RAFI HOLIDAY
तेरी आवाज़ की जादूगरी से, ना जाने किस जहाँ में खो गया हूँ।
By A S MURTY, Secretary,
RAFI FOUNDATION, HYDERABAD CHAPTER
PROLOGUE :
Rafi Foundation, Hyderabad Chapter conducts musical sessions for its members twice a month – on two Sundays for four hours on each occasion. Our members sing songs of Rafi Sahab as also of other legends like Manna De, Talat Mahmood, Kishore Kumar, Mukesh, Lata Mangeshkar, Asha Bhonsle and Geeta Dutt. Invariably these sessions tend to bring out the best among our singers while some of the forgotten tracks occasionally get heard. This has been going on uninterrupted for the last three years now and sometime in July this year, we had thought of making such musical get-togethers with Rafi bhakts from other centres to join us. Instant response from all our members gave us the idea to talk to our friends in Chennai and Bangalore and spend two days in the company of all the known Rafi Bhakts at one central place – calling the meet as RAFI HOLIDAY. Just as we had been setting our own house in order in Hyderabad, some sort of telepathy (or is it Rafi-pathy ??) developed between us and our friends in Bangalore when B G Raj of Baar Baar Rafi Fan Club, invited us to go over to Bangalore and that they would be too glad to host us. We then contacted our other friends of Rafi Foundation Chennai Chapter in Chennai and both Jagat Tarkas and K S Ramachandran (Chandan to most of us) applauded us for this unique idea and readily agreed to be with us. They assured that some more of their members would join us too and that we should now chalk out the detailed plans for the same. We decided that the month of November would give all of us sufficient time to prepare ourselves, book our rail/road/air reservations and also our accomodation arrangements. The uniqueness of the program was that all those travelling to Bangalore from outside will make their own travel and lodging arrangements, so that these should not consume the time and energy of our Bangalore friends. It would make their task that much more easier and would allow their resources to be utilized fully for the actual event – like booking of a suitable venue, arrangements for TV/Sound System/Music Systems, Mikes/Lunch and Tea/Snacks, etc.
ज़िन्दगी कभी ख्वाब है तो कभी सच्चाई। दो पहलु जो किसी मोड़ पर एक दूसरे के आमने सामने आ जाते हैं और ऐसी सूरत में ज़िन्दगी बेशुमार रंगीन और हसीन दिखने लगती है। हमने भी देखे हैं ऐसे हसीन और रंगीन ख्वाब जिन्हें सच्चाई में बदलते देर न लगी और देखते ही देखते कुछ हमारे सपने सच होने लगे। हैदराबाद में हमारी संसथान है Rafi Foundation और हर महीने के दो दिन हमारे सभी सदस्य चंद घंटे मिलजुल कर हिन्दी फ़िल्म जगत के वोह गीत गुनगुनाते है जो स्वर्ण युग से जुड़े हों – यानी की 1950 से लेकर 1980 के दशकों के। मशहूर गायक इस युग के रहे हैं मुकेशजी, मन्नाडे जी, तलत साहब, रफ़ी साहब, महेंद्र कपूरजी, लताजी, आशाजी, गीता दुत्त्जी वगैरह। हालाँकि हमारे इस छोटे से गुट का नाम रफ़ी साहब से जुड़ा है, फिर भी हम उन सभी कलाकारों का कद्र करते हैं