A Rahman jugalbandi with Rafi
For 27-year-old Mohammed Rafi and his wife Mehnaz, it was a once-in-a-lifetime
moment as Oscar
winner A R Rahman visited them at their home in Devinagar on Tuesday afternoon
to give away an
award
PRIYANKA NAHATA AND VINESH VASANTH BETRABET
It was an all-too-brief meeting at their home just after noon on Tuesday,
but for Mohammed
and Mehnaz Rafi its afterglow is something they will cherish for life as a
sepia moment.
Oscar-winning music director A R Rahman stopped by at RMV Cluster, Devinagar,
to say hello and
hand over an award to the couple, after they had won a lucky-draw contest
sponsored by a cell
phone company for which Rahman has done the ad jingles.
Sorry I dont have any time for bakra calls, that was exactly what
Mohammed Rafi, an
engineer, said when he first got a call that told him of Rahmans visit to his
house. Rafi, all
of 27-years, says, Usually it is in a five-star hotel or an airport that we
bump into
celebrities, but today it was my own house where I hosted one of Indias
greatest musicians, A
R Rahman.
It was on March 15 that the Rafis were intimated about the award they had
won and Rahmans
arrival. Rafi had to postpone an important official visit to Delhi. And with
just two days left
for his arrival, there were many doubts in the couples mind. We were very
excited but at the
same time a bit apprehensive about our small house. We were wondering what to
do to make this
moment memorable for him, says Rafi. A lot of preparation went in terms of
security and the
whole apartment was whitewashed, he adds.
A GIFT FOR MAESTRO
Rahman, dressed in his usual attire of a Polo T-shirt, jeans and a blazer
came surrounded
by guards and the marketing executives of the company which had sponsored his
visit to Rafis
house. He arrived at 12.05 pm and straight away went and shook hands with Rafi
and said, This
is Rahman. I am sure you must be Rafi. The two had a private chat where they
spoke about each
others families and jobs. Rahman then went on to narrate his experience when
he visited Ajmer
recently. His eyes sparkling, Rafi goes on to say, We offered him a special
Strawberry-Vanilla
cake. It was homemade and he appreciated its taste and complimented my wife. I
didnt want to
indulge in any official talk about how he felt winning the Oscars and which
are his
forthcoming films. We get enough to read about it everyday so we chose to about
work and
family.
EXCLUSIVE PRESENT
Rafi, although not a very big fan of Rahman, knew that he was a very
religious person and
Rahman gleefully accepted the two presents which the Rafis gave him. One was a
table-top
calendar of religious symbols and the other was a prayer book in which a few
verses extracted
from the holy Quran had been inscribed. After having opened the first one in
everyones
presence, Rahman refused to open the other one saying that it was an exclusive
present and he
would like to keep it just for himself. Whatever you do, may God bless you
with success in all
your endeavours, were the words on the prayer book.
MEMORIES FOR POSTERITY
A stage had been set up in our apartment and we were supposed to walk hand
in hand with
Rahman to the podium but that never happened, says a slightly disappointed
Rafi. Although not
many people knew about the visit, the news soon spread fast and before no time
a crowd had
gathered. As Rehman arrived in a Benz, children and elders alike mobbed him for
autographs and
posed with him for a few photographs too. Everyone around was shouting Jai Ho.
The Rafis
couldnt manage to ask all the thousand unformed questions reeling in their
heads but they did
ask Rehman about his nickname Isai Puyal. Pat came the answer: It means A
musical storm.
We did not even get a chance to hold his hand and walk down the apartment
or to sit on the
couch for an interview as planned earlier. Everything turned disorderly, says
Mehnaz Rafi. It
was a short-lived but intense moment of joy for the couple as Rahman soon left
for an ad shoot.
