My visit to RAFI MANSION on 5th and 6th june 2010
By Sanjeev Kumar Dixit, Lucknow
Aadab Rafi friends, I visited the House of Rafi Sahab,”RAFI MANSION” and his holy Grave on 5th & 6th june 2010.
I reached mumbai in the morning of 5th june and Miraz ahmed saab (elder son in law of Rafi Sahab) has given the time to visit Rafi Mansion at 7:30pm to me. I reached to Rafi mansion at 7:30pm and met with Nasreen didi (elder daughter of Rafi sahab). Miraz saab could not arrived at time because he was in hospital for delivery of his grandson and Nasreen didi was also going there.
Rafi chowk in Mumbai
Family of Yasmeen didi was also there in hospital. I waited few mins. and then Miraz saab called to Irfan saab (son of Yasmeen didi). Irfan saab came to home & we entered in Rafi mansion and then after I was in music room of RAFI SAHAB with Irfan sahab. It was very grand and all the trophies were there kept in his room. I was there approximately one hour and taken many photographs of that room. I also asked Irfan saab about his favourite singer and it is written in my survey register with his signature.
Me with grandson of Rafi Saab
On the next day I visited the Holy Grave of Rafi Sahab and collected some holy soil from there. I was there approximately 30 minutes. It was very peaceful there at the holy grave of Rafi sahab.
Holy Grave of Rafi Sahab
That evening I re-visited Rafi mansion again and this time I was fortunate to meet with Parwez Sahab & Yasmeen Didi. Irfan saab entered a while after. They all were too polite and humble with us and spent more than one hour with us. I also asked to Parwez ji and Yasmeen Didi for their favorite singer and written in my survey register with their signature. I invited to Parwez ji and Yasmeen didi to visit Lucknow & my home in near future and they accepted my invitation.
This was ONLY DREAM of my life which became true with the kind help of “Narayan sahab(Bangalore),Beena Didi(Bangalore),AS Murty sahab(Hyderabad),Srikant ji(Mumbai), Miraz Ahmed Sahab, Nasreen Didi, Parwez Ahmed Sahab,Yasmeen Didi & Irfan sahab.” I will always be grateful to them whole my life.
“My visit to Rafi Mansion & Grave of Rafi sahab is like a PILGRIMAGE OF CHAR DHAM OR HAZ YATRA & after this visit no wish remains in my life for me“, because God has only given birth to me on this earth but Rafi Sahab has given the true direction to my life through his songs and his great character and personality.I can say proudly that Rafi Sahab has given me the SECOND LIFE, he was always with me in all difficult time of my life & my whole life will dedicate to Rafi Sahab.
I have one more dream for Rafi Sahab which I will disclose to you after some time.
I am sending some pictures regarding my visit of RAFI MANSION. Date on pictures is wrong because I forgot to set the date in camera. Pl don’t care about this.
Best playback singer of the millennium award
Chair of Rafi Sahab
HARMONIUM of Rafi Sahab, still in pristine condition
Santoor of Rafi sahab
Lamp of Rafi Sahab
National award to Rafi Sahab
Filfare awards of Rafi Sahab
Visiting card of our Farishta
Visiting card of our Farishta
i am a huge fan of mohammed rafi.. i am leaving tto mumbai for holiday with my family to mumbai for 7 days from 12th of this month. its always been a dream to visit our beloved rafi sahab’s mansion. someone please help me fulfill my dream.i dont know when would be my next visit to mumbai after this, so dont want to miss it!! somebody please help me…
I am an Agnostic, Mohd Fafi Sahe’b voice is Nature’s voice. I have a dream to visit Rafi Saheb’s house. You are one of the luckiest person to avail this opportunity. There is not a single day of my life with out hearing his Voice. I have a feeling that his voice heals all my problems. I am never feel alone till i have this voice with me. Rafi Saheb’s voice shall act as a Voice therapy to the depressed in this World. Hope others too have the same feelings. All other singers are also good i hear them but it is only Voice of Rafi.
Nobody can match Rafi Saab, only Rafi Saab can match Rafi Saab.
Woh jaane wale hosake to lauteke aana.
