Saturday, July 28, 2012

Jis Ki Rago’n Mein Aatish-E-Badr-O-Hunain Hai Us Soorma Ka Isme Girami Hussain Hai. . .


"Tareekh ki boorh'ri aankhon ne
Is dasht-e-bala ki garmi mein
Ik shakhs ko baithay dekha hai,
Jo apnay khoon kay qatron say
Is rait kay zarray, zarray par
Kuch satrain likhta jata hai;
Phir garm hawa kay jhonkon say
Yeh zarray phailtay jatay hain,
Aur phail kay saari duniya mein
Ye No'-e-Bashar say kehtay hain:
Yun zulm ko roka jata hai,
Yun kufr ko toka jata hai.
Shabbeer (A.S) nay aa k Karbal mein,
Yeh sab logon ko batlaya:
Duniya kay Yazeedon ko duniya
Say yun hi mitaya jata hai."

Pan Khakar Ghade Ki Gand Par Thukna - Indian Way of Life

Masters of Indian Photography - Archival Photo - Exhibition from 19 to 30 August 2012

The Bandra East Indians Last Stand


where he lived for ages
his bungalow will go
in its place a tower will
stand the poor east indian
caught between the church
the builder puts up his hand
to get rid of him it was so
planned bandra has lot
its only brand no more
de montes gomes
no more east indian clans
poor guys homes
bulldozed uprooted
sent to uttan vasai
nallaspora distant lands
chimbai chium bazar road
waroda road chapel road
will soon change hands
tears on the soul of humanity
memories turned into
woeful wastelands

I have lived with the East Indians as a tenant at Veronica street , than I lived with them as neighbors at 21 De Monte Street and they are vanishing.. leaving behinds dreams that I shot as pictures of pain...
And the Church hastily put in Render To Caesar What Belongs To Caesar and to God What Belongs to God.. the Church turned its back on its own people as the Exodus began.. towards distant land leaving behind their forefathers in the St Peter Cemetery or the varios cemeteries on Church land.

Holding On To Dear Life

Holding on to dear life is holding on to the heritage of the East Indian gaothan earlier known as clusters of fishing village where the original inhabitants of Bandra lived with their parish and their feat and festivities.

Once the CRZ opens up it will all vanish, huge towers will come in their place , all theses old folks will be found in an old age home sold out by their devious relatives in most cases.

So I document a few surviving houses bungalows for posterity.

I could have made it more aesthetic shooting this painful picture in black and white but pain is colorless odorous and the fumes kill the soul of a photographer too.. a poet photographer.

Photography is poetry provided you can read prosaic pictures as poetry .. fuck syntax.

Builders Envy Owners Plight - Old Rustic Bandra

The Christians Never Took Jesus of The Cross Now He Suffers For Their Sins Too

One Bandra Dies Another Will Rise ,.. Builders Paradise Towers Touching the Skies

The Paver Blocks Another Con On The Soul of Man

Bandra Hill Road

FROM WIKIPEDIA

Hill Road (officially renamed as Ramdas Nayak Road) is one of the popular arterial roads in Bandra (West), Mumbai, India which starts from the intersection between Bandra Railway Station road and SV Road, goes up to the brink of the Arabian sea, leading into Bandstand and Bandra fort, and Mount Mary Church, Bandra. Hill Road is a popular shopping road and houses number of old and new brands, hand in hand with the omnipresent street vendors.
Hill road has one of the most famous schools in Bombay situated on it- St. Stanislaus High School, which also has a church attached to it. Hill Road is also famous for a variety of shops.
From the intersection with SV Road, you'll first come across Lucky restaurant—famous for its biryani, and thereafter a series of general stores selling items and services ranging from paint, plumbers, wood and carpenters to clothes, ATM's, restaurants and telephone services. The Bandra police station is also located on Hill Road. Opposite Bandra police station, you have the Tata agiary, a 135 year old Parsi agiary built in 1873.
This leads past Hill Road landmarks like Benzer stores, Elco Arcade, Shannon stores, Abro, Balaji restaurant, Cheap Jack etc. leading up to St. Joseph's girls' school, St. Stanislaus High School.
Past St. Stanislaus, you have the Gazebo restaurant, Café Mocha(re-done and re-branded as Mocha Mojo), Herch's restaurant until you reach Apostolic Carmel Convent Girl's High School A1 Bakery and St. Andrew's Church (Mumbai), Bandra. Past the Church you have the start of Band Stand road.