जिन्होंने अनमोल गीतों से हमारी निजी ज़िन्दगी में लाखों उमंगें बिखेरी हैं, युगों से। कोई कलाकार किसी और कलाकार के मुकाबले का जरिया नही होता और हम ऐसी तुलनाओं से दूर ही रहे हैं। यह और बात है की रफ़ी साहब की अदायिगी और गायिकी ने हमारे दिलों को गहराई से टटोला है और हम रफ़ी साहब के गानों के दीवाने हैं। ज़्यादातर हम उनके गानों से प्रभावित हुए हैं और रफ़ी साहब हम सबके लिए वोह सूरज हैं जिनकी रौशनी में कभी कमी नही आती। इतना ही नही, इस रौशनी के आगे सभी की ऑंखें चका चौंध हो जाती हैं। अन्य शहरों में रफ़ी साहब के कई दीवानों से परिचित भी होते रहे और उन सभी से संपर्क भी करते रहे। पर इस सिलसिले को कुछ और आगे बढ़ाने की चाह दिल में लगातार चोट कर रही थी। क्या कर सकते हैं हम जिसके बलबूते पर रफ़ी साहब के दीवानों का किसी एक जगह पर मिलन हो और आपस में हम सुब एक दूसरे को और नज़दीक से जान सकें ? साल की शुरुआत में मेरी मुलाक़ात मनीष से हुयी जो बंगलोर के “बार बार रफ़ी फेन क्लब” के बेजोड़ सदस्य हैं। मैंने पाया की इनके विचारों और मेरे अपने विचारों में कोई दूरी नही, यहाँ तक की हम दोनों की सोच कई विषयों पर एकमत थी। मनीष भी एक ऐसा सम्मलन आयोजित करने की चाह रखते हैं जिसमे देश भर के रफ़ी भक्तों का समागम हो और कई विषयों पर चर्चा हो। और कई दोस्तों से इन्ही दिनों में हमने संपर्क बनाया और देखा की चाहे वोह चेन्नई से हों, या फिर बंगलोर से या हैदराबाद,दिल्ली, कोलकता, वगैरह। यकायक हमारे दिलो दिमाग में एक हसीन से ख्वाब ने जगह बनने की कोशिश की और फल स्वरुप, इसकी एक ऐसी तस्वीर उभर कर सामने आए जिसने ज़िक्र होते ही रंग जमा दिया। मैंने पहले तो हैदराबाद के रफ़ी भक्तों के सामने इसका उल्लेख किया और इन दोस्तों के उस्ताह पूर्वक प्रतिक्रियायों के बाद मैंने बार बार रफ़ी के द्वार पर दस्तक दी। मेरे अनुमान स्वरुप जिस जोश और हर्ष से इस प्रस्ताव का स्वागत किया गया, वर्णन कर पाना थोड़ा कठिन ही है। बेहेरहाल, बंगलोर के दोस्तों से संपर्क करने के उपरान्त हमने रुख किया चेन्नई की ओर जहाँ Rafi Foundation Chennai Chapter के भी रफ़ी भक्तों से हम खूब परिचित थे। निस्संदेह चेन्नई से भी हमें ज़ोरदार समर्थन मिला जिसने हमारे जोश को और बुलंदियों पर पहुँचा दिया। इन्ही दिनों, मेरे अजीज दोस्त – ज़रीफ़ अहमद ने भी मुझसे फ़ोन पर संपर्क किया और जैसे ही मैंने उन्हें भी इस कार्यक्रम का ब्यौरा दिया, उन्होंने भी तुरंत इसमे शरीक होने का ऐलान कर डाला। बस अब देर किस बात को ? हमने दिनों का कार्यक्रम निर्धारित किया और यह निश्चय किया की चेन्नई, हैदराबाद और दिल्ली के रफ़ी भक्त बंगलोर में एकत्र होकर वहां के रफ़ी भक्तो के साथ दो दिन बिताएंगे। उनकी इस यात्रा को नाम दिया गया – “रफ़ी यात्रा” और बंगलोर में इस जष्न का नाम रखा गया “RAFI HOLIDAY”. ख्वाब की ताबीर यह थी की इन दो दिनों में हम सभी इस जहाँ के बाकी सारे पहलुयों को भुला कर रफ़ी साहब के नगमों की मदहोशी में जा डूबें और इतना लुत्फ़ उठायें की हम अपने जीवन को और सार्थक बना सकें। आख़िर रफ़ी साहब की गायिकी और अदायिगी ही नही बलके उनके सरल स्वाभाव और स्नेह भरी मुस्कान ने भी तो हमको लुभाया है और मार्ग दर्शन दिया है।
Much before we set foot on Bangalore for this great event, came this savvy comment from Bina : “I must say that your amazing enthusiasm is very infectious. It is true we all belong to a universal group now, being as we are, a crazy bunch of fans of Rafi Saab”.
