THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: For Rafeeq Yusaf, a Kochibased ghazal singer and a disciple of Pandit Ramesh Narayan and Ustaad Hussain Khan, the broad melodic contours of Hindustani music — be it Khayal or Dhrupad — can be scaled with ease. But the nuances of life are proving tough to master for the 50-year-old, who had defied convention to become a ghazal singer.
The circumstances have forced Rafeeq, who once shared stage with the legendary Manna Dey and has performed in hundreds of concerts both inside and outside the country, to sell his beloved harmonium at a throwaway price of Rs 15,000 to foot the hospital bill of his ailing parents, and to pay house rent.
Now his friends in the music circle are attempting to retrieve the sold harmonium, which is believed to have reached Jalandhar in Punjab. The Covid outbreak, and the subsequent lockdown measures, has dealt a severe blow to the musician’s prospects.
“Though I had staged concerts across the country, and even outside, I failed to earn money for tomorrow as music was my sole focus. I was never prompted to sing for money. But after the Covid outbreak, there is no venue for artists like me. Three of my friends have died by suicide unable to cope with the challenges presented by the new world order,” Rafeeq told TNIE.
I had to relinquish a part of my soul: Rafeeq
Rafeeq said his harmonium was like his soul. “But what should I do when those who depend on me look for help? I had to relinquish a part of my soul. So I decided to sell my harmonium. I sold it to a buyer in Nilambur, after taking a vehicle from Kochi to sell it there.
Maybe it was the will of god,” he said. Hassan Koya, one of his companions, said: “Though we traced the harmonium to Jalandhar, our attempt to retrieve it for him failed. So we bought a new one for him, and he is composing songs on it. But everybody knows how valuable the old one was for him.” Being well-versed in Urdu, he used to get a good audience across the country, Rafeeq said.
“I have never gone after cinema as my focus has always been on concerts. Moreover, one has to spend a huge amount of time for a film project,” he pointed out. The music album ‘Tere Dar Par’ composed by Rafeeq was released by Mehdi Hassan when he came to Kerala.
Once he staged a ghazal concert in the erstwhile royal family of Arakkal in Kannur, which gave him an opportunity to share the stage with Manna Dey whose wife was from the Arakkal family. Rafeeq’s wellwishers have now created a digital platform, Zuban-e- Ghazal, to promote the singer in the virtual world.