Mohammed Rafi(Rafi Sahab to most of his fans and well-wishers) was and will be the greatest singer the Indian subcontinent has produced. Rafi Sahab, along with Lata Mangeshkar, shares the Guiness honors for having sung the most number of songs(approx 26,000). During his film career, spanning 40 years(from 1940 to 1980) Rafi Sahab sang a wide variety of songs and versatality has been his forte. He could sing for any mood and for any actor with great ease. His songs ranged from classical numbers(Madhuban mein Radhika nache re) to songs that followed no rules of music(Uffu Khuda Unko hampe pyar aaya), from sad lamentations(Na kissi ke ankh ka noor hu) to highly romantic numbers(Aapke Haseen Rukh pe aaj naya noor hai), from qawallis(Hum Kissise Kum Nahin) to ghazals(Teri ankhon ke siva duniya mein rakha kya hai) and bhajans(Duniya na bhaye mohe ab to bulale), from slow melancholic tunes(Hum Bekhudi mein tumko pukare chale gaye) to fast masti-bhare geet(April Fool banaya). Rafi Sahab’s patriotic songs like ‘Watan pe jo Fida hoga’, ‘Kar chale hum fida’ ‘Jahan dal dal par’ and ‘Apni Azadi ko hum’ are truly soul-stirring. RafiSaab could very beautifully express the hero’s love for his ‘mehbooba’ and the same voice could also curse the ‘bewafa lover’. The golden voice of the tragedy heroes, Dilip Kumar and Bharat Bhushan was also the voice of comedian Johny Walker in songs like ‘Sar jo tera chakraye’ and ‘Yeh hai Bombay meri jaan’. Rafi’s voice personified the rebellious image of Yahoo star, Shammi Kapoor and also gave expression to smaller and younger heroes like Biswajit and Joy Mukherjee. It was Rafi Sahab’s voice that made Rajendra Kumar a ‘Jubilee Star’ and Jeetendra a ‘Jumping Jack’. Another interesting fact is that Rafi Sahab has also sung for singer-actor Kishore Kumar in a few movies like ‘Raagini’, ‘Baaghi Shehzaada’, and ‘Shararat’. In 1965, Rafi Sahab, was honored by the Indian Govt. with the PadmaSri award. On July 31, 1980 the Indian Film industry lost its golden voice. Even though Rafi Sahab is not with us anymore, his voice and melody will enthrall music lovers for years to come. Rafi Sahab’s voice has been stilled and yet…..