By Sonilal Bedasie, Trinidad, West Indies

Mohd Rafi

Good day to every one and devotees of The RAFI Age. This is my humble statement and I think it will be appropriate to say the following: At the present time, I am now afforded the opportunity to make my tribute and I am taking it, for if I miss it now, I will regret it later and maybe I won’t be around anymore.

Being a heavy duty fan and disciple of this great singer is by no means a whim or a fancy.  I am observing every one is paying a dedicated service in their own shrines to this ICON in their hearts, consciousness and otherwise. Lip service  is not an option and in this respect, we stand guard permanently to this GREAT MASTER – MOH’D RAFI.

I thank my daughter Judy and son-in-law Raji for their appreciation of this great singer, by the size of their song library.

I am profiling This Artiste and his Art specifically and my religion does NOT factor in.  I am calling a “spade , a spade” and definitely, No two ways about it.

I am Sonilal Bedasie , from Trinidad West Indies.  I was born to Hindu parents in a Hindu home.  To find this absolute definition, I drew the line and eliminated influential entities including : Perception, Assumption, Coercion, Slanting and Religion.

When a person is following a particular artiste, it signifies a deep appreciation for the arts of the highest order and perfection.  This sense of judgment does not evolve from the above entities listed.  It is a reflection of the inner consciousness from deep within.  In this reflective state, external stimuli is null and void and in no way influence the sub-consciousness to embrace or be manipulated about what is the ultimate in absolute perfection.

As this Artiste attracts your dedicated attention, time and space becomes irrelevant.  One understands and concludes that this Artiste’s perfection is manifested in the realms of a higher order.  Very, yes very few of the many gifted and talented ever enter these portals.
(Singers of a: ‘Fly-by-night’ nature , who are NOT dedicated to the Arts such as: ‘so called’, ‘2 by 4’s,  and those that sing from the facial grimacings of their foreheads and mouths, nasally, never qualify.)  The few that that enters here are known to mankind as: IMMORTALS.  The physical human body is of a passing nature, it breaks down and expires.  This is a fact in the material domain.  (Immortals are NOT subject to this)

I heard RAFI’s voice when I was 7 years old for the first time.  I did not understand the language, which in itself is a limitation,  but I did not need any language to experience and feel the divine perfection of this voice, as if nature was cuddling me.

We listen to his songs and we hear his voice that leaves us with a magic and a memorable experience to embed itself in our psyche.

Many singers enter the hallows of greatness and are here today – gone tomorrow.  Very few enter the portals of perfection and it is here they graduate to immortality.

Many years after he died (on the physical plane), he still live.  MOH’D RAFI LIVES, oh yes sir, he is very much alive, more alive than when he actually lived. His mastery of voice is not subject to change, herein lies his perfection.  His voice is universal, it just cannot be limited to any one particular geographical location on this planet, the language maybe, but the voice, it is a phenomenon.  (Divine manifestation mingling with the Arts).

MOH’D RAFI is here to stay- PERMANENTLY.

I extend my personal salutations to the persons who first noticed or discovered this voice and helped bring it to world attention- Thank you.

As for the others who never made it to the portals of perfection, MOH’D RAFI was NEVER a competitor, because believe it or not, he IS light -years ahead.   Perfection: it is his domain and I must admit to the fact that he is: “The Reference Standard”, the Benchmark by which all others will be evaluated.

INDEED, THIS IS THE RAFI AGE.

Many singers will survive a few generations and will soon be forgotten in the dust of the past, but this God sent singer is really a higher force that is here to stay, so long as human-kind exist.

MOH’D RAFI  – The great master at the microphone and an observation.

Whenever a movie is playing, you look on and follow the story, enjoy the sceneries, you like the actors and actresses, the spliced in comedy sequences etc.  All these elements of the movie are entertaining you.  Now a song comes on in the movie, the hero is singing to his beloved.  It is the voice of MOH’D RAFI.  Notice how his voice DOMINATES and the movie itself with all it’s artistic elements that make it up – takes second place.  MOH’D RAFI’s voice has embraced your inner self, it cuddles your emotions, it takes you to a higher level, you become totally immersed, that night becomes day and you did not notice.  Such is the attention and focus this voice commands.  His mastery of all genres be it any style and consistency, he excels.

MOH’D RAFI’s voice elevated the persona of the actors when they lip-synced on screen, it gave them class and enhanced their image in professional and private life.  The best compositions, lyrics, melody, music arrangement, orchestration and top of the line vocalization in the Golden Era, MOH’D RAFI was the breath of immortal life in the middle of all this.

Example:
Lyrics or the words of a song written on a paper may be read by many, and placed on a shelf to be forgotten.  The melody or tune or musical notation on a similar paper faces a parallel demise.  Even if the lyrics & Music are combined to become a lead sheet on 1 paper and it is displayed for everyone to see and read, it will be read by a few, but makes NO impact and will become non-relevant and might not factor in, in anyone’s memory, but when this lead sheet is given to MOH’D RAFI and his voice breathes life into both lyrics and melody, what happens next?  A phenomenal transition, the lyrics & music/melody become a song;  a song that takes a life of it’s own and this song becomes an experience for us in our memories.

His versatility extends beyond conventional infrastructural guidelines and exceeded all limitations.  He restructured and re-wrote the domain that is called: VERSATILITY and took it to the highest level.  His voice overshadows and take precedence.  Within this great Icon, lies many Iconic character features of his personality, his humility, his humanitarian love for his fellow beings, his dedication to his religion, to all those around him, to those in need and most of all; To never say NO to anyone.  He has inspired many.

In his songs lies a greater impact in our lives.  In chronological order. he is a feature in the major aspects of our daily routine eg.. ‘Your first date with the one you love or the moment you actually fell in love, or your marriage proposal, your engagement , your wedding or your birthday etc.etc.  Every one has at some time in their lives experienced a memorable occasion and MOH’D RAFI was the unseen presence, the voice that made it complete, the voice that makes your aura blush with joy and happiness. This voice – the frequency of universal goodness unmatched, immortal and absolute.  MOH’D RAFI was sent to earth on a divine mandate to do, deliver and return without detours.  He did it with cosmic precision and look at the result today.

I say this without regret: The sweetest Bhajans I have ever heard are those sung by MOH’D RAFI.

Thank you for allowing this moment to me to express my tribute to MOH’D RAFI.

This blog was published on Sunday, May 19th, 2013 at 2:24 pm and is filed under Meri Awaaz Suno. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.