Rafi Vs. Rihanna

 It’s a grey and lazy Sunday morning.  The right side of the room plays ‘Khoya Khoya Chand’ in Mohd. Rafi’s ever melodious and nostalgic voice and the left side of the room plays the same Khoya Khoya Chand in an unknown young female voice with trippy beats. Let’s call it the Rafi room and the trippy room.  The Rafi room folks still listen to ‘cassettes’ (yes they still exist) on a 1988 Sansui player which has a separate A side and a B side. The trippy room person listens to it on a laptop and facebooks on another window. The Rafi room folks sing along with Rafi, while the trippy room person surfs for the lyrics. The Rafi room folks discuss the next investment plan over a cup of tea or jot down their expenses, while the trippy roomer is looking at the next big smart phone over a cup of cappuccino. Mommy dearest is lost in transition and tries hard to grasp a few words from the Rihanna number. Gives up and goes back to the right side of the room, her side. An hour later, she switches on Sun TV, where the VO guys or hosts sound like they can jump out of the TV any moment and gobble us up and the actors look they’ve been carved straight out of charcoal.  The trippy roomer meanwhile downloads ‘Cowboys and Aliens’ even before the film hits the movie screens or buffers a movie on youtube. But the trippy roomer does relish mom’s south Indian delicacies because they’re too lazy to cook for themselves. Their lives are sorted because the ‘Rafi-ans’ had once discussed the trippy roomer’s savings over the same Rafi songs even before Rihanna started singing. So, this is an endless debate.  The trippy roomer does get swayed away sometimes by Rafi’s high notes, the submerged and grainy feel of the 60’s music; however still comes back to Tiesto and Rihanna. Man, the Rafi-ans have 10 more such cassettes to go while the Rihanna playlist is almost over. So, the trippy roomer quietly shuts her door with a smile and comes back to her ‘Rehab’ while Rafi continues to sing ‘Ek Rasta, Do Rahi’ (For those who don't know this song, click on http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tQBZsY7SJP4  or go to the Rafian side of the room ;-))