To Rafi Sahab, with Love
Written by Sajdah@HF
Dear Rafi Saab, this coming Saturday you will turn 81! On this day I will be asking myself; what can I ever give YOU ? YOU –WHO HAVE IT ALL ? And yet believed in GIVING more than you received! Aren’t your melodies more than proof of this? Here’s what you mean to ME, Rafi Saab! I admire you for never showing ‘attitude’. Instead the warmth and gentleness of your personality is amply reflected even in your voice. In fact, it was this very gentleness and warmth in your voice that first captivated me. Sometimes it feels like I have known you from Eternity! Through your music, i know you; and I cannot conceive the two as separable. You have watched and comforted me in my darkest hours of grief. There were happy times too, and you were always part of it. There have been plenty of times, when I’ve felt that you were looking out for me. How else could I explain your consoling me with ‘Tukde Hain Mere Dil Ke’, when I actually was miserable? I did try dismissing it as mere coincidence, but then it happens yet again. Even my family has noticed it now! Sometimes I think that next to God, YOU ARE MY GUARDIAN ANGEL-RAFI SAAB !
So on your 81’st b’day I say this to you – I count as my greatest BLESSING to have you in my life. Your voice SPEAKS TO ME, IT COMFORTS ME, IT INSPIRES ME!! In today’s world, when life can be so callous and uncertain, the only constant thing I am sure of is my devotion to you. Only when my breath leaves my body will this end. But this is not the time to indulge in morbid thoughts. To me, your b’day is –
A CELEBRATION OF YOU, YOUR LIFE AND YOUR MUSIC ! You know that I adore you. I have adored your voice, from the very first time I heard you. I once read somewhere that ‘precious stones’ have a unique personality. It is not we who choose the gems, but the stones which choose us. I believe it is true ! I was ‘NEVER’ into Hindi film music.Yet YOU chose to charm your way into my heart and here you have remained since. How can I ever forget that fall afternoon in Shimla? I had just turned nine. My family was watching a movie, at home. I wasn’t interested at all. Then suddenly the lullaby scene came on when Shammi Kapoor was ‘singing’ to his adopted kids. {The movie was Brahmachari} Something came over me. Time itself stopped. It felt as if someone had drawn a spell upon me. And all this by a VOICE – your voice Rafi Saab! That spell, you cast on me that fall afternoon, will NEVER be broken.
Rafi Saab, all my life I have looked up to you, and you never once let me down. Knowing you, has helped me set up my own standards of integrity. I can never thank you enough for this.
To this day, I wonder, what is it about your voice Rafi Saab, that captivates every listener, including me?
Is it your personality or is it just your voice ?
What do I say about your voice that hasn’t been said already?
That it is really really SPECIAL ?
That it is MELLOW and FULL-THROATED ?
That it has CHARM as well as PASSION ?
That it has REFINEMENT, CLARITY,and EXPRESSION ?
That listening to you is a SUBLIME experience ?
To me, your voice is truly DIVINE !!!!!
Rafi Saab – YOUR VOICE AND MUSIC REPRESENTS PEACE, HARMONY, HOPE AND ALL THAT’S GOOD IN THIS WORLD !!!
And what I really love about your voice, is that quiet authority that comes through in manner, style, accent and expression. Even today, my heart races and my ears strain to catch your voice, whenever I chance to hear a song of yours from afar!
I am convinced that, if GOD did have a voice, it WOULD be something like yours -Rafi Saab! There, now you know my heart felt thoughts about you. Now that I have said it, I somehow feel it wasn’t necessary. You already KNOW how I feel about you. And now the world knows too !
Here’s a paraphrase of a famous English poem:
SINGERS MAY COME AND SINGERS MAY GO
BUT -YOU RAFI SAAB WILL LIVE ON FOREVER.
Sajdah
What a heart warming tribute ! I must congratulate you Sajdah.
I have read a lot of articles on our Rafi Sahab in my time, but nothing like your’s.
You have a special talent in bringing out just what was so special about this immortal singer.
You brought tears into my eyes with your tribute. This is no mean achievement.
There is nothing left for me to say, because you have said it all.
Rafi Sahab has been part of my life ever since i remember. I had the privilege to meet him at a concert in London. He was gentle and softspoken, like he always was. It is impossible to forget him, so close he is to our hearts.
Once again, congratulations Sajdah for that straight heart from the heart tribute to this great soul.
May Allah shower you with more talent.
Danish Sayid
Hello
This article has been very nicely written by you Sajdah.
I myself am a big fan of the great man himself and I have listened to his songs when I was a child even though I did not know it was his voice later on in life.
But in 2001 I saw Rafi Saabs website and read his life story and I absolutely got hooked and still am.
Everyday believe it or not I think of Rafi Saab as that is the effect it has had on me.
He was the greatest singer ever to have graced the music world.
Many Thanks
Khalid Rashid