I have come here to read and know the facts about HFM, it seems I am going deeper
into a debate. Is it ? If you want, then I will honestly join and talk on this matter.

I didn’t say Rafi doesn’t need any award, they gave him national award, filmfare award
etc what I said even if you give an award after his name like RD award, Kishore Kumar
award there will be no change. So why fight for that and say they shouldn’t give RD
award ?

Again some people say Rafi was a great man, why so ? I said and will say again:
Rafi was a very good person and also a great singer. I don’t know who are talking
about, but there is a difference between great man and great singer. Buddha was a
great man, Mother Teresa was a great man, Swami Vivekananda was a great man.
Pele was a great player, he was not a great man. Honesty/simplicity doesn’t make
you great man, it makes you a very good person. Your sacrifice, dedication and
devotion for the society make you great man. I see these in Rafi for his music, so I
call him a great singer. You are right, he always sang without bothering the returns
sometimes for free, does it make a man great ? Mr. Bachchan also played many small
roles in movies and he didn’t take money for that. Do you say Amitabh Bachchan is a
great man ? No. I would say he is a great actor.

Talking about Classical and playback singing, I don’t compare them. When I want to
listen to shastriya sangeet, I listen to Ustad Rashid Khan, Padit Jasraj. When I want
to listen to hindi music, I listen to Mohd. Rafi, Mukesh. There is a difference between
these two. If Ud. Aamir Khan, Pt. Bhimsen Joshi are not gods then who are gods ?
I maintain a difference between playback singers and classical maestros.

Hope, you won’t take it as a humiliation. As I said, I don’t want to hurt your feeling
any more.

Yes you are correct. There were many MDs other than RD, there were many singers
other than Kishore Kumar. Then why awards only after their names. But you see this
happens everywhere. Not only in music, in many other areas. So, it’s not Mohd. Rafi or
Shankar Jaikishan or SDB you like, it’s everywhere. Though they might have named the
awards after other MDs and singers, what they have done is not good. At the same
time, you can say they haven’t done bad either. It was because of versatility of RD and
fame of Kishore. I agree with you here but you too must agree with me.

In any case, why did you drag the names of RD and Kishore ? do you have some
problem with them ? you may prefer somebody else, but the world has nothing to
do with your preference and what I believe is: singers like Rafi didn’t need any
award to name after him, he was awesome and he will be. I feel no change at all.

As you asked “what is great than human?”, we have another word for this and that
is great man, great singer, great actor etc. we call someone great when he/she has
some magic, something that others don’t have. That’s called great.
If people like Buddha is great man then who else can be god ? if singers like Ghulam
Ali is great then who else can be god ? I will put everyone including Rafi, Manna Dey,
Mukesh, kishore in great singers list. But they are not god or god of music.
Please don’t take it offense, I don’t want to comment on them any more.

Regarding your comparison with Tansen, he was a magic himself. Another singer of
that era was Baiju Bawra. They are the highest and greatest of all times though
I haven’t seen them, it’s just the books that described about their lives. If you don’t
think he was better than Rafi, then what can I do ? Classical singing is something
and playback singing is something. I don’t want to compare and talk about this.
You go with your choice, you are not going to loose anything. Your choice won’t
change the truth but it will keep you away from the truth.

Still, I believe I am a big fan of all those singers of our HFM.

Aliqbal,
Don’t think I am saying bad about Rafi/Kishore or anybody, this site is mohdrafi.com
So don’t feel bad for that. I respect them. But if the playback singers were born in that
era(Akbar era) they wouldn’t have been known to you. They lived in an era where
Science and Technology has given so much to mankind. I think it helps you to become
more Famous and popular. I think that’s the kind of Global popularity you were talking
about. If yes, then how many of us know Aamir Khusroo ? His stories are found only in
the books. Don’t you think if today’s sonu nigam or Udit Narayan kind of singers were
born at that time, they would have been vanished in the history.

I admire Ghulam Ali, I admire Talat, Mohd. Rafi, I admire Kishore Kumar, Mukesh.
But there are some logical boundaries, I respect them that doesn’t mean I have to crose
the boundary and call them God or God of Music. It won’t humiliate them if I don’t call
them God but if I call them God, I will call it a blind love. So, to me great is great and
God is god.

Good, very good. Then, I will say every great singer is god, every great man is god.
Love and respect the other great singers and great men, you will see God in them.
You also try to sing with dedication, you will find a God in you. God is everywhere.

Mr. Aliqbal,

That’s relative. Tansen lived from 1506–1589, the kind of popularity you are talking
about is different and those times were different. Today’s maestros never saw him, but
he is an ideal example that every classical singer admire no matter they have seen him
or not like every student worships the Goddess Saraswati in hindu religion no matter
they have seen her or not. Shahrukh Khan is more popular then Dilip Kumar, no doubt
Srk was a follower of Dilip but Dilip Kumar is far better than Srk. Similarly Saddam
Hussain could be more popular than Nelson Mandela, but they are like two extremities.
I might have taken wrong example, but I wanted to say polularity does guarantee fame
and a person being great in some field. I will call Rafi great singer, legend of legends,
or greatest bollywood singer but God is different. We can wordhip the great singers
like great. Tansen is the only person who can be worshiped like God if I ever do that.
Rest all are human being, worship them as we do great men but they are not God.

Sorry, I haven’t come to argue. Can we have friendly environment here ?
Can we have a thread where we can have little itro, our music tastes,
fav pass time etc ?