Mohd Rafi and Statue of Mahatma Gandhi

So friends I am doing one thing from my side, I am renaming Mohd Rafi Sahab to Mr. Rafi Gandhi, I am hopeful after this change our government will listen to us as Gandhi surname is the synonymous of being patriot and every Gandhi automatically qualify to get a Bharat Ratna,

Bharat Ratna awards has to be given to people who has done something substantial in their life which may have impacted country or people around them. But history has proved that it normally given based on your birth location, your community belongings and yes for the people who may not be so so popular because popular means ‘cheap’ in our intellectual class.

Just went through the list of Bharat Ratna award holders from history and I was surprised to see so many names which are there for just ‘academic’ purpose…. and for the information I saw Lata Ji’s name in the list, I was again wondering what Lata ji has done to music industry which Mohd Rafi has not done during his around 30 year career (cut short due to sudden demise)… upon some research I found that Shiv Sena and NCP was the main force behind that government decision at that time.

I must clarify that I am not questioning why it has been given to Lata ji, She deserve it (Not hate campaign please)… but I am asking a question why it was not given to Rafi Sahab who is still one of the most ‘played/listened’ singer even after 31 years of his death.

Do you know Rafi, Kishore, Mukesh trilogy still rules the radio and around the world Indian music still known by them (Lata ji includes in this but I am not including her in my list because she already got this award)….

ON this website, I decided that I will never ever write any controversial things but today I am not able to hold myself. so instead of doing bad mouthing about system, I am resorting to this trick.. currently Congress lead government is ruling country, may be a ‘Gandhi’ name can ‘awake’ them.

… But at the same time I am getting little worried as Next govt may not be of congress in that case a Gandhi name can be a ‘Ajaab’….. Lets see.

(Sorry for my bad language as it just came unplanned and I am not a native English speaker)

He is going to give his tribute to Rafi Sahab on AIR FM Gold in Mumbai at 8:30 AM onwards. Listen to this gem radio presenter who has lent his voice to many programs like Chayaa geet, Independence Day parade etc.

Knowledge, intellect, passion, bhakti, shruti, and samruddhi all came together in an extremely easy and comfortable manner on the November 14, 2009 the infectiousness of which will remain with us for a very long time to come. Sitting down to write about our Rafi Holiday in honour of our Chennai, Hyderabad and Delhi friends gives me great pleasure.

I have broadly outlined the program as it went..The eagerly awaited morning started around 10 with coffee/tea and as soon as our Delhi friends got in we began the session with a welcome speech by yours truly. Therafter, Manish invited ASM (who is an excellent MC) to introduce his team members followed by Jagat Saab introducing the Chennai team.

Now let me introduce THE RAFI BHAKTS and the khaasiyat of each one of them.

OUR HYDERABAD FRIENDS WHO JOINED US:

AS Murty – He is the driving force behind the entire team and his presence and presentation had a huge impact on the entire proceedings of Saturday. More strength to you Murty Saab!

NRP and Mrs. Padmanabhan – Sir thoroughly enjoying the proceedings .. he was verbally very quiet but very active mentally I am sure…we now have to wait for his valuable comments to know how he and his wife exactly felt being amongst us…

R. Padmanabhan – He enthusiastically took part in the antakshari and ASM sang praises about his knowledge of lyrics.

Sanjay Deshpande – He amazed us all with his fund of knowledge..I heard someone saying in the background..’hum samajthe the ke hum hi sabse bade bhakt hai Rafi Saab ke..par hum toh kuch bhi nahi hain in sabke saamne’

Satyendra – Absolutely and extraordinarily the find of the meet…the young Satyendra is a force to reckon with…his exuberance for quizzing was so high that Mukund had the time of his life controlling this young man…! hum sab ka salaam tumko and may Rafi Saab Bless!

S.K. Elias – What a singer! He was first to go on the stage to sing and he sang Duniya Na Bhaye from Basant Bahaar….he made me cry with his rendition! The quiver in his voice and the emotions were outstanding!

S. Chandar and Radha Chandar – A very young (looking) and lovely smiling couple who never left each other’s side and came forward with some excellent jokes and songs…

K. Sivaram, Mrs. Sivaram and Shanti Sivaram – Very enthusiastic..it was wonderful that your whole family could make it to the meet. Shanti has a lovely voice.

OUR CHENNAI BHAKTS

K. Ramachandran or Chandan – He held the crowd spellbound with his rendering of Aaj Ki Raat mere dil ki salaami and one more song on which Manish made a funny comment (Chandan please update..!)

Jagat Tarkas – He has an amazing talent in that he can sing songs by whistling. ..and though he would have wanted to sing, by popular demand he gave us some wonderful whistling numbers of Rafi Saab.

