Despite competing against each other in playback singing, Mohammad Rafi Saheb, Manna Da, Mukesh Ji and Kishore Da were not only very good friends but were always together in good times and bad.
It was on August 27, 1976, that Mukesh Ji was scheduled to hold a concert in America (Detroit, Michigan). For this reason, he woke up early that morning. While swimming, I suddenly felt a pain in my chest. He had a heart attack. He was rushed to the hospital but alas, death had overtaken him by then.
When Rafi Saheb heard the news of his best friend's sudden death, he was deeply shocked and completely unconscious.
His body was brought from America to India for last rites.
A day before Mukesh ji's funeral, suddenly Rafi Saheb's health took a turn for the worse. He had an abscess above his jugular vein. He also developed a fever due to the infection. Due to this, he had to be admitted to the Bandra hospital.
The next morning he was in great pain with a high fever, and in spite of this he asked the doctor that he should at any rate go there for a while.
The doctor explained a lot that you can't go anywhere at the moment because you need rest, but he remained restless.
According to Yasmin Rafi, when I reached the nursing home with soup for Abba, he was lying quietly on the bed. His eyes showed that he had cried too. While giving him the soup, he said, 'Drink the hot soup, you will be relieved'.
While drinking the soup, he suddenly left and got out of bed and said, "My friend is gone and these people are telling me not to go. What am I doing here? I want to go now!"
Immediately he ordered a car from Zaheer bhai.
Despite everyone's continued refusal, Rafi Saheb did not agree and left the nursing home through the back door to say goodbye to his friend forever.
Yasmin Ji says that when he returned from there, he was very tired but his face showed relief. Going to his friend and saying goodbye to him seemed to bring some relief to his heart.