Black and White Jatkar - Revisited

I have erased all detail from this picture ,I wanted a starkness , I wanted to show you the calisthenics of spiritual freedom..

when a man dies
leaves this mortal world
of pain and despair
where he lived in transition
building a castle in the air
not knowing that one day
he will be bound to yama's snare
to another world his life prepare
calisthenics of spiritual freedom
beyond the words of a prayer
life endured though unfair
wear and tear
travails and tribulations
with his loved ones
he did share
in the next world
one way ticket
without any fare
his karmic soul
he will repair
rediscover
peace hope harmony
love brotherhood
away from this
vanity fair

Dahi Handi Dadar 2009

ek don teen char dadar shiv sena che pore hoshiyar

ek don teen char dadar shiv sena che pore hoshiyar

Thank you Jatkar Sir

this series
is humbly dedicated
to prof bw jatkar
he taught me photography
so my thought
my poems
my emotion
on pictures
i could transfer
finding peace
with which
my soul concurs
searching for godliness
not just sharpness
also a blur
thank you jatkar sir
for this pictorial makeover
mee mumbaikar
away from the chaos
politics of camera clubs
away from salon participation
to be a photo blogger
i prefer
you me kg maheshwari
three friends that we were

The Beggar Poet of Mumbai

Mee Mumbaikar

Dharavi

Dharavi by firoze shakir photographerno1
Dharavi, a photo by firoze shakir photographerno1 on Flickr.


From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Dharavi (Portuguese spelling Daravi[1] British Anglicised spelling Darravy, Dorrovy) is a slum and administrative ward, over parts of Sion, Bandra, Kurla and Kalina suburbs of Mumbai, India. It is sandwiched between Mahim in the west and Sion in the east,[2] and spread over an area of 175 hectares, or 0.67 square miles (1.7 km2). In 1986, the population was estimated at 530,225,[3] but modern Dharavi has a population of between 600,000[4] and over 1 million people.[5] Dharavi is one of the largest slums in the world.[5][6][4][7][8] It used to be the largest slum in Mumbai at one time, but as of 2011, there are four slums in Mumbai larger than Dharavi.[9]
In most large cities, the floor space index (FSI) varies from 5 to 15 in the Central Business District (CBD) to about 0.5, or below, in the suburbs. In Mumbai the permitted FSI is uniform and in 1991 was fixed at 1.33. The regulations that restrict the FSI greatly reduce the floor space available for residence and business.[10] In expensive Mumbai, Dharavi provides a cheap alternative where rents were as low as US$4 per month in 2006.[11] Dharavi exports goods around the world.[12] The total (and largely informal) turnover is estimated to be between US$500 million[3] and over US$650 million per year.[11]
Dharavi is situated between Mumbai's two main suburban railway lines, the Western and Central Railways. To its west are Mahim and Bandra, and to the north lies the Mithi River, which empties into the Arabian Sea through the Mahim Creek. To its south and east are Sion and Matunga. Both its location and poor drainage systems make Dharavi particularly vulnerable to floods during the wet season.
Dharavi covers an area of 535 acres (217 ha).[13]

In the 18th century, Dharavi was an island.[14] In February 1739, Chimnaji Appa attacked Bassein. Before that, he took possession of Dharavi.
The area of present-day Dharavi was predominantly mangrove swamp before the late 19th century, inhabited by Koli fishermen.[15] However, the fishing industry disappeared when the swamp areas filled in. A dam at Sion, adjacent to Dharavi, hastened the process of joining separate islands into one long, tapered mass. Thus began the transformation of the island city of Bombay. In the process, Dharavi's fishing town was deprived of its traditional sustenance, but the newly drained marshes provided space for new communities to move in. Migrants from Gujarat established a potters' colony, tanners from Tamil Nadu and Maharashtrian tanners belonging to the Charmarkar caste migrated to Dharavi and set up the leather tanning industry. Other artisans, like the embroidery workers from Uttar Pradesh, started the ready-made garments trade.[15]
Tamil migrants, including Tamil Muslims, Adidravidars and Nadars started coming into the area in the late 19th century, many of whom worked in nearby tanneries; a large influx came in the 1920s. Bombay's first Tamil school and Dharavi's first school was constructed in 1924. It remained the only school of Dharavi for the next four decades. In 1930s, a single road passed through Dharavi towards the Mahim railway station.[16]
Dharavi's Co-operative Housing Society was formed in the 1960s to uplift the lives of thousands of slum dwellers by the initiative of Shri. M.V. Duraiswamy, a well-known social worker and congress leader of that region. The Dharavi co-operative housing society promoted 338 flats and 97 shops and was named "Dr. Baliga Nagar."
[edit]Residents