14TH NOVEMBER – BIRTH OF “RAFI HOLIDAY” :
It is just coincidence and no other relevance that the Children’s day was chosen to be the day when RAFI HOLIDAY would be born। The dates were discussed among the Rafi Bhakts of Hyderabad, Chennai and Bangalore almost three months before. Rafi Bhakts from outside Bangalore would have to make their own travel and accommodation arrangements. BAAR BAAR RAFI FAN CLUB, Bangalore (BBR) agreed to book the venue for our meet, arrange for tea/snacks and lunch and other infrastructure. We decided that we will spend the day by playing an Antakshri of Rafi Sahab’s songs, participate in a brain teasing Quiz on songs related to Rafi Sahab and also showcase our individual singing talents. Organizing these were entrusted to some very talented and very creative members of the BBR. We arrived in Bangalore on the morning of 14th November 2009 and BBR was at the Railway station to welcome us. Manish and Ashok came early in the morning with roses for each of us and plenty of warmth and guided us to our respective hotels before rushing off to the venue where they had arrangements to attend to. On dot of 10.00 a.m. we all started assembling at the Indian Institute of World Culture and after the initial greetings to one another, we went through the introduction session for the next half hour. In recent times hi-tech methods have been put to good use by BBR for Antakshri and what best then could we all ask for other than an absorbing and scintillating 45 minutes of non stop Antakshri of Rafi Sahab’s songs (audio clips of preludes, interludes, mukhadas, antaras, et el) all compiled by the ever charming Asha who was assisted by Manish. Eight or nine teams that took part in various rounds had a very entertaining session as eliminations after each round made them play it in a competitive spirit. Each of the teams had Rafi fans from Hyderabad/Bangalore/Chennai equally spread over, so that at the end it would could not be said that Bangalore won or Hyderabad won. Winning was not in anyone’s mind and it was the spontaneous participation by the ‘diggaj’ fans made the Antakshri very lively. More than the prizes to the winners, Asha and Manish seemed to take all the honours for such a wonderful presentation of a fun filled Antakshri. A perfect start to the RAFI HOLIDAY was what almost everyone seemed to remark.
Giving final touches are Asha,Manish & Ashok
Manish explaining rules of Antakshri to participants
And THIS IS THE SONG, says Bina while Sreesha & Shanti seem to agree
Next we had a very tough but once again an indepth Quiz prepared specifically by the storehouse of knowledge – Vinatha – and conducted this time by yet another charmer from BBR – Bina (many would know her from her various articles posted on websites in recent times). And here again, two more stalwarts of BBR – Manish and Mukund – so ably assisted her that it looked as though conduct of such programmes comes so vary naturally to them. So much co-ordination between the three made the three big teams (now we did have the Bangalore Team, Hyderabad Team and the Chennai/Delhi Team) compete, clue for clue, with all the knowledge and the knack of remembering at their command. Edge of the seat excitement was to follow as the each of the teams had some known stalwarts and some new finds. It was neck to neck for most of the rounds before Hyderabad and Bangalore were locked in a gruelling one upmanship in scoring all the right answers. Some of the questions were very tough for most of us, but not for the likes of Gurumurthy, Krishnamurthy/Narayanan on one side and Sanjay/Padmanabhan/Satyendra on the other. A see-saw battle for supremacy ensued to culminate in one last burst of round. Satyendra was the real find of the day here and bereft of being bodily lifted, I am sure he will remain in the hearts of everyone who was in the auditorium on that day. Still in his 20s, this young lad is a powerhouse of knowledge, taste and passion for Rafi Sahab’s songs.
