Saturday, August 8, 2009

Fucked School Bags

86,161 items / 520,481 views

young school kids
weighed down
like hags
carrying the weight
of knowledge in kilos
fucked school bags
huge boulders of books
that slave drive our kids
in their school rags
a doomed shadow
of his imminent future
that our child drags

I Shoot the Poetry of Life

For most of the people who see this common scene on the streets of Mumbai, it is life as usual, a glimpse into two poor people sharing the state of their perilous economy..

A good salon is not going to hire this street barber , and the poor worker cant go to a roadside salon that charges Rs 15 for a shave.

I shoot this as the poetry of life .

I dedicate this to a very loving human being Jane Abao..she was on I Talk News along with another friend Som Patidar.The website shut shop but we remained friends sharing our world through the internet.

I am an unpublished pedestrian poet of India.

My poems
are a gift of god
as he wrote
on my minds wall
humanity
greater than
spiritual scrawl
its not your height
but the depth
of your humility
that makes you tall
as children
we all learned to crawl
we still crawl now
towards a god
in our spirits
prayer hall
my pedestrian poems
of pain
on the soul
of your poetic
consciousness
I share it with all

Firoze Shakir
Pedestrian Poet Photographer
Mumbai India
8 August 2009

The Bhaiya Machiwala

86,021 items / 519,948 views

He is considered a bane to the Kolis or the fisher women , as he buys fish from Bhaucha Dhakka and sells it from area to area home to home, mind you carries a mobile too, and has a conducive clientele.
And honestly seeing the pathetic conditions of our filthy fish markets ,nobody wants to go and buy fish, take for instance the Bandra Bazar fish market , the ugliest market in terms of cleanliness and hygiene.

The Bhaiya fish seller is filling a vacuum and a demand , none of the State governments have done anything to improve the lot of the Koli community , and the rant of the Koli samaj against the Bhaiya eating into their profits holds no water.

Mutual coexistence is part of our Indian creed in economy too.

An I am the friend of the Kolis or I would not be shooting the pictures or posting their stories of survival.

Some soul searching has to be done ..I could write a lot on this but would welcome a thread of constructive comments and suggestions to improve the lot of the earliest inhabitants the Kolis.

Yellamma Temple in a Shanty - Bandra Reclamation


This lady stays in a hut at or shanty at Bandra Reclamation, I peeped in and saw her little temple of Yellamma ..I took her permission and shot this .. she is a hardcore devotee of Goddess Yellamma known as Renuka..

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Renuka

Renuka or Yellamma is worshiped as the goddess (devi) of the fallen, in the Hindu pantheon. Yellamma is a patron goddess of many down-trodden people such as the dalits, scheduled castes, scheduled tribes and backward castes. Her devotees have revered her as the "Mother of the Universe" or Jagadamba. Legends say that Yellamma is the incarnation of Kali, who on one hand symbolizes the death of ego, and on the other hand is the mother who is compassionate about her children.[1]

Yellamma is worshipped mostly in South India, including Karnataka, Tamilnadu, Andhra Pradesh and Maharastra, where the deity is known by many names: Mahankali, Jogamma, Somalamma, Gundamma, Pochamma, Mysamma,Jagadambika, Holiyamma, Renukamata and Renuka Devi.

In ancient ages, the Yellamma temples were cared for by women known as "devadasis" (which means the servants of gods), who dwelt in the temples and were educated as courtesans or artists. To this day, girls are being dedicated as devadasis to Yellamma, even though the practice is now illegal -- the women lead a life as sex workers.

The legends of Renuka are contained in the Mahabharata, the Harivamsa and in the Bhagavata Purana.

[edit] Early life
Renuka Sagara, Malaprabha River, Saundatti, North Karnataka, Karnataka

Renuka raja (father of Renuka) performed an yajna — a ritual performed to maintain peace and good health. He was blessed with a daughter, who originated from the fire of this yajna. Renuka was a bright and active child and became the most beloved child of her parents.