[edit]Economy

In addition to the traditional pottery and textile industries in Dharavi,[15] there is an increasingly large recycling industry, processing recyclable waste from other parts of Mumbai. The district has an estimated 5000 businesses[17] and 15,000 single-room factories.[18]
[edit]Redevelopment plans

There have been many plans since 1997[19] to redevelop Dharavi like the former slums of Hong Kong such as Tai Hang. In 2004, the cost of redevelopment was estimated to be 5,000 crore (US$905 million).[20] Companies from around the world have bid to redevelop Dharavi,[13] including Lehman Brothers, Dubai’s Limitless and Singapore’s Capitaland Ltd.[13] In 2010, it is estimated to cost 15,000 crore (US$2.72 billion) to redevelop.[20]
The latest urban redevelopment plan proposed for the Dharavi area is managed by American-trained architect Mukesh Mehta.[15] The plan[21] involves the construction of 30,000,000 square feet (2,800,000 m2) of housing, schools, parks and roads to serve the 57,000 families residing in the area, along with 40,000,000 square feet (3,700,000 m2) of residential and commercial space for sale.[22] There has been significant local opposition to the plans, largely because existing residents are due to receive only 225 square feet (20.9 m2) of land each.[15][22] Furthermore, only those families who lived in the area before 2000 are slated for resettlement. Concerns have also been raised by residents who fear that some of their small businesses in the "informal" sector may not be relocated under the redevelopment plan.[23] The government has said that it will only legalize and relocate industries that are not "polluting."
[edit]Sanitation issues

Dharavi has severe problems with public health, due to the scarcity of toilet facilities, due in turn to the fact that most housing and 90% of the commercial units in Dharavi are illegal.[24] As of November 2006 there was only one toilet per 1,440 residents in Dharavi.[25] Mahim Creek, a local river, is widely used by local residents for urination and defecation, leading to the spread of contagious diseases.[15] The area also suffers from problems with inadequate drinking water supply.[26]
[edit]Guided tours through Dharavi

A few travel operators offer guided tours through Dharavi, showing the industrial and the residential part of Dharavi and explaining about problems and challenges India is facing. These tours give a deeper insight into a slum in general and Dharavi in particular.[27]
[edit]Media depiction

Dharavi has been depicted in a number of Hindi films produced by the Mumbai film industry. These include Salim-Javed films such as Deewaar (1975), Mira Nair's Salaam Bombay! (1988) where several child actors were from the Dharavi slum, Vidhu Vinod Chopra's Parinda (1989), Sudhir Mishra's Dharavi (1991), Ram Gopal Varma's "Indian Gangster Trilogy" (1998–2005) and Sarkar series (2005–2008), Vikram Bhatt's Footpath (2003), Anurag Kashyap's Black Friday (2004) and No Smoking (2007), Madhur Bhandarkar's Traffic Signal (2007), Rajeev Khandelwal's Aamir (2008), and other films based on the Mumbai underworld.
Dharavi has been depicted in films from other Indian film industries, particularly the Tamil film industry. Several films by Mani Ratnam based on the experiences of Tamil immigrants to Mumbai have depicted the Dharavi slum, including Nayagan (1987) and Bombay (1995).
Dharavi features prominently in Danny Boyle's 2008 film Slumdog Millionaire, where several of the child actors in the film are from the Dharavi slum.
The movie Mankatha was shot here starring Ajith kumar.
The movie Business Man was shot here starring Mahesh Babu.
In Kaminey, the 2009 Hindi movie, starring Shahid Kapoor.
In the 2009 Swiss/German documentary Dharavi, Slum for Sale of director Lutz Konermann.[28]
In a programme aired in England in January 2010, Kevin McCloud and Channel 4 aired a two-part series titled Slumming It[29] which centered around Dharavi and its inhabitants.
The poem "Blessing" by Imtiaz Dharker is about Dhavari not having enough water.
For The Win, by Cory Doctorow, is partially set in Dharavi.

Child Labour Destinys Child

In India ,the magical mystical land, one spots a dichotomy of pain, happiness, living cheek by jowl.People would taunt me why I shot poor kids, but if you see my pictures with the hawk eyes of a poet you will realize the poor people, are happier than us.They live they also let others live. Sleeping on the road on the pavements, death is only a headlight away, dreams die so do people on the streets.Yes put to sleep as you Westerners aptly put it.

