Radio Koya – The Rafian
By Ahamed Kutty
Mohd Rafi with Geeta Dutt
The man who became a Radio Repairer in his early days only to hear the HEAVENLY VOICE OF RAFI SAAB from Radio Cylon and Vividh Bharati is Radio Koya. I met him last week at his residence in Calicut, Kerala. The sit out where “Rafi Mehfil” is being conducted on every Sunday evenings with two big portraits of Rafi Saab welcoming us while entering the home. Calicut is the ‘City of Music Lovers’ and Rafi Saab is their favorite than any other singer – local or other languages.
Radio Koya is according to me is the most ardent fan of Rafi Saab I met so far. According to him he is
forgetting everything – even his family matters for the sake of Rafi Saab. So many people are visiting his home to hear the unparalleled voice of Rafi Saab as he is having plenty of old records and CDs. Various magazines also kept there in which articles about Rafi Saab published.He played old melodies of Rafi Saab which I could not hear so far. I told him that I am a fan of Rafi Saab since 35 years and familiar with around 25% of his songs and if I could hear all I do not know what will be my position.He kept in one file the articles published about him in the regional language and English dailies published in Kerala.
After reading about Koya one lady visited and while leaving she has presented one sovereign Gold to his wife two diaries one for him with thousand rupees and one for his son. In another occasion one old fellow rang the calling bell and after seeing asked him what he need assuming that he is a beggar. That stranger told him he has come from Bangalore and staying in a hotel only to hear the rare collection of Rafi Saab. While narrating this incident, Koya was weeping like a child. When Koya visited the grave of Rafi Saab in Mumbai, he has seen an old man sitting near the grave. Koya offered him hundred rupees but he refused to accept it. With tears in the eyes the old man told him he was a chorus singer who could get a chance to sing with Rafi Saab for the song “Sukh ke sab saathi” and he invited Koya to have dinner with him.
Koya has shown me some of the rare photos he was with MD Ravi Saab and Shahid Rafi Saab and other
eminent personalities of Kerala.
My introduction with Koya was after seeing a programme about him in the Malayalam Door Darshan Channel from where I could have his contact number. For the last three years, I have contacted him for various reasons and the last call for the voting for Rafi Saab in the CNN-IBN channel. Koya is lucky to attend the live programme of Rafi Saab in Calicut in the year 1973.
Somebody had played the audio recording of the programme near a street in Calicut next day and the
result was traffic jam. According to Koya if we hear a Rafi Saab song repeatedly, we can see the magic Rafi Saab playing with each word that no other singer male or female possess.
Mohd Rafi with Geeta Dutt
It was a great experience the time spent with him and thereafter I have the feeling that I am a very
small RAFIAN.
I was bourn in Kerala, But came to live in UK since 1969. I used to listen to this Great Gentle man called Mohd Rafi Sahib in kerala or Radios. But never understood the meaning because the local language is Malayalam. But ever since 1970 I started to hear his songs on Radio Cassettes. I have been his great fan ever since. He has given me many hours of pleasure by just listening to his songs.
Rest in Peace. love you and your songs always
You can open the Archives in the website of Rafi saheb in NOVEMBER 2011 and see the articles about me.
Dear Sir
I am from Calicut from Kerala and a close friend of Radio Koya and Ahmed Bhai from Calicur ,Mr.Binu Nair from Mumbai as well as Rafi Murthy from Hyderabad, who are all ardent fans of Rafi saheb. I have sketched Mod.Rafi Saheb using lyrics of 125 hit songs rendered by him and handed over to Rafi saheb’s son. He was spell bound for 15 minutes after seeing this and he contacted me over phone also. Another portrait of Mod.Rafi saheb sketched by me is released in Mumbai by Mr. Kaushik Kothari of Golden greats, Mumbai. They have dclared this as the 8th wonder of the world. You can see these by typing “artvijayan” in youtube. Please watch and send comments.
I had eagerly watched that programme on Rafi Saheb. But I could not write down Koyakka’s Mob. number as the it scrolled very fast. On seeing the programme I had decided to visit him when I would be in Calicut (where my sister is married to) as when I could – to eagerly see his each and every collections on Rafi Saheb, especially the various gramophones he inherits that I am very fond of from my childhood. I also have a gramophone which was presented by my boss (Philips make) with with around more than 100 records in Hindi and English but I lack Malayalam ones.
I had eagerly watched that programme on Rafi Saheb. But I could not write down Koyakka’s Mob. number as the it scrolled very fast. On seeing the programme I had decided to visit him when I would be in Calicut (where my sister is married to) as when I could – to eagerly see all his collections, especially the various gramophones he inherits and that I am very fond of from my childhood. I also have a gramophone which was presented by my boss (Philips make) with with around more than 100 records in Hindi and English but I lack Malayalam ones.