Surinder – what a soothing voice he has…and very humble in his demeanor.beautiful songs he sang Madan Mohan’s Tere Bagair and Roshan’s Mere Mehbood Kahin Aur Mila Kar Mujhse

S. Narayan and Sreedhar – your involvement and appreciation of the participants was very heartening..thank you for being there..

OUR DELHI GUESTS

Zareef – Sir jee, jo aapne sher sunaya tha bahut hi badhiya tha..zara likhkar bhejiyega please… he filmed the entire program on his personal handycam and will post it in his website www.rafi.co.in (please correct if I am wrong)..it was most wonderful having you amongst us..

Sunanda – You were an honored guest from Delhi quietly sitting and enjoying the show but your presence was an encouragement in itself madam. Thank you for giving us that small stanza of Talat Mehmood song inspite of not keeping too well,.

AND NOW THE BAAR BAAR RAFI TEAM..

Raj, Narayan, Ashok, Guruji, Manish – our pillars of BBR – thank you ever so much for the impeccable arrangements – you are responsible for the sustained enthusiasm of every BBR member.

Raj our President has always encouraged us and we were given a free hand to handle and organize this event, as he was away on business. His presentation of An Evening in Paris title song was a major hit.

Narayan, the well-loved PR man of BBR was in his element, answering a major of the questions in the quiz round, which stumped even Satyendra, the young prodigy of Hyderabad.

Ashok was responsible for the food arrangements (excellent lunch Ashok..you can give yourself a pat on your back!) but what appeals to you is his ardent love of Rafi Saab and he makes no bones about it..!

Guruji ke baare mein kya kahen…he is our encyclopedia and we depend on him for any info about Rafi Saab or films in general…par aise waise kaise bhi antakshari mein aa hi gaye .though he is formally banned from taking part in any quiz or antakshari because he would win hands down! (and he and his team did!! they won the first prize for the antakshari with the Hyderabad Bhakts being the runner ups!)

Manish..whose controlling and scheduling the entire program was excellent and he deserves a big round of applause for it. His quips and witty remarks on the mike were very enjoyable..

Mukund, Krishna, Hemanth, Srinivas, Shankar – Aap logon ne gaakar, nachkar (Krishna only you can add that extra life to a show on which people are already hooked) bahut dil lubhaaya hamara…thank you Hemanth for the thoughtful and amazing paintings of Rafi Saab and of course, for regaling us with your wonderful voice…Mukund ..likhe jo khat tujhe…kuch sur laga ke nahin?

Asha – she is a gem of a singer and an ustaad at ideas for antakshari..Her presentation and themes were excellent and challenged the vast knowledge of the participants…! The antakshari was won by the Bangalore team consisting of Guruji, Vinatha and Hemanth and Hyderabad consisting of Sanjay, Shailaja and (???) followed closely with a tie-break win..

Vinatha – aah! her quiz was a super hit with Hyderabad, Chennai and Bangalore alike…Chennai especially did very well in the video quizzing where the clip was played for just 2 seconds and Chandan guessed most of them!

Alka – She is the lively lady whose Oh Haseena Zulfon Waali (with Hemanth) had Krishna and Snigdha shaking a leg much to the delight of the crowd!

Shailajaji, Sapna, Ananya, Vidya, Radha, Ushaji, Raji – Your heartwarming and lovely presence encouraged Raj to sing ‘dekho yeh pariyon ki toli,’ and your participation is continued encouragement for all of us at BBR. Raji you were brilliant in the Ghalib ghazal that you sang for us…

Devraj Saab and Lakshmi Devraj – every grateful for your presence and efforts to make it to the venue…with his usual booming voice Devraj Saab entralled the crowd with Madhuban Mein Radhika..

Snigdha – Your vibrant presence is a scene stealer..! We need hardly say how much we appreciate your spontaneous performance with Krishna for Oh Haseena Zulfon Waali..

So that was how it went folks. Tea and snacks were served in the evening. A cake ordered by Murty Saab was cut to the singing of Baar Baar Din Yeh Aaye…and we wound up around 7:30 -8:00 after an enthusiastic rounding up the proceedings with Baar Baar Dekho, the theme song of BBR.

Hope I have not missed out anyone. If I have please do let me know…I had a wonderful time and we hope you did too..

Fond regards,
Bina

Shakti Samanta produced Aradhana with Rajesh Khanna where he played double role of father and son, both as Air Force pilots. The film became a golden jubilee hit.