Lunch time was quickly taken as we still had to see the singing talents of all our friends and some of them have been rated in music circles as some of the best Rafi-exponents. Manish took the mantle of a perfect host, managing to squeeze in almost all those who had desired to sing. Lack of enough time prevented him from offering the mike to some of the singers who had prepared for more songs, but that is not only understandable, it was also at the cost of Manish’s own songs. We have all known how good a singer he is, but his modesty and call of duty perhaps prevented him from taking to singing, despite our requests. He accommodated each and everyone who had wanted to sing on that and we got some of the best renditions possible from Chennai, Hyderabad, Bangalore. The highlight of the singing session was an exceptional man – Krishnamurthy.
No better dancer than him.
Now, Krishnamurthy deserves a special mention as he not only performs a perfect tango, but entertains everyone. He is such a cute that he can add lustre to any mehfil. And Snigdha could not have said no to him when she too joined him to present to us all a perfect (it takes two to tango in any case) vibrating and foot tapping dance. Great sight to watch such lively and forthcoming attitude from KM and Snigdha – HIP HIP HURRAY.
the dancing duo – Wow, what a sight
Jagat Tarkas too deserves a special mention among the Rafi Bhakts. From Chennai came this ‘whistling wizard” who plays the songs of Rafi Sahab to such fine perfection by whistling that one is struck in awe. This is a real class art. Whistling can be a tough proposition and would not come easy for all. It takes months of training and regular ‘riyaz’ (traits associated with Rafi Sahab again). It requires a lot of will power (lung power ?). Thanks Jagatbhai for your presentations. Then one more name required special attention – not just for his singing abilities, but much more than that. He is an adept sketcher and had started sketching Rafi Sahab on his canvass some months ago when we had asked him to send a soft copy which we can download and get laminated. We were dumbstuck when he presented not one, but three full size portraits of his immaculate work to Chennai/Bangalore and Hyderabad friends (all of 6′ x 6′). That is Hemanth Sharma from Bangalore. Generally it is believed that if one is good in one form of art, he would be good in most others too. But this young lad (again in his 20s maybe) is a perfectionist. Kudos, young man. Rafi Sahab is really proud to have fans of your ilk.
We missed out seeing the documentary of Rafi Sahab, as there simply was no more available time. We had to cut down on some of the songs of our singers too for this very reason. Nevertheless, the moment was celebrated also for the birth of the RAFI HOLIDAY on 14th November by cutting of a large cake, specially ordered, by Rafi Fans from Bangalore, Hyderabad, Chennai and Delhi. The evening was rung off by singing in rattling unison by everyone the BBR signature tune – BAAR BAAR DEKHO HAZAAR BAAR DEKHO YEH DEKHNE KI CHEEZ HAI HAMARA DILRUBA. We bid goodbye to all our friends around 7.30 p.m. with a promise to meet once every year for the RAFI HOLIDAY and to take this mega event to various other cities in the country.
15TH NOVEMBER 2009
As some more of our friends were in Bangalore whom we could not meet on the 14th, Hyderabad friends alongwith Zareef Ahmed from Delhi, Shailaja, and Srinivas Iyer (from Chennai but now in Bangalore) all met with these friends at the palatial flat of Anoop Kulkarni the next day. Again 10.00 was the appointed hour and most reach around that time. We were greeted by Ramesh and Padma Kurpad, Ravishankar, Anoop, his wife and CIYA (what a lovely baby – she soon became the darling of Sivaram, Elias and Satyendra) and other friends.