The legend of legends Rafi sahab, ur greatest of all singers..I’m Mushtaq bhat the greatest fan of Rafi sahab..I had lots of conversation wd Rafi sahab in my dream he wants me to sing. He’s my mentor I’m requesting u Shahid bhai plz put me in your band..
Lata Ji is great but Rafi Sahib is greatest.
Rafi Saab Bhagwaan hain. Rafi Sahib is God. So please never use word “Late” before his name. God never dies.
No words can match his talents. He was outstanding. he was genius. I keep on listening his songs and i miss that era. Such person can never die, and that is how he has become immortal.
Dear rafians the great followers of late great farishta ( angel) mohammed rafi sahab, I am from chennai, ardent fan of rafi sahab, i have been trying to get to visit the great ashiana of rafi sahab in mumbai.. i really dont know how and whome to contact pls. if some one could direct it would be really really great.
As regard to the few followers praying that rafi sahab should be honoured with the highest award of india bharath rathna bestowed on rafi sahab, I TOTALLY AGREE WITH THEM , rafi sahab was not just a singer, he was greatest human being , very down to earth person and very very god fearing , he has contributed to the indian cinema the greatest songs, he was one of the greatest and most secular singer of india, who did justice to all the songs, let it be sad, romantic, peppy, bhajans , qawali and any type of songs he has sung he has done justice to it and he had also given life to many many music directors and new and poor producers by not charging them.. YOu name one singer who has been like him even 10 percent. i have heard. stories where kishore kumar never used to reduce or wait for the payment. Lata mangeshkar ji.. has sung many many songs… with rafi sahab.. kindly FOLLOW THE INTERVIEWS OF LATA JI… SHE HAS NEVER SPOKEN OF RAFI SAHAB.. MAY BE SHE WOULD HAVE TAKEN HIS NAME LAST. where in her popularity was at peak. just because of rafi combination at that time.
EVEN THE INDUSTRY AS SUCH NOW A DAYS TALKS BIG OF RAFI SAHAB.. BUT THEY HAVE NOT DONE ANYTHING FOR RAFI SAHAB, OR HIS FAMILY . EVEN MR SONU NIGAM. WHO CLAIMS TO BE ARDENT FAN OF RAFI SAHAB AND HE HAS BECOME POPULAR JUST CALLING HIMSELF AS RAFI SAHAB DESCIPLE.. DID NOT EVEN ATTEND RAFI ACADEMY FUNCTION WHICH WAS STARTED A YEAR BEFORE BY RAFI SAHABS SON. SUCH IS PLIGHT OF PPL.
till the qayamath,( dooms day or last day of the wordl) iam sure rafi sahabs songs wil be played and heard and liked and loved. Aameen.
I am thankful to shammi kappoor sahab. who had before his death inevery interview gave so much respect and due thanks for his success to rafi sahab. HE WAS REAL GREAT AND THANKFUL PERSON.
I WOULD LIKE TO RECORD MY APPRECIATION AND COMPLIMENTS, FOR THE COMMENDABLE INITIATIVE OF MR DIXIT SAHAB, IT IS REALY GREAT HONOUR TO SEE SUCH GOOD AND LOVING PPL .
MY NUMBER IS 9841180087 AND I AM LOOKING FORWARD FOR SOME ONE TO GIVE ME THE WHEREABOUTS OR MRS RAFI AND HIS FAMILY FOR VISTING THAT SHRINE OF RAFI SAHAB AND ALSO VISIT RAFI MANSION TOUCH THE FEET OF THE GREAT SELFLESS LADY MRS RAFI SAHAB.. WHO WAS NEVER GREEDY OF MONEY AND FAME. I HAVE READ ABOUT HER. IAM 38 YRS OLD SINGLE AND HAD MY KIDNEY TRANSPLANT 3 YEARS BEFORE.. IAM OK NOW.. BACK TO NORMAL. HOPE BEFORE MY DEATH I HAPPEN TO VISIT RAFI SAHAB ASHIANA .
