FOREVER MOHD RAFI:
The daughter of Rafisaab remembers him:
Nasreen: A complete family man, dad was a man of few words. After returning from his recordings he always spent time with all his children. Though he never showed his affection openly, he never hid his love for his grandchild Tasneem, my daughter. He celebrated her birthday on July 12 with great pomp and that same month he left for his heavenly abode.
Despite his heavy schedule, he would take time off to take us on picnics to Lonavla, Mahabaleshwar or Matheran. Those were the days filled with fun and laughter. We would all look forward to these small holidays. We had a bungalow in Lonavla with a swimming pool. On the insistence of the kids, he too would jump into the pool, clad in dhoti kurta. With them he would become a child too.
Dad was never strict with us. Even when he was angry about something, he never yelled since he was a very quiet man. But one look was enough for our knees to buckle. We never disobeyed him. It is very strange that we don’t recall him admonishing us for being naughty. He liked khamoshi and thus never liked to see children crying or left hungry. Tasneem never cried as a baby and so he was very fond of her.