Bull Kurbani Stray Thoughts of a Shia Blogger, originally uploaded by firoze shakir photographerno1.
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Bakra Idd with all its blood , gore is also a reminder for me as a Shia Blogger photographer , that Moharam is just 20 days away and my lens will be splattered with more blood than you see here .
Yes we all look forward to Moharam, when color will give way to black, the only red will be the wounds on our heads and back.
On 1 Dec I shot the Mahim Police sandal of Maqdoom Shah Baba , but my most interesting new subject for photography is the Siddis performers of Junagadh, I had gone to the Dhuni yesterday and again today.
Yesterday the Mumbai Police hassled me endlessly even after shooting so much footage of the cops at the Mahim station..the cops at the gates saw no difference between me and a terrorist..in spite of having a Press Card like a noose round my neck. And it frightens me this excessive use of security for people like me who share cultures rites and rituals all free without even begging for donations to buy a new camera.
.I must be the only blogger that has given prominence to the Mumbai Police at all the feasts and the functions I have shot.. simply because beneath the khaki uniform resides a God , and the policeman is a savior of society..
The Mumbai Police are the most neglected police force, thanks to political interference and apathy and undue interference in the process of law.
Yet the Mumbai Police picks on the barefeet blogger of Mumbai.. yes I am as much a Mumbaikar as they are..
This evening at the Dhuni I shot the Siddis performing I went into Kaif collapsed on the floor luckily I had handed over my camera and camera bag to a guy from the area.
He was quick enough to shoot my trance and my fall.
I was barefeet and my feet are already bruised cut since the Mahim Police Sandal adventure.
I am very depressed with the state of the Chancawalli Rafaees , they have all dispersed , a handful remain under Barsati baba and Amanat Baba..no Hassan Ganda or Farukh Baba..
I met Chalak Ai but did not shoot his pictures..
I do not feel like going to the Dhuni anymore after Handi Sais death..
There are some new babas, and Amanat Baba was quite serious when he told me that they had heard of my death in Rajastahan.. and had offered prayers for my departed soul..
Well dying does no scare me but not paying back the money I borrowed from friends and have been unable to pay would kill me more easily..
So welcome after this to the world of Rafaees .. Siddis and no Hijras..