RAFI SAHAB WAS NOT A HUMAN BEING, HE WAS GOD SENT FARISHTA ( ANGEL) THATS WHY GOD DID NOT LIKE HIM TO LEFT IN THIS SELFISH AND MEAN WORLD FOR HIM TO GET WORRIED AND HURT. SO HE TOOK HIM TO HIMSELF TO THE HEAVEN. SMILING FACE HE GAVE US SUCH A GOOD SONGS WHICH BECOME OUR DAY TO DAY TONIC AND ENERGY AND ALSO SILENTLY HE HELPED HUNDREDS WHEN HE WAS ALIVE AND AFTER HIS DEATH AS WELL.. PPL STILL TAKE HIS NAME AND BECOME SHABBIT KUMAR, ANWAR, MOHAMMED AZIZ, SONU NIGAM ETC., AND BECAME POPULAR.
Hope my write up here is worth for the rafi sahab followers.. do comment if you like this write up pls.
Hi, farrukh from lahore.
I can only see that time will never see such a great singer ever again. Please keep this site running and thank you very much for sharing this much valuable information.
Love and prayers for Rafi Shb
From Lahore
kindly let me know the address of Rafi Shaab’s house, so that i can visit my dream. I’ll ever remain thankfull for whole of my life ,if i could get his address and can make a visit to his house.
dear sir,
aap ka jitna bhi sukriya kiya jaye kam he.Rafi shaab ki
jindegi se jude andekhe pehluo ko samne lane ke liye.
thank you
Rafi jesa gayak naa to kabhi aaya hai aur naa hi kabhi aayega kyon ki allah paak ne jo aawaz unhe di hai aur kisi gayak ke paas nahi hai ……….allah unhe jannat naseeb kare …….aamin
dearest dixit ji.
I am very ha am happy that you visited mumbai and fulfill your dream.i am very pleased to see the rare pictures of rafi sahib.so keep on doing the good work
I was working in an Architect’s office on linking road bandra in 1976. At 2.30 p.m. on vividbharati ,rafisahab’s “tute hue khabone” no. was played, I was listning the no, by the time it got over, a person entered the Office, in white cloths, He looked at the Chair of my Boss and made a gusture, I said , The Architect shall come at 3o’clock. He turned back and was leaving the Office, I went behind and Asked him His Name ” mohammed Rafi”. I was totally overwelmed. …… Next time when he came I stared talking to him but to my surprise, rafi sahab never replied, Najeer sahab told me that he dosent talk, one has to listen to his records…..I said Rafisahab …you have sung song in my language “Kokani”…………after that I saw one of his recording with SJ ,film Yakeen……..To me he is the greatest singer..and a humble humanbeing ……..If my voice was like him …I would have never practise Architecture profession…..girish kelekar.16\11\2010
I VISITED Rafi mansion on 10th November 2010. Unfotunately there was nobody at home. I think we all Rafi fans must see to it that he gets Bharat Ratna . Shocking that he did not get Dada saheb Phalke . I think Her Majesty LAta has some role in it.
Bharati
I would just like to add a note about one of his sons – Hamid. I went to school with him in the early 1970s and we were good friends. I was upset to see that he passed away in 1995. He was quite a character with a great sense of humour.
The school was not a boarding school or private school but an ordinary state school in West London.
I had the privelage of meeting Mohammed on a couple of occasions when he visited, though unfortunately I did not hear him sing.
Rafi Sahab was a great singer,no one can take his place.
post 127:
Dear Mr. D. P. Bijoor Saab,
Thanks for the correction. Being a resident of Bandra, you would know the exact details. You are so lucky that you stayed so close to Rafi saab’s house; I would have done anything to trade places with you. Staying hundreds of miles away from Bombay, I could only imagine things in my mind’s eyes.
I knew that Rafi saab used to stay in a different house in Bandra before he moved to Rafi Villa. From your account, it seems that the old house was Sea Bird. If I’m not mistaken, Manna da used to be his next-door neigbour there.
The confusion arose because the picture on the cover of the “An Evening with Mohd Rafi” LP has Rafi saab standing with his right palm on a multi-coloured tiled wall with his Audi in the background (not the foreground, as I had mistakenly written earlier). I’m recalling this from memory as I don’t have the LP with me anymore — I made the mistake of lending the LP to one of my friends. This LP was released sometime in the late 60s, if I’m not mistaken. In the inset of “Around the World” LP, which was released around 1977, the musicians in Rafi saab’s orchestra appear with the same patterned tiles in the background, which made me believe that the older picture was inside Rafi villa.