When she was eight, Agastya, who was the guru of the Renuka Raja, advised him to have his daughter married to Jamadagni when she reached maturity. Jamadagni was the son of Ruchik Muni and Satyavathi and had obtained the blessings of the gods by performing severe penance. Renuka and Jamdagni Muni lived in the Ramshrung mountains, near the present day Savadatti area of Belgaum district. Renuka helped the Jamdagni Muni in all of his tasks of performing various rituals and puja. Gradually she became close and dear to Jamdagni.

Renuka would wake up early in the morning to bathe in the Malaprabha River with complete concentration and devotion. Her devotion was so powerful that she was able to create a pot to hold water made only of sand, one fresh pot every day. She would fill this pot, on the bank of the river and would use a snake which was nearby, turning it into a rope-like convolution and placing it on her head, so that it supported the pot. Thus, she brought the water to Jamdagni for his rituals of oblation. ("Renuka" is derived from the Sanskrit for "fine grain of sand".) Renuka temple is situated at near Zamania,Ghazipur

[edit] Later life

Renuka gave birth to five sons: Vasu, Viswa Vasu, Brihudyanu, Brutwakanwa and Rambhadra. Rambhadra was the youngest and most beloved, gaining the favour of Lord Shiva and Parvati and hence called Parashurama (the sixth incarnation of Lord Vishnu).

One day when Renuka went to the river, she saw Gandharva spirits playing. These were young couples carelessly frolicking in the water with abandon. For a moment, she lost her concentration and devotion and fantasized about playing in the river with her husband. She wished she and her husband had such fun sometimes too, living so close to such a beautiful place. After some time, Renuka came to her senses and cursed herself for her indiscretion. She hurriedly bathed, as she had lost precious time, and tried to create the pot, but was unable to as she had lost her concentration. She even tried to catch the snake but it disappeared. Disappointed by this, she returned to the ashram in shame. Seeing Renuka returning empty-handed, Jamadagni became furious and angrily ordered her to go away.

After being cursed by her husband, Renuka went east and sat in the forest to meditate. In her penance, she met with the saints Eknath[citation needed] and Joginath; she prayed to them and asked to gain the mercy of her husband. They first consoled her, then instructed her to follow their advice exactly as told. They told her to purify herself, first bathing in a nearby lake, and then to worship a Shivalinga, which they had given to her. Next, she should go to the nearby town and beg for rice from the houses (this ritual, called "Joga Bedodu", is still carried out by women during a particular month in Karnataka). After collecting the rice, she was to give half to the saints and cook the remaining half, adding jagriey, partaking of the cooked rice with full devotion. They said that if she performed this ritual for three days, she would be able to visit her husband on the fourth day.
Yellamma temple at Badami.

Knowing the anger of Jamadagni, they warned her that she may not be fully pardoned by him, and that she would have to experience the most difficult time of her life for a few minutes. "After that," they said, “you will be eternally revered and will be blessed with your husband. You will be worshiped by all the people henceforth." After blessing her this way, they disappeared. Renuka followed their instructions with devotion and worshipped the Shivalinga with full care and reverence. On the fourth day, she went to see her husband.

[edit] Punishment and resurrection

Jamadagni was still furiously angry with Renuka and ordered his sons to punish their mother. One by one, four of them refused flatly. Jamadagni, who possessed the power to burn anyone to ashes with his one look, was so angry that he went berserk and turned four of his sons into four piles of ashes. Parashurama, who was not there when this happened, found his mother weeping by the piles of ashes when he arrived and his father was still raging mad. Jamadagni told him what happened and ordered him to behead his mother for her infidelity. Parushurama had to think quickly. Knowing his father's powers and the extent of his anger, Parashurama immediately obeyed his father, using his axe.
Renuka temple at Yallammagudda, Saundatti, North Karnataka, Karnataka

His father then offered a boon to Parushurama, who asked for his mother and brothers to be brought back to life. To everybody's astonishment, Renuka's spirit multiplied and moved to different regions. Renuka was back as a whole too. This miracle inspired her sons and others to become her followers, and worship her.

