From: Preeti Ranjan Panda ============================================================================ A word from Mohammed Rafi... ------------------------- Namashkar RMIM ke behnon aur bhaiyon! I bring with me the best wishes of all music fans in Swarg-lok. Yes, swarg as in heaven - also created by Brahma, maintained by Vishnu - where Indra rules supreme - where time never begins, never ends - where Tansen acts his heart out in Indra's court as Mukesh sings 'Jhoomti chali hava' for him as playback singer - where Menaka sways gracefully to the melodious notes of 'thandi hawaen lehrake aayen' - and where the musically inclined swarg-vaasis closely follow the postings on Rec.music.indian.misc. Until now, we were happy reading what you people post and discussing your opinions among ourselves, but now we thought we would get a little bolder and actually post our thoughts. Moreover, there's no way you guys can flame us, since we are swargiya! People, over the generations, have called me a great singer because of my ability to scream at high pitch. You are crazy! The very high pitch is as difficult to reach while singing as the very low pitch is. While singing high notes has become quite the fashion in the latter half of this century (because of which zillions of people have imitated me), rare and gifted indeed is the singer who can render melodious tunes with ease at low pitches - an art which Mukesh Sahab had nurtured to perfection (because of which Mukesh remains, to date, absolutely inimitable - well, there have been a few attempts, but I need not overemphasize the disastrous consequences of mortals attempting to imitate the divine.) I have often wondered what caused the kind of singing that used to be popular in the yesteryears, of which Mukesh, Saigal, Punkaj Mullick, Surendra and C.H.Atma were the proponents, to go out of fashion. And regarding that 'duniya ke rakhwale' number, make no mistake, jentelmans, that was Naushad Uncle's voice, not mine! That poor guy had run out of ideas when I presented him with a couple of Pink Floyd CD's. All 'Baiju Bawra' tunes were happily cogged from those albums. The rest, as they say, is chemistry. It was a win-win situation for both of us. Naushad Uncle, who was heavily indebted to me, decided to allow me to take away the credits for singing those songs. What has happened to the tastes of people? For that matter, I don't really blame only you guys. The other day, some inebriated gandhara was teasing Menaka with some unparliamentary words like 'choli ke peechhe kya hai?' and got promptly banished from heaven by baba Saigal. Rumour has it that he is a lyricist nowadays in Bollywood. Anyone heard about him ? Shankar only knows why you mortals are so crazy about Kishore. (Hey no! I don't mean the Shankar of Shanky-J - I mean the REAL Shankar - who sits atop Kailash - and has superuser rights on all creations of Brahma!) I will make it a point to ask him during my meeting with him next week. And no, Kishore doesn't attend that meeting. He is languishing in nark-land and plays entertainer to Yamraj Sahab on a regular basis. I know you KKKlan people are also eager to communicate with that clown. Unfortunately, it's quite hard to contact nark-land these days. There's only one blackhole which connects us to that place and all the flights are overbooked. The latest news is that Kishore's visa application to swarg-land got summarily rejected for the seventh time in as many years. I know some of you will question the authenticity of my words. Well, I'm just clarifying some doubts. Tumhara hai tum hi sambhalo ye duniya! Ab aagNya dijiye, Dudes aur Dudeneys, baba Saigal mere intezaar kar rahe honge. Our network is due for repainting this weekend. Jaate jaate, pesh hai a stanza from one of the greatest songs ever... ...ke mar ke bhi kisiko yaad aayenge kisiki aansuon mein muskuraayenge kahega phool har kali se baar baar jeena isika naam hai... Jagte Raho, Mohammed Rafi (An avid Mukesh fan) [ postmaster@heaven.edu ] - Preeti Ranjan Panda ============================================================================