The title of this post is child labor so I wont digress, begging child with another toddler tied to his waist is child labour , hard labour, I did a pictorial sketch on traffic signal kids at Bandra Turner Road, I know what child labor is in this connotation , in a system that sucks. Child prostitutiion is child labor , the worst of its kind, parents hand over their children to pimps in Goa Pushkar , all hand in glove. Destiny's Child makes me throw up, what I see through the crass viewfinder of a child's degradation.

At I talker it is about news journalism, I write poetry of unending pain, I have a girl child 19 years so the pain is more realistic, no melodrama, no pretensions. I am a blogger , I write blogs of pain, I shoot pain that hides as a speck in a frail child's eyes.It hurts terrbly. Little kids in cities are banned from working, but it goes on clandestinely ,the widow mother, runaway father, either the widow will sell her body , or her child will beg, or work at a tea vendors stall. The nights are harsh..always.

We ban , but we dont find an alternative , no relocation, banned from one traffic signal they move to the next. I saw this child, I cropped the picture of the mother , not to sensationalize child labor, but to make you humanize a fault that rises in most third world countries.

This child sitting on the street , looked at me I saw a future like a tear drop in my eye.. yes I cry not just for Imam Hussain but for a Man child too.. We all are beggars sometime or other ..begging for the goodies of life, a ladies love, a good post , recognition what not , we beg we steal , we borrow the breath of life from a somnolent God..an insensitive God..but a God not to be messed with all the same..
Blessed are the meek..
faceless no cheek
man producing superman
a saint a crook and a freak
yes within the beggar child
the beggar childs God we seek
a human shout a silence and a squeak



June 6th, 2007

Barefeet Blogger of Mumbai

205,632 items / 1,681,801 views

artwork by suraj kumar

on the streets
of mumbai
you will find
an exotic animal
two legged
one of his kind
barefeet blogger
shooting the soul
of misery
with his eyes
shut blind
on one leg
tantric kundalini
art and creativity
mystically divined
bollywoods most wanted
headlined
in scissors fabric
measuring tape
spellbind
sartorial serendipity
surrealistically designed
blood sweat and tears
all combined
a pedestrian poet
going bad to verse
losing his mind
a shia pandiit
hope and hindutva
a message of peace
conspicuously aligned
hussain is humanity
a lover of mankind
racists kicking
his pompous
multicolored ass
from behind
with the hijras
his fate entwined
a blog within a blog
his soul enshrined
a pilgrims progress
spiritually streamlined


dedicated to assad ..my son by default..a paternal thought outlined

a dam madar malang besides ..

Mr Danny Denzongpa

I shot this picture yesterday of Mr Danny Denzongpa whom I call Dannyji- much of my sartorial spirituality has come of age thanks to Dannyji..
I have yet to meet a person who is unique, humble and endearing to everyone big and small..

Article below sourced from Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Danny_Denzongpa


Tshering Phintso "Danny" Denzongpa (born February 25, 1948) is a Bollywood actor.He is of Sikkimese ancestry. Denzongpa was born in the state of Sikkim, at that time an independent monarchy. He is an ethnic Bhutia and speaks Bhutia as his mother tongue. He started his career by singing Indian Nepali songs and acting in Indian Nepali movies.He has acted in numerous Hindi films such as Ashoka and 16 December. He has also starred in an international films, the most famous being Seven Years in Tibet where he acted alongside Hollywood actor Brad Pitt. In 2003, Denzongpa was awarded the Padma Shree, India's fourth highest civilian honour. Denzongpa is noted for his roles as a villain.


Denzongpa's love of horses and horse riding began at an early age, as his family was into horse breeding . He nursed an ambition to join the Indian Army, and won the Best Cadet award from West Bengal and participated in the Republic Day parade. In an interview to The Times of India newspaper he told that he had qualified for the prestigious Armed Forces Medical College however after the Sino-Indian War of 1962, his mother pleaded with him to give up joining the army after several people of their village were killed. Danny then enrolled in the Film institute in Pune.

During his early film career, Danny used to practice learning Urdu, the lingua franca of Bollywood at that time by talking to the ocean. The Urdu came in handy in films such as Sawan Kumar's Sanam Bewafa and Mukul Anand's Khuda Gawah where he played the role of Pathans.

