Saturday, October 24, 2009

Was God Incapable of Creating a Hijra !

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creating man was easy , creating woman was a bit complicated and god would have a gone a step ahead but time was short , far too short and creating the hijra god left to man , man engineered the hijra through his restless angst..the hijra is the most exotic creature holding two entities within one...

man created the hijra from his androgynous soul with an amorphous form, delicate, yet strong, the hijra is a born dancer the best in the world...they have mastered the technique pirouetting their lithe bodies on fire wind or air..

since the time i began shooting hjras i captured their fairy tale persona on wings..the most beautiful moments of a mujrewali hijra , is when she begins her make up, they would put the greatest stylist to shame,the transformation is poetry, than she enters the privacy of the kotha , kissing the floor , while the musicians begin their piece , madam fully decked pan juice reddening her lips she give a glint of a smile , a lot of pride for her protege..

the clients are rich overloaded bhais from dongri, null bazar , all in white clothes , the bulge of their country made pistols no pun intended..and with their cronies around them..the lights are dim , the tunes are sad , wife children , the rigors of hard day all forgotten,

the setting could be bacchu bhais wadi, congress house famous for mujra, or a cottage at Madh Island..the mujrewalis stay at hijra gully no1kamatipura, a sleepy lane populated by wagris and hijras..


i had taken my american friend dr losack md the furious physician, but the building was being repaired and my friend hijra guru zeenath was not around..hijra gully no 1 visit it once before you close your eyes..

so this is the enchanting world of the hijra nautch girl, even god could not create her she is a pure craftsmanship a masterpiece alas only in her hey days..

i met a lot of them over the years at haji malang during the urus, at peela house mumbai cages purely for pictorial reasons, and the greatest hijra abode ajmer sharif..

i met such beautiful dancing girls nameless but with beautiful faces ..kind hospitable and some arrogant conceited too..the hijra and my own soul is locked in a battle within the soul of a memory card..i knew a young nubile boy a shia he would meet me at govandi during moharam, or in town during our scourging , and than i met him , he had changed come to terms with his sexuality , he had become a full blown hijra..

hijras are articulate and can be crafty too, i have been lucky to befriend some of the most beautiful hijras, and show them to you without scars or blemish., they maybe wounded badly within..

i met the hijra bawas a very rare breed danced the kaif with my camera around my neck , went into a trance at char yar without any drugs..and the irony is i am able to touch the holy shrine in spite of my precarious position in life..ajmer beckons me moti katra, sola khamba i must be the only one who shots the hijras the bawas the malangs and the rafaees..

as i have stopped shooting ganesh visarjan at girgaum chowpatty ,i dont meet hijras any more , mostly from kamati pura , i have been following lal bagh ka raja instead from labagh to kumbharwada for two years barefeet..i am barefeet at ajmer and haji malang too.

why do i shoot hijras i wish i knew, they stalk my soul as i stalk their souls, hijras come in all sizes all shapes i have met hijras who wanted me to shoot them in their birthday suits i politely refused , this is not why i shoot hijras ..i hardly gives pictures of hijras i have shot the only hijra i made the exception was heena hijda queen from peela house , i gave her 200 copies ..

and heena loves me like no hijra has, and this is a pure sufi brotherly love she considers me like her elder brother, ..on ashura i cut my head very badly and the sahara newspaper carried my picture, heena called me to her quarters on 11 moharam , pleading with not to cut myself badly with tears in her eyes and this beautiful hijra was a few years back kidnapped by the greatest don of mumbai now dead..perhaps this why i shoot hijras not as a blogger not as a voyeur not as a photographer ..heena wanted me to come to raipur for a hijra conference she offered me a ticked boarding lodging but i could not accept her offer..

i have not met her since a very long time, she has changed her number too and i hardly go to town..the other hijra influence are the beggar hijras but i hare not met them too since a long time..i have cut down my blogging time at flickr, so perhaps this illness is making me empty out my bin of memories..

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