[edit] Renuka vs. Yellamma

In many traditions, Renuka and Yellamma are taken to be two names for the same goddess. However there is also an oral tradition that distinguishes between the two. According to these tales, Renuka fled to a low-caste community when her son Parushurama was coming to kill her. He found and beheaded her, along with a low-caste woman who had tried to protect her. When he later brought them back to life, he mistakenly attached the woman's head to Renuka's body, and vice versa. Jamadagni accepted the former as his wife Renuka, while the latter remained to be worshipped by the lower castes as Yellamma, the mother of all.[3]

[edit] Temples and related places

Every year, there is a gathering of as many as 200,000 of her devotees at the Yellamma Gudda temple in Saundatti. Another temple Renukambe [Yellamma] is atop a hill in Chandragutti, Soraba Taluk in Shimoga. This temple is an example of ancient architecture and dates back to the Kadamba period. Another temple is in Mahur, Maharashtra, the supposed birth place of the goddess, which finds mention in Devi Gita, the final chapter of Devi Bhagawatam as, "Matripura in the Sahyadri mountain; here the Devi Renuka dwells..." [4]
Renuka Lake

Renuka Lake in the Renuka Sanctuary in Himachal Pradesh is named after the goddess. According to one legend, king Sahasarjuna (Kartavirya Arjuna) was in love with the beautiful Renuka, and once when Parashurama was away, the king killed Jamadagni and his four sons to marry Renuka. To escape the king's clutches, she jumped into the lake and vanished. The gods restored her to life, and the lake, shaped like a sleeping lady, marks her immortality.[5]

I Complete 86000 Blogs at Flickr

Picture was shot by my wife and it would be a better if somebody shot her shooting my picture...well it would be Glenns call as my wife does not like anyone photographing her , she wears a total hijab, earlier she exposed her face , but now she covers that too...specially at functions like this where we both look like someones else s husband and wife..I wear saffron, and I have to wear slippers as wife wont walk barefeet with me , as people ridicule her., those that dont know us.

The Shias of Mumbai know me or may have heard of me..the barefeet Shia Bawa of Mumbai

But she has no qualms walking with me barefeet during Moharam, or my visits to the market.

I feel alien in slippers , I have to wear slippers while going to work or she wont let me ito the house.

Well I digress , today I complete 86000 photo blogs in less than two years at Flickr.

I thank all my friends , supporter and well wishers on the internet.


It takes two hands to clap and without all of you I could have not made it this far...and I dedicate this to the memory of my photo Guru Prof BW Jatkar , whose premature death has hit me very hard, including Mr KG Maheshwari and those of his friends and admires , and his family ..

Bandra Kid- Street Photography..

I am hounded by kids wherever I go, mothers want me to shoot their kids , and I am finally becoming famous as the only photographer who shoots does not charge money , also they love to see their kids on the neighbors internet...and the guy who has the internet shows my Bandra Bazar Road pictures too people of this area.

I am documenting a corner of my world I am learning photography all over again as a novice, and I know that my photo guru Prof BW Jatkar watches me from above..

I shoot what I see and I show the same to you..I need a bit of background too,so you dont lose your bearings and go back from where you came.

Bandra Bazar and my Street Photography are synonymous to each other , I shot the House Madrsa kids again.

I love shooting road side barbers armpit and head shave so I have compiled them in a new set ..here at Flickr.

This includes pictures of Marziya going bald and Marziya shaving me for a change.


I dont need to search for pictures to shoot, pictures find me much before I find them.

I cant move to fresh pastures , my hands and legs are tied but I make the most of my opportunity as a photographer on the street and as a street blogger of pain,.

I am also shooting the local Ganesha pandal at Bandra Reclamation as it comes up..unfortunately I stay far from Lal Bagh Cha Raja or I would have shot that too.
I dont have wheels and wait for my son in la to give me a ride ..but he has been very busy of late.
So the shoot of the Lal Bagh workshops is pending.

I have not met Hijras for a very long time.. totally incommunicado.


I am also a bit lazy so excuse me if I pass by late ..this to Cousin Glenn..

Sometimes I get tired of commenting , I have finally bought my Webster dictionary from my shop to add new words to the soul of my comment.. I think John Williamson , would like this on Facebook..

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