Monday, October 7, 2013

The Holistic Healing Waters Of The Banganga ,, For The Dead And The Living

Banganga or Banganga Tank is an ancient[1] water tank which is part of the Walkeshwar Temple Complex in Malabar Hill area of Mumbai in India.

Tank was built in the 1127 AD, by Lakshman Prabhu, a minister in the court of Silhara dynasty kings of Thane.[2][3]
The tank was rebuilt in 1715 AD, out of a donation for the Walkeshwar Temple by Rama Kamath.[4] The main temple, has been reconstructed since then and is at present a reinforced concrete structure of recent construction.

The Dead Come Alive On Pitru Paksh Day At Banganga

I would have never shot this feast at all.. as I never knew about it .. it was a picture by Ranjit Shashank of PSI ..Photographic Society Of India my camera club , many years back that got me hooked completely and I began shooting it in earnest,, I tried never to give it a miss and I think I began shooting this from 2004 or earlier ,,,

Attached to this was another ritual, I shot this barefeet and after I completed my shoot I would go to my Guru Mr KG Maheshwaris old ancestral home Maheshwari house , after washing my dirty filthy feet in his lavish garden.. and than pay my tribute to this Grand Master Yousef Karsh of India and his wife,.

Of late I have not met them for many years ,,,but we keep in touch he is not as active on the Internet .as he has not been keeping well ..Mr KG Maheshwaris is in his 90s ,,I want my grand children to be blessed by him,, so I pray everyday for his speedy recovery.

So it was with sad nostalgia I finished the shoot this year , than our bike accident at Teen Batti.. with Pratik Koli my friend and our eventually coming out unscathed ..

This picture was shot in 2011..and this ritual has all the qualities of photogenic splendor , but you should know when to stop, I came early shoot in good light and then within an hour was out,,, the silver lining is the boat shots ,, the boat guys dont take money from me because they know I love Banganga its pristine heritage as much as them.

And this a part of peaceful Uttar Pradesh , a glorious message of peace hope goodwill and captured by me a born Shia Muslim , the reason I am mentioning this is why do people hate kill murder plunder when both sides are Indians ,,, I reiterate my stand my upbringing,, and I have lived in Mumbai since I was a year old living with my parents in the slums of Kurla..

This city of Migrants gave us much, gave us even what we did not ask, it gave us hope took us from the slums to Wodehouse Road , to Breach Candy and finally to Strand Cinema ,, till I branched out on my own with my family to Bandra..

So perhaps life has come a full circle and my 50000 blogs on Hinduism as Hope and Hindutva a Message of Peace Hope Humanity is the result of my mothers teachings of living with peace with my neighbor , respecting his religion faith and Ideals,.. and this is the greatest gift of my parent that I have much before my death bequeathed to my children and their children.. and this is an Indian quality of Oneness ..

Media only writes about Muslim Hindu hate animosity but will never speak of Muslims living in peace with all community .. media has to sell and hate sells faster than love or Mutual coexistence ..before building toilets temple we have to build the broken down walls of our inner hearts where the hate of one Indian for another Indian lies ,,

I am not much of a writer I prefer a few words and I type with one finger but without my Hindu gurus , my Hindu friends and others I would have not reached this far each one picked me up when I fell.. and are still helping me to find my way home.

Thank You Ranjit Shashank.. you showed me a path.. I found my destination..

If You See All My Pictures Of Pitru Paksh Since I Began Shooting It,,,The Life Of The Beggar Has Not Changed


they come
on the eve
of navratra
on pitru paksh
day...stretched
out hands ,,
near the archway
some give them
money some
kurmura ,,
the traditional
way ,,to their
dear departed
ancestors
the north
indian migrant
offers prayers
the beggars
make sure
they are there
life broken down
leprous bare
putrid wounds
through blind
eyes socketless
they stare ..
beggars are
beggars their
fate fulsome
is the only
thing they
share ,,,
beggars
beyond
caste
color
creed
their
collective
ethnicity
from here
till doomsday


this was shot on pitru paksh 2012 ,, as a picture some wordplay

My Hindu Blogs Of Peace Hope Humanity


i show
my city's
cultural
inheritance
glow
mumbai
an ocean
where all
rivers of
diverse faith
flow become
one agar
ap gaur se
dekho ..desh
bhakti ki jai ho
almost every
hindu festival feast
as a blog i shot
govinda ganpati
durga puja pitru
pasksh.
in a cosmic row
a tree branches
bear fruits grow
my grand children
shoot what i shoot
also sound as echo

Kab, kaun, kaise uthega yeh koi nahi bata sakta hai. Ha, ha, ha.'

Madman of Carter Road


i shot him
on carter road
otters club
outside
the esoteric
rink
crowds
elections
voting
but he was
too busy
to be inked
he was happy
with his madness
his kinks ..he
saluted a rich
filmy bollywood
club member who
got out of
his Porsche
who gave him
rs 100.. this
madman
caught in
a drop
of a nectar
out of sync
i have no
right to
prejudge him
whether he
takes drugs
or drinks
every armour
was created
out of a chink

I Shall Leave A Part of Me Behind


i practice
the art of
dying
with dignity
every day
silence
stabs me
throttles
my throaty
pain..slits
the wrists
of my compassion
my humility my life
drains the silhouette
of sweaty sorrow
clinging chains ..
dramatic diversions
of a crazy brain
i tried to shoot
myself..unsuccessfully
a poetic thought
precariously hung
on the edge of a
cliffhanger of
the cosmic camera
funereal strains
lyrical lassitude
through the
dark eerie
corridor of my
mind its gloomy
backlanes
i bequeathed
pictorial passion
to my next of kin
a drop it fell
of my brow
on their souls
ingrained
unrestrained
a part of me
it contained

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