RAFI BHAKTS ENJOYING THE SESSION AT ANOOP'S HOUSE
Initial introductions were quickly gone through and we started the singing session in right earnest. Ravishankar opened the session with a devotional song on Lord Vinayaka, invoking the blessings of the almighty for the success of the continuing RAFI HOLIDAY. Turn by turn, then all of us took to singing with the MAGIC SING, Karaoke Tunes on CDs and now from meragana.com too. Sumptuous lunch and all the arrangements by Anoop and other friends left nothing to chance. Almost everything that we had needed was there. Then came the biggest shower of camaraderie from Suman. Each of those present were gifted with a set of 7 CDs of Rafi Sahab’s songs.
painstakingly prepared, Sumanbhai gifts set of 7 CDs of Rafi Sahab songs to each. What a tremendous effort.
What a painstaking effort Sumanbhai, listening to these songs will last a life time. Continuous singing gave all a good chance to present all their songs in abundance as on this day we dispensed with Antakshri and Quiz. No speeches were made and every one had only one thought, to sing and listen to the golden songs of Rafi Sahab. That Rafi Sahab can be such a binding thread was the silent feel each of us got.
Some of our friends in Bangalore, Hyderabad and Chennai were left on a very high note after this unique experience and some quipped as under :
M V Devraj : The Rafi Holiday programme was indeed a great event. It was a
pleasure and a privilege and I feel honoured to have met all the Rafi
bhakths from Hyderabad,Chennai and Delhi.November 14,2009 will remain in
memory for ever
A S MURTY : Wah Wah Wah Bina, kya baat hai. 14 November ke is jashn ko to hum waise bhi na bhula paate, aur ab aapka likha padhne ke baad is jashn ki rounak aur bhi badh gayi hai. Aap sabhi ka tahe dil se shukriya
ki hamari zindagi ka ek din aapne itna zyada khoobsoorat bana diya.
ALKA JAIN : We could meet lovely people from Hyderabad, Chennai,and Delhi.At the end of the day no one wanted to leave the venue though everybody was very tired. We knew that it was not an end but starting of a bigger group of
Rafi bhakts in various cities who will always look for oppurtunities
to meet each other.
Once again Hip Hip Hurray to ADABRAFI and RAFI HOLIDAY.
N R PADMANABHAN : The biggest takeaway from this Rafi Yatra has been that we have evolved as friends with direct interaction. So many perceptions have changed and so many angles have got added to our previous notions of people with whom we used to exchange mail with. It is surprising though that the perception in most cases is not at variance with the reality !!
ANANYA : I am proud to be a part of this talented
group……….and it was a real honour to have met in person Mr A S
Murthy, N R P, and all the members of Hyd, chennai and Delhi.
Wish Rafi Holiday is twice in a year 
Jai Ho BBR
SHANKAR DONGRE : Hello Bina,, Aap ka tho jawab nahi. you rocked the show. your presentation was excellent. we got introduced to all Rafi club members of Hyderabad, Chennai
& Delhi. *Thanks to the organisers of Rafi Holiday*. I am eagerly waiting
for next Rafi Holiday.
MV KRISHNAN (from a distant Mumbai) : It is our bad
luck to have missed such a wonderful opportunity to meet up with Rafi bhakts
from Delhi, Hyderabad, Chennai and of course the fulcrum of this
group-Bangalore. The way NRP and Murty have described the occasion, it was
indeed a Grand Success.
HV GURUMURTHY : Yes, it was a grand and as they say now very
often, ‘hatke’ evening, when Rafi Bhakts from Hyderabad, Chennai and Delhi
joined the Bangalore Bhakts and throughout the day were singing ‘gun-gaans’
of Rafi Saab. It was a SANGAM of Moosi, Coovam (I mean the river), Yamuna
and Cauvery. Our politicians are still talking about interlinking rivers,
but we Rafi Bhakts have already symbolically done that.