He started out with B-grade movies such as Zaroorat in 1971, and later moved on to Mere Apne and Kala Sona where he played more positive roles. He then went on to play the roles of the villain in numerous roles. Some of the antihero roles he played were an unscrupulous politician, corrupt policeman, traitor, and mingy landlord. He got his major break in Gulzar's Mere Apne, and later in B R Chopra's Dhund where he played a crippled and frustrated husband. He missed out on one of the most famous villain roles in Indian Cinema, that of Gabbar Singh for Sholay. He was the original choice for the role but had to back out because of a clash of dates. The character later became an icon and made Amjad Khan a star overnight.

He is also an accomplished singer having sung with Lata Mangeshkar, Mohammed Rafi and Asha Bhonsle, three stalwarts of Indian music. He has released Nepalese songs and has sung for Nepalese movies. His two most famous songs are "Chiso Chiso Hawama", and "Rato Rani Phule". He is also a painter, a writer and a sculptor. Denzongpa owns two breweries, one in South Sikkim, and the other in state of Orissa. He currently resides in Juhu in Mumbai. In recent times he has become more selective as to the roles he plays.

Get Well Soon Sir...From the Beggar Poet of Mumbai

My Three Grand Children Keep Me Alive .. To My Dead Surroundings


238,671 items / 2,005,301 views

Nerjis is very possessive , she wants me completely so when she saw Zaira on my lap she freaked started hitting herself she is as crazy as I am and call it a weird  streak she has never seen me do Kama Matam, but she will pick up a part of the hoopla and pretend to hit her head chanting Ya Ali.. part of our Shia culture deeply embedded even during Ramzan.

Marziya watches cartoons and watches cartoons and watches cartoons ,,, Zaira wants to be part of the action team, and is a grabber and both Nerjis and Zaira want the same thing most of the time.

Marziya will sit on the laptop and watch Chulbuli till Nerjis walks up and hits the keys and creates utter confusion.. but both want to go down out of the house at any given opportunity.

Nerjis loves playing with my phone but invariably ends up calling my friend Aleem in Delhi .. always its the only number she hits with frantic joy, yesterday she called Yatin m friend from town.

Luckily I have deleted a few personal numbers or you can imagine the comedy of errors romancing a stone the other side of midnight.



The Spirit of Ramzan At My House Adds To The Essence of Humility




238,668 items / 2,005,252 views

Not in the frame is Nerjis Asif Shakir creating a scene she wants to come on my lap as all these days she was part of my fast  both sairi and Iftar.

This morning too my 7 Sairi she woke up and was with me most of the time..I did not shoot any pictures gave my camera a day off.. as such.

No photography lessons either ,, but Nerjis is a very fast learner and last evening I had taken both Nerjis and Marziya  to the market, first to the bakery to buy brown bread rolls and later a lot of green salad ..

Last nights dinner was chicken fried rice made at home.. we have a nice Muslim lady cook who does a great job most of the Iftar stuff are made by her and both my daughter in laws.

The Iftar at out home is simple home fare much better than what you get at the caterers , and delicious to say the least.

Supplemented by fruit slices .. the grilled egg  sandwiches , the bhajiyas in Simla mirchi and green chillies , boiled chana dry masala , ragda all from the home kitchen.

Home made patties and this enough for the entire family , both my sons their wives , my wife and I are fasting.. Marziya eats the least , Nerjis Zaira get nibbles , they mess the entire floor table.

One person I miss for Iftar is my daughter , she adds zest to our home but she hardly comes , my grand daughter Zaira loves her the most..

We send food to the poor and  whatever remains our house maid takes it all.

This mornings Sairi my 7 Fast was chicken salami in brown bread just one piece .. I avoided the falooda and black tea  begins  the fast.. I drink water but not much.

My brother Firdaus freaks out and warns me that I am a diabetic and should not keep the fast but I have been fasting for several years now without a break..

I have not gone to the food lanes of JJ Colony or Minara Masjid shall do it one of these days..

I avoid Iftar political parties completely ..and prefer Iftar at home with my family ..I could not imagine leaving my grand kids and breaking fast in a friends house no way..

And this is Ramzan that signifies peace at home , quietude hope and harmony.








Kalimata Mandir Shivaji Park

article sourced from
www.goddess-kali-ma.com/

The name Kali derives from the Sanskrit root word Kal meaning time. Nothing escapes from time. Her Tibetan Buddhism counterpart is named Kala, a male figure. Of the Hindu goddesses, Goddess Kali Ma is the most misunderstood. The Encyclopedia Britannica is very mistaken in this quote, "Major Hindu goddess whose iconography, cult, and mythology commonly associate her with death, sexuality, violence, and, paradoxically in some of her later historical appearances, motherly love."

