Mohammed Rafi died 25 years ago but his voice continues to charm listeners of another generation.
ENDURING APPEAL: Mohammed Rafi
Tum mujhe yun bhoola na paoge/jab kabhi bhi sunoge geet mere/sung sung tum bhi gun gunaoge.
(You will not be able to forget me/whenever you hear my song/you will sing along with me)
NOT one of Mohammed Rafi's best songs, but it perhaps best expresses his enduring appeal. An appeal that continues 25 years after the man died on July 31, 1980.
Growing up in the 1970s with only a radio for entertainment, it was hard not to miss Rafi's voice. As you begin to search the Rafi repertoire, it is hard not to be amazed by the singer's range.
It's been quite some time since the beginning of the year 2008, but the memories of 2007 are still afresh. Let me share with you the key happenings of the Year 2007 related to Rafi sahab:
Sixty successful men and women of India(Friday, August 10, 2007 of HINDUSTAN TIMES)
Rafi Saab is choosen among the Sixty successful men and women without whom the country would not be where it is today.the press cliping was: Mohammad Rafi: Indeed the best singer of all times, he inspired many budding artists and lives on today through his songs like Chaudhvin Ka Chand Ho and Baharon Phool Barsao.
A Clipping from The Telegraph: The city civic authorities have named a roadside garden near Watgunge police station after singer Mohammad Rafi. A fibreglass bust of Rafi has been erected there. Mayor Bikash Ranjan Bhattacharyya unveiled the statue on Monday evening. Mayoral council member Faiyaz Ahmed Khan said Rs 15 lakh has been spent to beautify the garden. Kolkata once again emerged victorious in honoring Rafi sahab. Recently a joint venture between Kolkata Municipal Corporation and Munshi Premchand Birth Centenary Committee resulted in a park called Rafi Park. It is in Gardenreach area of Kolkata. Also there is a musical fountain in that park whose water will flow according to Rafi sahab's voice, 24x7 Rafi sahab's songs would be played there.
It goes back to those days when i was only a little kid aged 7-8 years, when I happened to listen to the song "yeh duniya yeh mahfil" for the first time and was really fascinated by that beautiful number. That was my introduction to the mesmerizing voice of Rafi Sahab.
I was really fortunate that my parents were great fan of Rafi sahab too, my entire family would listen to him on the All India Radio since we didn't have no casette player.
5TH July, 2008 will be remembered by music lovers in Hyderabad as a day of revival of the vintage music of the hfm (hindi film music). For nearly six months now, we have been trying to organize a grand musical show and also invite some well known playback singer of the yesteryears to Hyderabad. The closest we came to was the name of Mubarak Begum Sahiba and our good friend Samarjit Acharjee was in continuous contact with her. Either the glorious singer with the golden voice was not available when we had wanted to organize a show or we were preoccupied with our normal lives and thus we could not go ahead with the idea that remained in our minds. However, we did not lose heart and kept our trials going.
Almost a month back Samarjit Acharjee informed me that he would shortly be leaving India for better prospects in the U.S. and he has thus invited Mubarak Begum Sahiba to Hyderabad for a rendezvous with our musical group of ABADRAFI. He asked me to organize a musical show, however small and that the legendary singer would attend the same. That set the ball rolling. Ours is still a small group and in its infancy. How were we going to arrange a musical show where the Chief Guest would be Mubarak Begum Sahiba herself. We had to get our act together, and fast. First, we got all the details of the gifted singer – her profile so to say. Websites helped. Other music lovers too helped in gathering all the data. We had wanted all her songs and our messages went in all directions seeking the rare gems of Begum Sahiba’s songs. Good friends like Hussein Sheikh helped a lot in this regard. Samarjit too could gather a few from other sources. Many in our group too had not heard of some of the very best songs of Begum Sahiba. Three songs that were know to all of us were (1) Kabhi Tanhaiyon Mein Yun Hamari Yaad Ayegi, (2) Hum Haale Dil Sunayenge, Suniye Ke Na Suniye and (3)the evergreen duet with Rafi Sahab – Mujhko Apne Gale Lagalo (Humrahi). The other songs were not too common for our group. The idea was that we know all the notable songs much before Begum Sahiba comes to Hyderabad. 5th July 2008 (Saturday) was fixed after consulting many of our friends. It was convenient for some while others had to make room for attending the musical program. The basics done, we got down to the real ground work. A suitable venue had to be arranged. Orchestra had to be negotiated, photographs and videography to be arranged. Banners had to be made and so also word had to be spread around in the musical circles of Hyderabad about the upcoming event. We were running against the time and all the members of ABADRAFI got going.
The Legend 