Others to send their comments were BG Raj, Ashok Dalmiya, Jagat Tarkas, Ravishankar, Satyendra, K S Ramachandran (aka Chandan), Suman Gupta, Achal Rangaswamy, Srinivas Iyer, etc. P Narayanan, the affable Rafi Bhakt known throughout the length and breadth of the country remarked that perhaps this was the only instance of fans of any legend organized such a grand event, just to be in the company of one another. S Chandar too sent in his comments though with a suggestion that we must have more time for singing and we must also maintain silence and listen to the songs when others are singing. Too many programmes resulted in lesser time for singing on the 14th Nov 09 and yes, being the first time, we did have sometimes some extra noises when songs were going on. Many more have sent in their comments, sweet and short ones though. We could not accommodate the names of all our friends who were part of the RAFI HOLIDAY on the 14th & 15th November 2009 as also the complete list of songs rendered on these two days for lack of space here. The article has already become too lengthy and inclusion of all names, however much that we would have liked to do, would have resulted in this narration overshooting the space generally accepted for a brief article. Bina and Ramesh Kurpad have already aired their small write ups on this mega event wherein most of the names have been covered already. Zareefbhai has posted many photographs on this website which depict the various moods that the RAFI HOLIDAY presented on both the days.
EPILOGUE :
The stupendous success of RAFI HOLIDAY leads us to believe that we can have such events year after year and at many more centres in the country. Rafi Fans in other cities who get to read these may be interested in organizing such events within their area, so why not start now ? In the coming years we will be visiting you and also inviting you to be with us all. The concept of RAFI HOLIDAY is simple. It will be a congress of all the Rafi Bhakts with the sole intention of enjoying their holiday sinking in the depth of the most melodious of songs of Rafi Sahab. No speeches, no official functions, no garlandings. All the Rafi Bhakts are born equal and will remain so. That will be the forebearing principle on which such an exercise will be undertaken.
== हम दिल का साज़ बजाते हैं, दुनिया के होश उड़ाते हैं, हम सात सुरों के सागर हैं, हर महफ़िल में लहराते हैं. ==
रफ़ी साहब की पेश की हुयी इन पंक्तियों से मेरी इस व्याख्यान को विराम दे रहा हूँ और आपसे यही विनती है की भूल चूक को माफ़ कर, आप सभी हमारा साथ दे ताकि आने वाले वर्षों में देशभर के सभी रफ़ी भक्त वोह कार्य कर दिखाएँ जो रफ़ी साहब जैसी ही बेमिसाल और लाजवाब हो.
November 23, 2009 - 10:29 pm
Hello ASM,
A beautiful descrption of a fantastic event – those of who were thousands of miles away participated in spirit if not in person. I didn’t sleep on the night of the 13th in Toronto – bacuase I was awake with you all, who, 9.5 hours ahead, were having the time of your lives under the benificence of Rafi saab.
And thought:
Saaqiya aaj mujhe neend naheen ayegi…
suna hai teri mehfil mein rat jaga hai.
Thanks for sharing, sir!
Mohan
November 24, 2009 - 2:30 am
Dear Murty: Your report on that unforgettable Rafi Holiday is in one word, ‘outstanding’.More than anything else this post will,keep us aware of our coordinated efforts at remembering the Great Rafisaab.More power and more enthusiasm for more frequent such meets.
Best wishes.
M V Devraj
November 24, 2009 - 6:05 am
dearest murtygaaru,
thanx a ton for a fantastic write up, as we know you, you have really lifted our spirits by your adjectives and encouragement, surely kindling fond thoughts for more such gatherings in the near future.
what really impresses me and fills my heart with immense joy is of the very unique idea of ” rafi holiday “. rf-hyderabad has started something which will never die down and has effectively brought joy into so many rafi bhakts all over.
those bhakts in other corners of india and abroad are already dreaming of their definite presence in the next rafi holiday – irrespective of where it would be held.
now dont you feel this is incredible – yes – only an avataar like rafi sahab could have kindled such feelings in us.
murtygaaru – your esteemed self along with nrpbhai & others at rf-hyderabad made all this possible and i feel you all deserve a solid, warm and loving ” pat ” on the back.
words cannot truely and effectively express the greatness of what you all have done. keep it up – we have the genuine blessings of an ever smiling rafi sahab and all that we do will meet with thumping success and epoch making.
my personal fears with regard to self would be my unavailability – if the rafi holdiays are conducted other than between September and December. i would in all probability be at sea ( paapi pet kaa savaal ) and all at sea missing you all.
ramesh.
rameshkurpad@gmail.com
November 24, 2009 - 11:10 am
Murthy garu!