It is partially accurate to say the Goddess Kali Ma is a goddess of death. However, She brings the death of the ego as the delusional self-centered view of reality. Nowhere in the sriptures is She seen killing anything but demons nor is She associated exclusively with the process of human dying like Yama the Hindu god of death. Both Goddess Kali Ma and Shiva are said to inhabit cremation grounds and devotees often go to these places to meditate. The purpose is not to glorify death but to overcome the I-am-the-body idea. The cremation grounds reinforce the idea that the body is a temporary. Kali and Shiva are said to dwell in these places because it is our attachment to the body that gives rise to the ego. Kali and Shiva give liberation by dissolving the illusion of the ego. Thus we are the ever-existing I AM and not the impermanent body. This is emphasized by the scene in the cremation grounds.

Out of all the Devi forms, Kali is the most compassionate because She provides moksha or liberation to Her children. She is the counterpart of Shiva. They are the destroyers of unreality. When the ego sees Mother Kali it trembles with fear because the ego sees in Her its own eventual demise. An individual who is attached to his/her ego will not be able to receive the vision of Mother Kali and She will appear in a fear invoking or "wrathful" form. A mature soul who engages in spiritual practice to remove the illusion of the ego sees Mother Kali as very sweet, affectionate, and overflowing with incomprehensible love for Her children.

Ma Kali wears a garland made of 52 skulls and a skirt made of dismembered arms because the ego comes out of identification with the body. In fact, we are beings of spirit and not flesh. So liberation can only prevail when our attachment to the body comes to an end. Therefore, the skirt and garland are trophies worn by Her to represent the liberation of Her children from attachment to the finite body. In two of Her hands, She holds a sword and a freshly severed head that is dripping blood. This represents a great battle in which she defeated the demon Raktabija. Her black (or sometimes dark blue) skin represents the womb of the unmanifest from which all of creation is born and into which all of creation will eventually return. Goddess Kali Ma is depicted as standing on a white skinned Shiva who is lying beneath Her. His white skin is in contrast to Her black or sometimes dark blue skin. He is showing a blissful detached look on His face. Shiva is pure formless awareness sat-chit-ananda (being-consciousness-bliss) while She represents "form" eternally sustained by the underpinning of pure awareness.

Through ignorance of the story behind Goddess Kali Ma it is easy to misinterpret Her symbolism. In the same way one could say that Christianity is a religion of destruction, death, and cannibalism in which the followers drink the eat the flesh of Jesus and drink his blood. Of course, we know this is not the correct way to understand the communion sacrament.

Associating sexuality to Mother Kali is not founded in the traditional understanding of Her. In the Hindu stories, there is nothing that associates Her with sexuality. It is just the opposite. Kali is one of the few Goddesses who is celibate and practicing renunciation!

The idea that She is the goddess of death, sex and violence is simply not true. When we study the life of the great saint Ramakrishna or the great poet saint Ramprasad (both famous Kali worshippers), or listen to traditional Hindu devotional songs to Goddess Kali Ma, there is no suggestion of this death-sex-violence idea. This can also be substantiated by going to any of the Hindu websites such as www.hindunet.com and reading about Her. Anyone sincerely interested in Mother Kali should read the book Kali: The Black Goddess of Dakshineswar, by Elizabeth Harding. In addition, there is a beautiful traditional Kali temple in Laguna Beach, California which may be visited on-line at www.kalimandir.org. Goddess Kali Ma is the goddess of liberation or enlightenment.

Pitru Paksha Prayers For The Dead At Banganga

Jai Maharashtra Jai Ho Indians

the kolis
after celebrating holi
on the alibagh beach surface
its the alibagh bullock cart race
with their happy hearts embrace
the crowds the competitors
face to face
one cart another cart chase
paths on the wet sands
that they trace
alibagh
gods chosen cozy place
water melon slices
ice gola
chana seng
sherbet
keeping up the pace
as the winners touch base
jai maharashtra
the heart of India
in the right place
for non state actors
from pakistan
this time no
parking space
terrorism
on the soil
of our Motherland
one day surely
we will erase
Jai Ho Indians
superior fighting race

Marziya Zaira and Nerjis Iftar time my 6 fast 27 July 2012

Zaira and Nerjis Iftar time my 6 fast 27 July 2012

Zaira and Nerjis Iftar time my 6 fast 27 July 2012

Zaira Saif Shakir breaks my 6 fast 27 July 2012

Iftar Breaking My 6 Fast With Zaira and Nerjis

Iftar Breaking My 6 Fast With Zaira and Nerjis

both are replicas of my daughter ..