Movie : Aradhana (1969)
Director : Shakti Samanta
Singers: Mohd Rafi, Lata Mangeshkar
Music Director : Sachin Dev Burman
Lyricists: Anand Bakshi
Cast : Rajesh Khanna, Farida Jalal

Well, I’m not trying to confuse the readers by using the word ‘Kurukshetra’. No! Neither it has anything to do with a war, nor is it any competition.
It’s all about the story of a “Rang-Bhoomi” not a “Ran-Bhoomi”!! It’s all about a musical exhibition of talent under the firmament made up of the “God’s blessings”. Again, to make things clear, I must tell you that the word “God” here doesn’t mean a religious figure. My statement points to an Indian God who has followers/disciples belonging to all religions. Yes! I’m talking about the “God of Singing”, the maestro “Sir Mohammad Rafi”! Hope I made my statement clear, so let’s move on..
I was talking about the “Rang-Bhoomi” which was arranged in the outskirts of Hyderabad, a place called “Dhola-Ri-Dhani”! Musical warriors and disciples set themselves towards the aforementioned destination, in their respective chariots.

• Chandar sir and Radha ma’m holding their divine weapons (Karaoke Cds/DVDs) stepped into their chariot named “Swift” and carried Santosh (me) along with them

• N.R.Padmanabhan sir boarded his chariot named “Maruti 800” and headed towards the destination. Satyendra and Yashwant joined him.

• Other musical warriors like Ramakrishna sir (with his nuclear weapon ‘Harmonica’), Padmanabhan couple, Subhrammanyam duo, the great commander in chief (A.S.Murty sir and his consort) and spectators headed towards the “Rang Bhoomi” in a Pushpak Viman otherwise known as “Bus” arranged by the management of Dhola-Ri-Dhani.

Assemblage at Dhola-Ri-Dhani
Chandar sir and his troupe were the first to reach the destination. They directly went towards the venue and started to test the auditorium and the weaponry (Sound boxes, sound system) and started fine-tuning them when we, the youngsters – Satyendra, Yashwant and Elias – stepped inside the open air auditorium. Soon everybody dispersed to have a survey of that beautiful place. That was around 3:30 PM. Soon other members arrived at the venue.

Soon decoration of our God’s idol, (read “Rafi Saab”) begun, and few people started to make necessary arrangements on stage. Meanwhile everyone was waiting with bated breath for one more army, the “orchestra troupe”.
I want to mention one important thing here; which is, despite the existence of security checks at the main gate, none of us were scrutinized. One single word, “Rafi”, worked wonders, and made a smile run across the faces of the security personnel. “Rafi Saab”, this word could do such a magic, I never knew that!

( the garlanded photograph of Rafi Sahab )

the birthday of a Shahanshah (Rafi Sahab) being celebrated by cutting of the cake.

“Birds of a feather tend to flock together!!”
This section header seems weird isn’t it? We’re discussing about a musical event and we’re not supposed to divert the topic to discuss/learn English idioms, phrases and proverbs!! Hold on a minute!
It’s very much sync with the current narration and no way deviates us away!

Well, we’ve been hearing this proverb for ages, but on 25th Dec’08 I could see it practically! When all of us were hanging around the stage doing something or the other, two ladies, out of whom Mrs Sumitra Shastry, was a septuagenarian, the mother of Bhanumati ji (name of the lady accompanying her), entered the venue. The elderly lady was not even able to walk properly. They were just gazing around at the strangers when Murty sir went forward and talked with them. Bhanumati ji was holding a cutting of a news paper in her hand.

It was a very pleasant awe mingled surprise for everyone when we heard the following words from the mouth of Bhanumati ji, who is a teacher in Kendriya Vidyalaya. She said, “Hum logone is programme ke bare mein ek newspaper mein padha aur yahan chale aaye. Hum log Rafi Saab ke bahut bade chahne waale hain, hum log to bachpan se unke hi gaane sunkar bade hue hain! Humare ghar mein unke hi gaane sune jaate hain aaj bhi”

Those sweet words filled everyone with utmost happiness as like as the sweet sound of cukoo ripens mangoes.
They were humbly welcomed inside by Murty ji and they were asked to be seated and enjoy the programme.
Meanwhile Orchestra troupe made their entry and they started fixing up their systems.

Mortal Combat Begins
Again there isn’t any combat among the musical warriors. All were set to combat today’s noise polluted environment by releasing their divine weapons in the air, which were designed by our god, Rafi saab long back. Each weapon released, made uncanny positive effects on the audience and the foreign crown present near the vicinity started getting mesmerized, and got themselves gravitated and pulled towards the Rang-Bhoomi under a divine trance of Rafi saab’s weapons (read Songs).
The first Rafi-enthusiast to exhibit his devotion towards our God was Yashwant who took the stage by storm when he rendered a beautiful, soulful and divine Bhajan of Rafi Saab – Duniya Na Bhaye Mohe Ab To Bula Le” from the film Basant Bahar .