That was indeed a wonderful description of all the events that took place on the RAFI HOLIDAY . I really missed the trip. The pics and the report of everyone who attended makes me feel like I was almost there.I will be looking forward to all the musical events in future.
I really appreciate the enthusiasm you,NRP sir and others have for organizing such wonderful events.Hats off to all of you !!!
November 25, 2009 - 1:34 am
Excellent. Even if by chance, people could not attend the function, by reading the report they can visualise what all happened.
Though we had constant interaction with most of the Guests over phone / e-mail, the bond became much stronger after these two days.
November 25, 2009 - 1:54 am
Murthygaru,
I have couple of suggestions to make such programs more interesting. The personnel who are attending such meets are all REAL Rafi Bhakts, not all of them are singers and beacuse of paucity of time, all the persons will not get oppertunity to sing. But every one should be made to involve themselves in the activities otherwise, most of them will lose interest. In fact, precisely for this reason, we at Bangalore, have introduced activities like Antakshri and Quiz so that more people can be covered. Let us also think about all the persons (singers or non-singers), who come with lot of interest to such meets. I appeal to all the Fans to think of some such activities where in all the persons can be kept engaged.
November 25, 2009 - 7:54 am
dear gurujee,
upto singing and antaakshari, its o.k., but, quiz that too musical quiz, one has to be really knowledgable. this is not like you are given an bobjective question paper with say ” true or false ” for the following questions where one can make guess work.
for any entertainment item we participate in such meets to be successfull, it should not in the first place become boring. for that we have to keep it short and sweet and move on to the next item on agenda.
antaakshari, if its a plain sing song its o.k. but too many rules too would make it like 20/20 cricket.
hence, i feel till today in all meets, singing has bee the most successful and joyous form of entertainment carried out.
non singers too become singers with so much josh that it sometimes surprises the individual how he or she accomplished that feat.
a lot of fun too goes along with impromptu singing too as normally silent and shy people would give a picture of not being able to sing.
often such people come out with a bag full of surprises, hence singing – on karoke or just solo or chorus, playing of an instrument, mimicry, jokes and any talent in the art of music would make us all very very happy and bring us extremely close to each other.
the success of any event ( in my considered opinion ) solely depends on how simple we keep it. we should be basically friendly, as we would have met for the first time.
people from different walks of life would have gathered and hence a little bit of concern should be displayed in being kind and well mannered.
we should be open to suggestions, discussions and feee with our ideas.
prior to entering into an event, we should have chalked out what we would basically do on that day, so that we all are aware of what is in store for everyone.
we are just fresh from the eventsof 14th & 15th november 2009 and we can discuss as we are doing now discover new avenues of events to make it more successfull and wherein all can participate without getting bored and shying away from such gatherings.
the cardinal principle being we all are rafi bhakts, we all are amateurs and we all are friends. with this backdrop our future programmes will be much more successful.
above are my views and all of us should give suggestions, which could be extremely useful.
gurujee, thanx for citing this aspect and i am sure more friends will express their views.
ramesh.
rameshkurpad@gmail.com
November 25, 2009 - 8:12 am
Hello Mr.A.S.Murthy,
It was with nostalgia that I read the writeup on the Rafiholiday.It brought back memories of the special day,while looking at the photographs.Yes we did enjoy all the events and am glad you all met friends here and we also got the opportunity to meet and spend precious times listening to songs of Rafiji and I look forward to next year,and some more new activities.