Thanks for providing the correct details.
Regards,
P. Haldar
congratulations to the organizers of this website. wonderful tributes to the legendary rafisahab.
I once knew a lady who used to go rafi sahabs house to give tuition to the kids. Around the time he died we came to know about it as she stayed in the same colony. My earliest memories of rafi sahab alongwith the sea of people at the janaza (t.v. news clipping). she had only taarifs of his generosity and gentle nature and sharafat and farishta sifat(angle like qualities).
Mohammed rafi is beyond praises that we can shower on him posthomeosly. he does not need them. he never coveted such material things. and sang from his very soul without any realization of his own greatness.
may his soul rest in peace.
Post #123
Thank you Haldar Saab for sharing your knowledge of Rafi Saab’s family.
Bijoor Saab, you have rightly pointed out the address on his visiting card. I have seen that myself.
Bina
Irfan,
Lata is indeed showering praises on Rafi saab these days. Even Ashaji tweeted in her twitter account on Rafi saab.
http://twitter.com/ashabhosle
“Rafisaab aapki himalaya ki tarah bulund awaz aur aapka namra swabhav hume phir na sunne na dekhne milega. Aapki bahut yaad ati hai.”
But,the best tributes came from today’s music composers on Rafi’s immortality and relevance even today:
http://www.indianexpress.com/news/the-today-singer/652440/
How fortunate you are. Visiting Rafi Mansion and giving homage at his grave is indeed not lesser than doing Char Dham Yatra or Haj for all Rafians.
I have also the same wish May god full fill my wish one day when i get a chance to go Mumbai in future. Rafi Sahab sun rahe ho na ek din meri bhi tamanna puri karva dena. Truely yours
@Sudip(and those who have read it)The interview by the nightingale was soo different.Didn’t thought it would be so different compared to her other interviews in which has nothing much to say of Rafisaab except that he loved good food.Considering the fact that she has sung the maximum duets with Rafisaab she should have been one with maximum inputs.
May be someone gave her the truth serum before this particular interview.
Post 123: Dearest P Haldar Sahab,
Rafi Sahab earlier used to stay in a palatial 3 storeyed bunglow situated at 34, Sea Bird, 114 Byramjee Jeejeebhoy Road, which was very near to the Bhaba Hospital Lane. The visiting card of Rafi Sahab shows this address.
The LP — “an evening with mohd rafi” clearly shows the picture of Sea Bird. Rafi Sahab later sold this palatial bunglow to the popular character actor Sajjan and shifted to Rafi Villa.
Thank You Haldar Sahab
please can u give me the address of rafi mansion @ contact no of the person whom to meet
Bina is accurate.
Salilda grew impatient and showed flashes of anger, but Rafi bhaiya would not react. He politely asked Salilda to explain it to him and ultimately delivered it even better than what Salilda expected.
~ Lataji !
Thanks Sudip ji!
post 122:
I knew about Saeed Rafi’s death in a car accident but I didn’t want to point it out because it was a minor glitch in such a vivid and gripping portrayal of your visit to the Rafi mansion. But since you’ve made a correction, I’d like to make another one, that rafi saab’s sons were not sent to boarding schools in England at the age of 8. Shahid Rafi and I believe his other sons too went to school in Bombay and once in a while Rafi saab used to drop in at his sons’ school and entertain the students with one of his songs. After they graduated from school, Rafi saab packed the eldest three off to England.
You are right that the Rafi mansion that you see now is not the house where Rafi saab used to stay. A picture of part of his house, the Rafi Villa, which stood on the same plot of land, is available on the cover of one of his old LP’s, “An Evening with Mohd Rafi”. You’ll see Rafi saab dressed in a dark blue suit standing next to a wall, with his favourite Audi in the foreground. A picture of the room where his trophies used to be kept is available on the cover of the LP titled “Hits of Mohd Rafi”.
I’d like to share another piece of information with you. My friend, a Chartered Accountant, had stayed in the Rafi mansion on one of his business trips to Bombay. During the trip, he met an auditor who told him that he handled both Rafi saab’s and Pancham da’s accounts. Cosmic connection!
Best regards,
P. Haldar
Doston:
Regarding my post #88:
I would like to make a correction about Rafi Saab’s family details. I got the correct details from a sources in Mumbai, who got the details from Shahid himself.