THE FULL CACHE OF WEAPONERY
1. Duniya Na Bhaye Mohe _ Basant Bahar YASHWANT
2. Dil Mein Chhupa Ke Pyar Ka – AAN – Subramanyam
3. Jaiye aap kahan jaayenge – MERE SANAM – Mrs Radha Chandar
4. O Duniya ke rakhawale – BAIJU BAWRA – Sheikh Elias
5. Maine Rakha Hai Muhobbat – SHABNAM – Santosh
6. Mujhe Kitna Pyar Hai Tumse – DIL TERA DIWANA – ASM & VIJAYA
7. Tere Bin Soone Nayan Hamare – Meri Soorat Teri Ankhen – N R P
8. Pukarta Chala Hun Mein – S Chandar
9. Likhke jo Khat Tumhe – R Padmanabhan
10. Hum Ko Man Ki Shakti Dena (Guddi) – Mrs Meenakshi Padmanabhan
11. Parda Hai Parda Hai – AMAR AKBAR ANTHONY – Yashwant
12. Badan Pe Sitare Lapete Huye – PRINCE – Satyendra
13. Choudvin Ka Chand Ho – Chaudvin Ka Chand – Subramanyam
14. Tumhi Mere Mandir – KHANDAN – Vijaya
15. Ude Jab Jab Zulfe Teri – NAYA DAUR – S Chandar & Mrs Radha
16. Jaane Walon Zara – DOSTI – Harmonica recital by Ramakrishna
17. KOI SAGAR DIL KO BEHLATA NAHIN (D D D L) – N R P
18. Rang Aur Noor Ki Baarat – GHAZAL – Sheikh Elias
19. Jaane Wale Zara Hoshiyar – RAJKUMAR – A S Murty
20. Ik Na Ik Din Yeh Kahani – GORA AUR KALA – Santosh
21. John Jani Janardhan – NASEEB – Sheikh Elias
22. Huyen Hai Hampe Ashiq Hum – MERE SANAM – Harmonica – S R K
23. Yeh Parbaton Ke Dayre – VAASNA – R Padmanabhan & Mrs Meenakshi
24. Ankhon Se Jo Utari Hai Dil Mein – P W D L H – Mrs Radha Chandar
25. Hum Intezar Karenge – BAHU BEGUM – S Raghavendra Rao
26. Aajkal Tere Mere Pyar Ke Charche – BRAHMCHARI – S Chandar & Mrs Radha Chandar
27. Yesh Desh Hai Veer Jawano Ka – NAYA DAUR – ASMurty, Yashwant,S Chandar & Shaikh Elias
28. Bole Re Papihara – GUDDI – Mrs Radha Chandar
29. Chhup Gaye Sare Nazare – DO RAASTE – Ms. Sheela & Krishnamurthy
30. Dance by NARSING (a dwarf dancer of Dhola Ri Dhani) on the song HUM KALE HAIN TO KYA HUYE DILWALE HAIN. He was accompanied by Naresh (dressed up as a lady) for this wonderful dance item.

Excellent rendition by our members was interspersed with compering by A S Murtyji. He has abundance of ammunition under his belt, what with innumerous sher-o-shayari to describe almost every song.

Within no time, entire auditorium was almost filled with spectators. It would be surprising to note that the no. of external visitors was greater than the members of this event. That was again mostly due to the trademark associated with the event, “Mohammad Rafi”!!
It was around 10 in the evening when the musical talent exhibition culminated. But that wasn’t the end, there were two guest warriors who proved to be above all of us by releasing nuclear weapons mesmerizing all of us. They were Dhola-re-Dhani staff viz.,

• Naresh, who dressed like a girl and danced fabulously. She (read He) was accompanied by a little artiste, a dwarf -NARSING . They danced on a famous Rafi number, “Hum kale hain to kya hua dilwale hain”

• Next was the turn of another hero – Bhati. He exhibited his superb skills of physics. He was a master of Newtonian mechanics. He danced with 2 cycle wheels in his hand and circled them on various parts of his body; with such an ease and expertise, that had there been Newton in the vicinity, he would have been taken aback at that spectacular act of balancing object movements

no further detaild are available to me as of now, I will soon provide the more details about it.

( posted from mobile)

Ae Muhabbat Zinadabad was his song

It was a great success and everybody enjoys the meeting.

Special thanks to Mr. Zorawar and Ashish Kapoor for such a great idea. Special thanks also goes to Mr. Naresh Kumar and Mohd. Arif Zia for singing melodious songs and bhajans of Mohd Rafi Sahab.

More details about the meeting very soon…( hope this soon will come soon )

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