Iftar Breaking My 6 Fast With Zaira and Nerjis

Iftar Breaking My 6 Fast With Zaira Saif Shakir

Iftar Breaking My 6 Fast With Zaira Saif Shakir



Zaira is 9 month old trying hard to walk, but she is tough and keeps grabbing the mouse , so as I got ready to break my 6 fast it was Zaira taking over from Nerjis Asif Shakir one year old .. who takes all the footage of my fast both at Sairi time and Iftar time.

Sultan-ul-Hind, Hazrat Shaikh Khwaja Syed Muhammad Mu'īnuddīn Chishtī

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Sultan-ul-Hind, Hazrat Shaikh Khwaja Syed Muhammad Mu'īnuddīn Chishtī (Persian/Urdu: حضرت خواجہ سیّد محمد معین الدین چشتی اجمیری) was born in 1141 and died in 1230 CE. Also known as Gharīb Nawāz (غریب نواز), or 'Benefactor of the Poor', he is the most famous Sufi saint of the Chishtī Order of the Indian Subcontinent. He introduced and established the order in South Asia. The initial spiritual chain or silsila of the Chishti order in India, comprising Mu'īnuddīn Chishtī, Bakhtiyar Kaki, Baba Farid and Nizamuddin Auliya (each successive person being the disciple of the previous one), constitutes the great Sufi saints of Indian history.[1]

Khwaja Mu'īnuddīn Chishtī is said to have been born in 536 A.H./1141 CE, in Chishti in Sistan.[2] He was a Sayed, a descendant of Muhammad through Ja'far aṣ-Ṣādiq. He grew up in Persia. His parents died when he was only fifteen years old. He inherited a windmill and an orchard from his father. During his childhood, young Mu'īnuddīn was different from others and kept himself busy in prayers and meditation. Legend has it that once when he was watering his plants, a revered Sufi, Shaikh Ibrāhim Qundūzī (or Kunduzi) -- the name deriving from his birth place, Kunduz in Afghanistan -- came to his orchard. Young Mu'īnuddīn approached him and offered him some fruits. In return, Sheikh Ibrāhīm Qundūzī gave him a piece of bread and asked him to eat it. The Khwāja got enlightened and found himself in a strange world after eating the bread. After this he disposed of his property and other belongings and distributed the money to the poor. He renounced the world and left for Bukhara in search of knowledge and higher education.[3]

He became the Murid (disciple) of Usman Harooni.
[edit] Journeys

Mu'īnuddīn Chishtī visited the seminaries of Samarkand and Bukhara and acquired religious learning at the feet of eminent scholars of his age. He visited nearly all the great centers of Muslim culture, and acquainted himself with almost every important trend in Muslim religious life in the Middle Ages. He became a disciple of the Chishtī saint 'Uthmān Hārūnī. They travelled the Middle East extensively together, including visits to Mecca and Medina.
[edit] Journey to India

Mu'īnuddīn Chishtī turned towards India, reputedly after a dream in which Prophet Muhammad blessed him to do so. After a brief stay at Lahore, he reached Ajmer along with Mohammad of Ghori, and settled down there. In Ajmer, he attracted a substantial following, acquiring a great deal of respect amongst the residents of the city. Mu'īnuddīn Chishtī practiced the Sufi Sulh-e-Kul (peace to all) concept to promote understanding between Muslims and non-Muslims.
[edit] Establishing the Chishtī Order in India

The Chishtī order was founded by Abu Ishaq Shami (“the Syrian”) in Chisht, some 95 miles east of Herat in present-day western Afghanistan.[4] Moinuddin Chishti established the order in India, in the city of Ajmer in North India.

Moinuddin Chishti apparently never wrote down his teachings in the form of a book, nor did his immediate disciples, but the central principles that became characteristics of the Chishtī order in India are based on his teachings and practices. They lay stress on renunciation of material goods; strict regime of self-discipline and personal prayer; participation in Samā' as a legitimate means to spiritual transformation; reliance on either cultivation or unsolicited offerings as means of basic subsistence; independence from rulers and the state, including rejection of monetary and land grants; generosity to others, particularly, through sharing of food and wealth, and tolerance and respect for religious differences.

He, in other words, interpreted religion in terms of human service and exhorted his disciples "to develop river-like generosity, sun-like affection and earth-like hospitality." The highest form of devotion, according to him, was "to redress the misery of those in distress – to fulfill the needs of the helpless and to feed the hungry."

