The Hijdaeroticness
Originally uploaded by flickr photographerno1
I shoot Hijdas , I somehow find that I meet them in all walks of life, they are aware of my existence as I am of their existence, more harrowing than my own.
I shoot the pain in their eyes , their muffled cries, I shoot their ancestry , their ethnicity as I see it reflected on the viewfinder of my raw human soul.
I started shooting the Hijdas quite recently about 2 years.
This is a srange fascination, a magnetic pull that brings them towards my picture frame.I missed Ajmer Sharif , and her partner who had met me at Ajmer last year was surprised at my absence this time .
At Ajmer Sharif the Hijdas book both sides of the lane that leads to the imposing Bulund Darwaza, but the richer ones dominate Moti Katra the Hijda Paradise..
Yes I missed Ajmer and the hijdaeroticness of this mystical ethnic community.
Here in Mumbai , I meet them , some let me shoot them , some abusively shoo me away, the other place that fascinates Hidas is the Urus of Haji Malang in the mountains on the outskirts of Kalyan.
Here they dance, with joy, and their sheer devotedness is a enticing quality.
Near Taragadh, there is a Shrine of a Hijda Saint who had given birth to a child, this part of ancient folklore , he had asked for a boon and the Khwajah Moinuddin Chishty the Sufi Saint had granted him, tough the consequences were painful, the Hijda pregnant had relented and jumped into the mountains seperating the child from his womb as the story goes, I had walked 45 km barefeet a long route both ways and shot the graves at Wadi Noor ..
You can see the pictures at my homesite
www.photographerno1.com
in the Eunuch gallery..
The Hijdas visit this place as one of their Holy Pilgrimage ..
I had a dream and had trekked barefeet jagged rocks .. and landed there exhausted dehyderated , a spiritual experience of a life time.
One of the most impoertant person to who have influenced me is Basanti the Eunuch Queen, she has tribal genealogy, gypsyish , she is a mystic, she reads minds, and she hates any Hijda that shows any softness for me, Basnti is fiercely dominating , she does not like me shooting pictures of other Hijdas other than herself.
I miss her tenderly, my relationships with the Hijdas is completely of the mind, though I confess I was as a poet besotted with Priya the Hijda from Singapore, this lady is the lustiest lass I have ever seen.
Zeenat at Ajmer is from the Afro tribe of the Siddhis and she is another primal force of errupting eunuch sexuality..The Hijdas are vindictive , God save yo if you spurn the Hijdas advances , you can say goodbye to your human soul for good,even the cops close all unsolved murder crimes of passion of Hijdas I was told by the Hijda Guru at Ajmer.
This is the flip negative side , but mostly the Hijda is pecae abiding, hand clapping peson, the handclapping is a yogic therapy, it is the sign of their calling, a releasing of a Kundalini based force.
The lower echelons of Hijdas when angry lift their sarees exposing their genitalia , if provoked or abused and this in Indian society is a stigma a curse of the Hijda.
There are rich kids who are men by day and Hijdas by night, these are not just camp or gay, but harcore Hijdas , playing their music of sexuality to both the worlds.They are patronised by the powers that be who want deviant sex..They are protected too, have body guards, I met a few at five star hotels, but wh requested me not to shoot them in a nice threatning way..these are not gays or crossdressers these are the Metrosexual Hijdas they come with a price,,
They are taken care of by the patrons , have lavish appartments are invited to Delhi Farm House orgies I was told in secrecy. its big bold bucks..
Some of them I was told are so pretty converted to Islam and kept in Hijabs by their Muslim lovers.. without the wives ever coming to know about them..And if you see the pictures of Hijdas I have shot you will believe me.
This is a new brave world of Hijdas , the old world has been discarded and done away with, so you see the older Gurus not taking to the new order ..and the champion of Hijda Rights is Laxmi Narayan Tripathi who leads from the front trying to make the change smoother..
Yes The Hijda has come of Age..
Hijdaeroticness the catch phrase of Laxmi Narayan Tripathi .