1. Son : Saeed Rafi – died in a car accident in London in 1998.
2. Daughter : Parveen Ahmed – lives in London
3. Son : Khalid Rafi – died in London in 2005 of a heart-attack.
4. Daughter : Nasreen Ahmed – lives in Mumbai
5. Son : Hamid Rafi : Died in 1995 of heart-attack in London.
6. Daughter : Yasmin Ahmed – lives in Mumbai.
7. Son : Shahid Rafi – lives In Mumbai.
Regards,
Bina
I wish I was with you to visit & see the memorials of the One & Only MOHD RAFI
Lata on Rafi:
http://www.thehindu.com/arts/music/article528270.ece
“He was one singer whose vocal range could outclass any other singer, whether it was me, Asha, Mannada or Kishore bhaiya. Yet, he never believed in dominating the scene.”
“It is very wrong to say that Kishore Kumar overtook Rafi bhaiya in the early 1970s.Kishore was no doubt at his peak, but Rafi bhaiya was equally effective with Tere naam ka diwana, Gulabi aankhen, Yeh duniya yeh mehfil and Tum jo mil gaye ho. Even Kishore bhaiya never felt he was ahead of Rafi.”
Hi Dixit sab ,
My dream is also same to you .I am basically singer & copy the voice of late legend shri rafi sab . But i dont know how to contact rafi sab family members to visit home .
So i request you please tell me name of person & contact no so that i can take appointment in advance to visit this holy place .Its give me pleausre .
Thanks
Tarun Nagar
Dear Haldar-ji,
Old Monk XXX is very busy at the moment, which is why he has not been visiting this forum much of late. It would be nice to see him here more often again.
Looking forward to your article 🙂
md. rafi is ever great singer of all time. rafi saab made super stars because of his melodious songs. if anyone takes out rafi saab’s songs from the movies, then neither movies nor heroes would have been remembered till this day.
Dear Ali Rashid,
Really happy to see you on this forum after a long time. Do you know of the whereabouts of old monk XXX? Haven’t seen him on this forum in a long time; really miss him.
I’ll definitely write an article that will involve Manohari da, but the focus of the article will be on Rafi saab. I am in Manohari da’s city right now.
Regards,
P. Haldar
Haldar-ji,
Please write a short tribute to Manohari Singh.
He was closely associated with Rafi-saab for many years.
The golden sax is now silent forever.
Listening to “Aji humse bachkar” from Arzoo as I write this.
haldar ji, we r into it now, absolutely!
although we have our own collections and mode to access all these songs, yet when we listen them at other place…feelings tell it all!
Thanks for ur maths, I would deliver it to my friend. She would take it as reward as we do!
adabrafi!
post 109…PRIYA JI…
ANY PERSON WITH SOME KNOWLEDGE OF MUSIC WILL ALWAYS REMEMBER MOHD RAFI.. IN SHORT NO ONE CAN IGNORE RAFI SAAHEB….
WHICH OTHER SINGER WILL HAVE 9000 SHOWS ALL OVER THE WORLD – EVERY JULY??
dont worry too much for the few people who “ignore” mohd rafi saab. they are being jealous.
some may have their “vested interests” like this female singer who is “so” hungry for wealth and royalties of her late second husband nd her father in law – that she will run down every one associated “with her” during the last 50 years. shame on these… this is the tragedy of commercial music.
Undoubtedly Mohammed Rafi was most talented and most versatile singer in Hindi Film Industry. His voice was very sweet and has sang all types of songs from low pitch as well as very high pitch. In his personal life he was very simple,religious and he always encouraged new music directors/singers.
In his life he helped to a no. of people in film industry.
He was a REAL KOHINOOR in Film Industry. His songs will remain for a long time. I salute to his memory and his voice which is still very much present in thousands of songs he sang in his career. May his soul rest in peace.
Priya ji,
What your friend said is absolutely true. 1 song of Rafi is equal to 5 songs. That’s why I don’t dispute the 26,000 number. Rafi saab may have had sung 5,200 songs, but multiply it by 5 and you’ll get 26,000. Simple math! I arrived in Kolkata today and the first song I heard is the one from hawas.