It was during the reign of Emperor Akbar (1556–1605) that Ajmer emerged as one of the most important centers of pilgrimage in India. The Mughal Emperor undertook an unceremonial journey on foot to accomplish his wish to reach Ajmer. The Akbarnāmah records that the Emperor's interest first sparked when he heard some minstrels singing songs about the virtues of the Walī (Friend of God) who lay asleep in Ajmer.

Mu'īnuddīn Chishtī authored several books including Anīs al-Arwāḥ and Dalīl al-'Ārifīn, both of which deal with the Islamic code of living.

Quṭbuddīn Baktiyār Kākī (d. 1235) and Ḥamīduddīn Nagorī (d. 1276) were Mu'īnuddīn Chishtī's celebrated Khalīfas or successors who continued to transmit the teachings of their master through their disciples, leading to the widespread proliferation of the Chishtī Order in India.

Among Quṭbuddīn Baktiyār's prominent disciples was Farīduddīn Ganj-i-Shakar (d. 1265), whose dargāh is at Pakpattan, (Pakistan). Farīduddīn's most famous disciple was Nizāmuddīn Auliyā' (d. 1325) popularly referred to as Mahbūb-e-Ilāhī (God's beloved), whose dargāh is located in South Delhi.

From Delhi, disciples branched out to establish dargāhs in several regions of South Asia, from Sindh in the west to Bengal in the east, and the Deccan in the south. But from all the network of Chishtī dargāhs the Ajmer dargāh took on the special distinction of being the 'mother' dargah of them all.
[edit] Dargah Sharif

he dargah (shrine) of Chisti, known as Dargah Sharif or Ajmer Sharif is an international wakf (endowment), managed under the 'Dargah Khwaja Saheb Act, 1955' of Government of India. The Dargah Committee, appointed by the Government, manages donations, takes care of the maintenance of the shrine, and runs charitable institutions like dispensaries, and guest houses for the devotees.[5] The dargah, which is visited by Muslim pilgrims as well as Hindus and Sikhs as a symbol of intercommunal harmony, became the target of a terrorist bomb attack[6] in October 2007 by suspected Hindutva militants.
[edit] In popular culture

A Bollywood movie Jodhaa Akbar (2008), directed by Ashutosh Gowariker, includes a qawwālī in praise of Moinuddin Chishti ("Khwāja Mērē Khwāja"). It depicts the Emperor Akbar being moved by the song to join the whirling-dervish-like dance that accompanies the song. The song is composed by A.R. Rahman.
[edit] Sufis of the Chishtī Order

He had more than one thousand khalīfas and hundreds of thousands of disciples. Sufis of different orders became his disciples and took ijāzah from him. Among the famous Sufis who trace their lineage to him are: Quṭbuddīn Bakhtiyār Kākī, Farīduddīn Mas'ūd, Nizāmuddīn Auliyā', Amir Khusrau, Muhammad Hussain-i Gisūdarāz Bandanawāz, Ashraf Jahāngīr Simnānī, Aṭā' Hussain Fānī and Shāh Jamāl Bābā Bahaya Aurangabadī.

Today, hundreds of thousands of people – Muslims, Hindus, Christians and others, from the Indian sub-continent, and from other parts of the world – assemble at his tomb on the occasion of his 'urs (death anniversary).

Spiritual lineage

'Alī ibn Abī Ṭālib
Al-Ḥasan al-Baṣrī
'Abdul Wāḥid Bin Zaid Abul Faḍl
Fuḍayll ibn 'Iyāḍ Bin Mas'ūd Bin Bishr al-Tamīmī
Ibrāhīm bin Adham
Ḥudhayfah al-Mar'ashī
Amīnuddīn Abū Ḥubayrah al-Baṣrī
Mumshād Dīnwarī

Start of the Chishtī Order:

Abū Isḥāq al-Shāmī
Abū Aḥmad Abdāl
Abū Muḥammad bin Abī Aḥmad
Abū Yūsuf bin Sam'ān al-Ḥusaynī
Maudūd Chishtī
Sharīf Zandānī
'Uthmān Hārūnī
Mu'īnuddīn Chishtī

[edit] Others Buried in the Maqbara enclosure

The famous Mughal generals Sheikh Mīr and Shāhnawāz Khān were buried in the enclosure of Mu'īnuddīn Chishtī's Maqbara after they died in the Battle of Deorai in 1659. Shāhnawāz Khān was the Emperor Aurangzeb's father-in-law.[7]

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