Very Very upset and low as we knew yesterday late hours only that he is on ventilator and thinking Alas! If any miracle could take place.

Finally we heard the unwanted. He was like a father figure to us, though he was not that old to be considered as a father but his blessing on us used to be as if our father is there. He never said no to us for anything. Last year he visited our all faculties of Anand-Milind Music Academy. He had come for a show for ‘Rafi foundation’ and sung our father’s number “Jaag Dil e Deewana Rut Jagi”.

He almost rehearsed for an hour for that song, I (Milindji) remember. I said there is no need for you to rehearse and he expressed, “Every Hindi Song is an Examination for me.”

To everybody’s surprise, we would like to tell you this story and it’s a record as well that he came from Chennai with return flight booking the same day. We had 10 songs for him, 5 in Film Centre & 5 in Mehboob. He managed to sing all those in a day including traveling from film center to Mehboob and preponed his flight booking for the evening.

Milindji, “I tell you all were hit songs including “Aake Teri Bahon Mein Hur Shaam Lage Sindoori (with Lataji for Vansh). Baluji, as he known popularly, sang another duet with Lataji, “Maine tujhe khat likha O Sajna (Mera Pati Sirf Mera Hai)  Even for “Love” he sang, “Sathia, Tune kya Kiya.”

Milindji, “I was constantly in touch with him. Though we had a family relation with Rafi Sahab as well as Rafi sahab was very close to our father, I tell you that even Baluji was of the same cadre. He was also so humble, helping, down to the earth like Rafi Sahab. As a singer also he had all those extreme qualities. We consider him equivalent to Rafi Sahab”

Such a gem we have lost.

As told to Raviraj Pranami