Aasman se aaya Farishta...

PROLOGUE

Mohammad Rafi! The very name brings a smile on your face. And we don't usually wait for an occasion to talk about the great Rafi saab! But when the occasion happens to be his 85th birth anniversary (on December 24), can a crazy fan like me let go of the opportunity to pen down a few thoughts? And this three-part article - complete with a Prologue, the List, and the Epilogue - is my attempt to pay a sincere tribute to the "Farishta... pyaar ka".

I'm trying hard to collect my thoughts together, and focus my complete attention on what I'm going to write - without letting his husky voice engulf me, and make me lose track of everything else. But when Rafi saab is singing Bahut shukriya badi meherbani, Meri zindagi mein huzoor aap aaye... in the background, is it really possible to control my emotions and stop my mind from wandering, I wonder! So please forgive me if I go off tangent, once a while, and just babble.

I can almost feel his bliss when he says Main kya kahoon khushi se ajab mera haal hai... Now, when he sings Ba-hosh-O-hawaas mein deewana yeh aaj vasiyat karta hoon, yeh dil yeh jaan mile tumko mein tumse mohabbat karta hoon... you so totally want to believe those words. Without a doubt. Without a second thought. That's the magic of the legendary singer's voice.

Wait until he unleashes the full power of his voice on you, on a pleasantly quiet evening when you're feeling particularly romantic, and there's no escape from the ecstasy his soothing voice brings into your world.

All you have to do is close your eyes, relax, give in, let the voice tear you to pieces pushing you into a trance, and enjoy every bit of the sensation that sweeps in. Isn't everything else just pointless and absurd when an immortal voice helps you connect with yourself and transport you to another euphoric world? How can someone have such a divine-and-beautiful voice which sounds so eternally indestructible, I often wondered!

During one such inescapable escapades into my dreamy world, I thought about listing out the "10 best romantic songs of Rafi that I like." Trust me, it wasn't an easy pick - what the heck, just ten songs from among the thousands of gems that he sang? Impossible! After careful deliberation, I narrowed down my choice limiting it to just his romantic solos to make it easier for me. Fat chance, I realized sooner enough as I still struggled my way through the 2000-odd solo numbers Rafi saab has ever rendered.

Nevertheless, after a few weeks' dilemma, I finally mustered enough courage to make my choice. And I kept at it for the next few agonizing weeks by refining my list every now and then. Barring the few numbers I picked up first, the list kept changing ever-so-frequently - more based on my mood, I realized later with a tinge of bitterness - and left me frustrated.

To be continued...

Watch out this space tomorrow for a list of my favourite songs.