Regards to all Rafians,
P. Haldar
Post no. 88,
Bina didi,
heartfelt thanks for sharing your experiences. sorry, for the
late reply. it was another guided tour to the sacred mansion
of rafi sab.
adab rafi
Suresh
Dear Narayanji, adaab Rafi! This is how I only greet to my affectionate ones ;-))
Adaab Rafi, rafians all over.
My conscience of regard for u all reach the level of reverence when I witness Love of everyone here towards our Rafi Sahab!
“for the 31st July there are more than 9000 official Rafi tributes paid by his lover’s in various auditoriums” Wow! superb!
Yes, radios ignored him and still does. So its the effect of campaign,I didn`t know, lets make it louder!
But I`ve also observed the change in trend now. these days I frequently got chance to listen fm while driving. Even in Delhi they play now so many Rafi songs even the “Tum bin” in Rafi ji`s voice!
One of my friend,a Rafi ji Bhakta, in Nippon Japan,was here, who financed remastering of many Rafi sahab`s song from old trodden records and cassettes to modern format and donated them all to music companies for free. She told, “Yeah, Fms is fairly good here.Its true even if u r partial with ur choice,there is no way to escape from Rafi if one talks of Golden era music. They play it well, one song of Rafi saab is equivalent to 5 songs of other singer. We r happy with whatever we have”
31 july isthe death ceremony of our beloved singer janab rafi saab may allah givepeace to there soul yea dua hum karte hai
Dear Priyaji,
Adaab Rafi ! this is how we all greet in our fan’s club in Bangalore… Every fan will be pleasantly surprised to note that for the 31st July there are more than 9000 official Rafi tributes paid by his lover’s in various auditoriums. This was mentioned in a leading Gujarati news paper of Mumbai.. And mind you this is just official ones where the media would have got references….
Even Delhi the illustrous daughter of Anil Biswas da has conducted lot of Rafi shows with singer Srikant ….
Infact for the 30th anniversary 1 leading group from Belgaum has inspired many 30 cities in Karnataka and Maharashtra to conduct 30 shows at the same time. Some of the cities are Belgaum, Hubli,Dharwar,Gulbarga,kolhapur,Sangli,Raichur,Satara,Latur,Osmanabad etc etc
Here also initially we thought that radio is ignoring our legend but with a campaign by emails and calls to them now our Farishta is heard more….
Please get in touch with Rafi foundation office bearers for any events in Delhi
with regards,
Narayan
Dear Binaji, Priyaji, Sanjeevji & all rafians,
Its heartening to see such fervour in all your posts. We are truely blessed to be associated with such a gr8 personality -Rafi sahab & his forum where we share our personal feelings, anecdotes, info about rafi sahab, his music, family, etc. Lets keep the bonhomie, love & healthy respect for each other intact & ever growing. Nice to see new names in the forum & ever growing!! Lets nudge other friends to vote for rafi sahab-The daily scores for rafi sahab has to cross the 500 mark. Pl do needful-strive & go all out if we want his name to be in the top.
Regards & Best wishes to all rafians.
I an die hard core fan of RAFI SAAB, I am very very much interested to visit his mansion, cud you guide me please
Mohammed Rafi saab was the most verstile singer in Hindi Film industry. In spite achieving no. 1 position in playback singing he was very simple,polite and down to earth. He was very kind hearted and helped no of needy persons in his lift. He was Kohinoor of hindi film music . His songs touched to the hearts of millions of people . He was Gem of person and i liked his voice and songs very much. Though he passed away at the age of 57 and 30 years back , his voice will remain forever. It will give immense pleasure to listeners for years to come. I can’t forget his melodious voice during my life.
can somebody tell me how can I go to Rafi Mansion. Do I need to get an appointment and set up time? If yes, can somebody let me know how to get it. I’m living in this world only for Rafi saab, nothing else.
Thanks for sharing this information about this great singer.
I am a big fan of rafi sahib.
Please let us know more about his family: viz: about his wife and childrens etc.
Thanks
Amanjit
Rafi saab is timeless magic. When I listen to any of his songs, I am transported into a different world and when the song is over, a sense of refreshment prevails. Verily, Rafi saab is a wonder of the Supreme Lord’s creations.