। ये तो रफ़ी साहब की अनमोल गायकी और उनका अनूठा पेश करने का रूप था जो की "अंदाज़े बयां" में कही बात पर नज़र डालता है। "वैसे तो तुम्ही ने मुझे बर्बाद किया है,.... होय .... इलज़ाम किसी और के सर जाए तो अच्छा" कहने को तो साधारण स्वरुप में भी गया जा सकता है और कोई और इसे पेश करता, तो इस अंदाज़ में कभी इसे नहीं गा पाता। फलस्वरूप, रफ़ी साहब अपनी गायकी के बल पर किसी भी गीत में चार चाँद लगाने की क्षमता रखते थे। रफ़ी साहब के बारे में मेरे विचारों में वृद्धि होती रही परन्तु, मैं अब भी चंद ऐसे दोस्तों को तराश रहा था जिन्हें भी मेरी तरह से रफ़ी साहब का जूनून था। नौकरी की तलाश में जब मैंने अहमदाबाद में जगह बनाई, चंद इसी नजरिया के दोस्त भी मिल गए और फिर क्या था। एक एक गीत चुन चुनकर हम गुनगुनाते थे, चर्चा करते थे और रफ़ी साहब के अनगिनत और कभी कभी कम चर्चित गानों को भी उभारने की कोशिश करते थे। इसी कोशिश में चंद ऐसे नगमे "ज़िन्दगी के मोड़ पर जो कोई रास्ता मिला, तेरी गली से जा मिला", या फिर, "सारी खुशियाँ हैं मुहोब्बत की ज़माने के लिए" वगैरह हमारे इस छोटे से दल के अटूट हिस्से बन गए। गानों की शृंखला बेहद लम्बी है, और याददाश्त हमसे बैर कर चुकी है। इस सूरत में चंद गानों का की वर्णन कर पा रहा हूँ। मेरी एक ख्वाइश अधूरी रह गयी जब यकायक मुझे मेरे दोस्तों ने खबर दी की अब रफ़ी साहब नहीं रहे। मैं अहमदाबाद छोड़ कर हैदराबाद आ चूका था और चंद महीनों के बाद ही ये दुखद वार्ता ने घर के द्वार खटखटाए। मेरे दोस्तों ने उस दिन अखबारों में जो कुछ भी छपा था संकलन करके मुझे डाक द्वारा भेज दिया। पर मेरी दिली तमन्ना का एहसास किसी को भी नहीं था। मेरी चाह थी की मैं रफ़ी साहब के घर के बहार एक डेरा दाल कर बैठ जाऊं और उन्ही के गीत इतने ज़ोरों से गाऊं की दुनिया स्थाम्बित हो जाए और हज़ारों की तादाद में लोग रफ़ी साहब के घर के बाहर जमा हो जाएँ। ये इसलिए की रफ़ी साहब इस देश के एक बहुमूल्य रतन हैं और देश को उनके प्रति आभारी होना चाहिए। उनके अकस्मात् इस लोक को छोड़ने के बाद कई दिनों तक मुझे कुछ सूझा ही नहीं और मैं अपने आप में घुटने लगा। हैदराबाद मैंने वो माहौल कभी भी नहीं पाया जिसमे में किसीकी शरण में जाकर अपनी वेदना व्यक्त कर सकूँ। मेरे इस जूनून को कोई नहीं समझता था और इसे एक महज़ दीवानगी कहकर अक्सर मेरे साथी भी मुझसे दूरी बरतने लगे थे। पर मैं अपने आपको ये कहकर बहलाने लगा था की "चलो अच्छा हुआ काम आ गयी दीवानगी अपनी, वर्ना दुनिया भर को समझाने हम कहाँ जाते"। आज मेरे मन में और दिलो-दिमाग में रफ़ी साहब के हर तरह के नगमों का राज है। रफ़ी साहब खुद विराजमान हैं मेरे रग रग में। फिर भला मैं क्यों मायूस होने लगा ? मेरे मन में भी ख्याल आने लगे, मेरी जुबां भी कुछ कहने पर मजबूर होने लगी। फिर मेरी उमंगों ने मेरे ख्यालों में जब रंग भर ही दिया तो मेरे दिल ने कुछ यूँ कहा :
तेरे नगमों से महज़ मिल जाता हैं जन्नते सुकून,
अब ज़िन्दगी भर की खुशियाँ लेकर "रफ़ीमूर्ती" क्या कीजियेगा ।
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मेरे जज्बात, मेरे खयालात अभी और है बाकी,
फिर कभी और साही, अभी ज़िन्दगी और है बाकी।
अलविदा, Good day friends.
A S MURTY