November 25, 2009 - 9:47 am
Mohan, Ramesh, Devraj, Gurumurthy, Padmaja and Vinatha. Many thanks for your comments about the event. All of us had this unique sense of belonging to an event, to a group, to a cult. In a normal musical show with live orchestra and people seated in an auditorium, even if it is a show of Rafi Sahab’s songs, this kind of atmosphere is not generated. Here we could feel totally at home, it was ‘our’ programme. We all devised it and executed it the way ‘we’ had wanted it. This is besides further cementing our bondings like Gurumurthy remarked. The RAFI HOLIDAY will always be a two-day affair and hence we will all accommodate all activities – singing, Antakshri, Quiz and other events truly associated with Rafi Sahab (for instance we would have all also seen the documentary on Rafi Sahab if we still had time for the same). We will also decorate the entire venue with postcards, graffiti of some of the unforgettable songs of Rafi Sahab. The possibilities are endless and the zeal of Rafi Bhakts is unfathomable. If we have some of the finest singers, we also have class kalakars like Jagatbhai. We also can proudly proclaim that we have the best encyclopaedias on hfm amongst us. We also learn from any shortcomings that may have crept in during the first RAFI HOLIDAY and improvements and improvisations are bound to usher in a glorified future for the RAFI BHAKTS. RAFISM is slowly sinking in, (another khwab of Narayanan). Thanks again for being what you all are – some of the smartest fans of Rafi Sahab.
November 26, 2009 - 3:37 am
Murty Saab:
Aapne toh us din ki yaad ko taaza kar diya…your write up about Nov 14 is detailed and brings out the happiness that your team along with the teams of Chennai and Delhi provided us by gracing Bangalore with your presence and affirming the togetherness of this community of Rafi Bhakts.
And I once again quote from my welcome speech of that day:
“We have gathered as worshippers of that great personality who has moulded each of our lives in many ways…almost every emotion that we feel can be linked to a song sung by the great master and its a link that we have already forged simply by being his disciples and followers.
So today we are simply here as one cohesive group to plainly enjoy, rejoice and bask in the warmth of this friendship between groups of people that transcends all age and religion barriers. ”
My sincere wish is for this RAFI holiday to be a regular one from now onwards!
Bina
November 26, 2009 - 3:42 am
Thanks everyone for kind words. I feel that some of the comments deserve a separate article title…
November 26, 2009 - 1:09 pm
Bina and Zareef, could not have agreed with you both more. Yes the RAFI HOLIDAY is here to stay and will have its new avatar each year. Can we name it as RAFI DIVAS ?? Think of this. We can surely do with an entire article on the comments itself. That would be great too, umm, lets see maybe we can one of these days. Meanwhile, Ashok Dalmia has sent us all this link to the photos arranged by BBR :
http://picasaweb.google.com/rafiashok/RafiHoliday#
Videos will be uploaded by Zareef on this site by next week and Ashok too will send the DVD of the entire programme around the same time.
Those desirous of obtaining a CD of Jagat Tarkas’ whistling tunes of Rafi Sahab may contact him at his email id : jagattarkas@gmail.com. For those who did not get to hear him, let me tell you that he is the best in the business – he can replicate the songs of Rafi Sahab by his adakari.
A S MURTY
December 2, 2009 - 12:58 am
Rspected Murty ji, Very nice holidays you celebrated in memory of RAFI SAAB in Banglore.Really you are doing so a great job.My best wishesh to you & all the RAFI bhakts.
Regards,
SANJEEV KUMAR DIXIT
December 6, 2009 - 6:36 am
Dear Murtyji,
It is indeed superb idea of Rafiholiday is bringing together lot of Rafi fans. i also want to join from Mumbai rafi fan.
December 6, 2009 - 6:37 am
Badi Door se aaya hai pyar ka toofa laya hai murtyji and to all of the rafi fans. keep it up!
December 6, 2009 - 10:12 am
Sanjeevbhai and Shashank, thanks for your messages. The next RAFI HOLIDAY will be in 2010 and we will get to meet you all. Meantime, start some activity in your area. We will all contribute.