Koyakka is my close friend.He knows malayalam only.You can contact him over phone No.09249793507.
Ramdas,
Calicut
09947910175.
I LIKE TO CONTACT MR. KOYA IN PERSON. KINDLY LET ME KNOW HIS PESONAL CONTACT DETAILS IN MY MAIL ID.
BALAKRISHNAN
KANNUR
KERALA
It`s very touching about Koya..and his cherished moments with Rafi saab and his collection that keep people moving in, hope you can share those all rare collection with me..or on this site for which iam grateful to you…
How is Mr. Koya. Is he from Calicut. Is he still there. I want complete detail. Can any one help me.
Dear Ram Krishna Saab,
Mr.Koya also contacted me yesterday and he explained
his inability to talk with you in Hindi since he is familiar
with Malayalam only.He told me to inform you about this.
I told him that whatever the words he used is enough
since we are all members of one family – the Rafi Saab
family.
This is the wonder that without knowing the meaning of
the songs,so many Keralites become the fans of Rafi
Saab’s Golden Voice as well the worshipful personality.
Thank you Rafians Jai Ketwaru ji,Santhosh ji,Viswanath ji,
Bhuvanesh ji,Esa Harshad ji,Kamran ji,Ravinder ji and
Tushar ji for your valuable comments.
ahmed bhai just now i tried to speak with mr koya but unfortunately he knows only malayalam which i cant speak. but anyway its nice to know him. about our great rafi sahab i can say thsi much that he is a divine incarnation. on 31st july 2007 i was at his mortal remains. tears were rolling down my eyes when i saw so many people were coming to visit him where he had the eternal sleep. on 30th july 2007 i had been to rafi mansion with sirish kulkarni & binu nair. while i was touching the table of rafi sahab there was some deep vibration within my heart . his personal belongnings like that old model godrej table, godrej revolving chair, that old model bsnl dial type black colour phone & that small sharp make transistor radio which are kept as monuments. so long i was in that room of rafi sahab i was simply vibrating with some divine feelings which i cant express. another thing which i would like to share — when ever we see any picture of rafi sahab we can see a simple child like smile, the smile so gentle & warm. thats the measure of ‘ divinity ‘
Great article on Radio Koya. And the smiling faces of Rafi saab and Geeta Dutt in the picture make me long for the old times. What a privilege it must have been for Geeta Dutt to have sung with the immortal genius, the one and only Rafi saab. Of course Rafi saab is the greatest playback singer of all times, male and female. And what a great singer Geeta Dutt was, in her own right. O.P. Nayyar explicitly mentioned in one of his interviews that he was compelled to deny Geeta Dutt his songs due to pressure from Asha Bhosle. And OPN regretted that he failed to fully exploit Geeta Dutt’s enormous potential due to this shameful behavior from Asha.
Dear Rafians Amina ji,Vinay ji,SalRafi ji,Rajiv ji,Sayad ji,Parvez ji and Binu ji,
Thank you all for the nice comments.The contact number for Mr.Koya is
09249793507
Yes it is true,the more u listen to his songs, there is always something new in his voice, in the tone etc,.It is a new experience..in a way rediscovering him
Dear Ahamed kutty
Kindly send Mr. Koyas contact No. or address
Thanks
Vinayababu
Thanks for the article. Ahmed Kutty can you please share his contact details so that I can visit him some time. Thank you. salupn@gmail.com
Dear Ahmed Kutty,
I think such personalities like Radio Koya, can also be found in foreign countries where indians are present.
Very rightly said that if we hear Rafi saab’s song, we can find the subtle expressions and innovations made by rafi during singing. This is the hall mark of a legend.
In a way, when we listen to rafi saab we crave to hear his songs more and more, unlike the economic theory of diminishing marginal utility.
Dear Mr. Koya….Greetings,
Indeed the magic of Rafi Sahab is eternally attract any individuals to his divine voice even Almighty blessed him to sing more and more to live peace and love for the generations to come.
Also I am looking for to download all the aromatic songs from Rafi Sahab in this website…but I cannot find here…Can anybody suggest please…Chand..the Rafians for ever….
Asalamu Alaikum Ahamed Kutty Sahab, Thanx For Sharing This Article Meeting With Radio Koya- The Rafi Fan ,He Is The True Fan Of Our Beloved Rafi Sahab,
Great Radio Koya… Have met him couple of times…. Great Man.
All the best from
The Rafi Foundation…..