Advocate Ashish Shelars Dahi Handi Celebrations 2009

Advocate Ashish Shelars Dahi Handi Celebrations 2009, originally uploaded by firoze shakir photographerno1.

This is my new set at Flickr pictures that I kept in abeyance shot in the evening 14 August 2009.

This is part of my series of Hope and Hindutva a message of Peace.

The Dahi Handi of Hill Road organized by Advocate Ashish Shelar is very famous , thought I only shot it for the first time this year..

The entire celebrations of breaking the Handi take place on this busiest road of Bandra West.
The Bandra Police did an excellent job keep traffic and tempers under control, the whole event went of smoothly I was there till the very end.

The BJP volunteers were also on their feet Sunil Parab, Rahul and Neil to mention just a few.
Jeetu Raut my good friend and well wisher was too in good form ..

Ramzan Mubarak Aaya

Ramzan Mubarak Aaya, originally uploaded by firoze shakir photographerno1.

Ramzan Mubarak Aaya ..this is the words the Awakeners yell out in the wee hours of the morning , to wake you you up on time for the Roza or fast during the Holy month of Ramzan..And this is almost sung out on the Dhapli by the Awakener , the Awakner is a contingent part of the ambiance of Ramzan..

He comes on Thursdays to collect baksheesh for the social service he does , and Ramazan is the a moment of Truth and self introspection , a moment for piety a moment to seek forgiveness a moment to cange from a Muslim into a good human being..changing into a good human being is the paramount principle of Islam..unfragmented Islam that encapsulates all those who love Allah His Holy Messenger His Holy Book and his Ahle Bayt..

This is the first picture of my new set at Flickr that will turn into a story board of Peace and Brotherhood..

I am a diabetic so is my wife but we have not missed a Roza though my wife begins her rozas much before the advent of Ramzan..

As a diabetic I found my sugar levels go up during Ramzan because of change of dietary timings..my insulin intake timings also change , but I am also being treated through Auyrveda..

Ramzan is a month closest to every Muslim heart a month that emanates a global fragrance of amity and serene spirituality.

Ramzan is recollecting your childhood , your first roza, your coming of Age..Ramzan is remembering your forefathers their heritage , your parents your family and your neighbors and friends.

Ramzan I am in tears now is about your Hindu neighbor keeping a token fast as tribute to your love and as tribute to the most important element that binds our life India ..our motherland.

This one single element of humanity beyond religiosity ..and it is this Holy month that we celebrate in earnest and in our area at Bandra Bazar Road the mutual coexistence of Lord Ganesha and his Feast will begin..no barriers no fences..

This is the time Politicians will appease the Muslims with Iftar parties at the drop of a hat

I also wish all my Parsi friends on this auspicious day as they celebrate Parsi New Year or Navroz..

And more important than my picture shot at Behrampada is the silhouette of a human loving humanity..

Masked Mumbai

Masked Mumbai, originally uploaded by firoze shakir photographerno1.

I cannot resist hooting kids with masks , masks that are so alien to their inherent nature , but they wear it calmly like a badge of courage.

Everyone I know has some cough and cold fever problem..


Arshi and Arslan the two kids I shoot are down to with flu like symptoms which is not the same as Swine Flu.

The rich throw Swine Flu parties ..while the poor are party to Swine Flu..

An Angel of a Kid

An Angel of a Kid, originally uploaded by firoze shakir photographerno1.

88,540 items / 536,640 views

This girl stays next to my shop, many attempts to shoot her have been failures, she is shy , reticent and coy..her mother , her brothers ask her to pose for me she refuses point blank, this was my lucky day, when she came and stood by my infamous door, that is waiting for an Angel from America to do the honors...

I have no other place to shoot them, this a vehicular road , that has huge trucks moving in every minute because this road Bandra Bazar Road leads to the Bandra Bazar Market..Dickensian setting of most of my picture subjects.Little Fat Boy Mr Pickwick, Uriah Heep,Mr Micawber you can find them all as Muslims of course..Aunt Peggoty is Hafiza Bi... Ha Ha Ha


When Dr Glenn Losack visited me in Mumbai I did not have this tailoring outlet..I was situated at another place in Bandra , close to Waterfield Road..there was better photography situations out there , regular visits to my shop by the Naga Sadhus , the whippers the Hijras etc..

Here it is the same faces I shoot and if I did not my camera eyes and my camera would both go rusty..


Glenn loved Bandra because he has some memorable moments at my house,my wife cooking bland stuff for him, and he loved her dal and chicken tikka, Marziya was far too small..My wife liked Glenn and she saw that he was happy at our home all times.

Glenn would sit at this very computer and do his stuff.

Yes my family is eagerly waiting for this American whom we consider our immediate family.. with no strings attached.


Americans are very good people, with good hearts , and a bit crazy most of the time in a friendly way of course , its this bit craziness that makes them American..it is this bit craziness ..that makes me get along with Glenn and Fred too.. Fred is Indo American , I have never met him, but consider him family too..

And now I have a new friend I think she too is a bit crazy to spend most of her time with crazy photographers like me and Glenn.

She is Angel and I dedicate this post to her.

The name of the girl in the picture is Miss Ayesha.

Happy World Photography Day 2009

Happy World Photography Day 2009, originally uploaded by firoze shakir photographerno1.

On 4 January 1829 Niepce agreed to go into partnership with Louis Daguerre. Niepce died only four years

later, but Daguerre continued to experiment. Soon he had discovered a way of developing photographic

plates, a process which greatly reduced the exposure time from eight hours down to half an hour.

He also discovered that an image could be made permanent by immersing it in salt.

Following a report on this invention by Paul Delaroche, a leading scholar of the day, the French government bought the rights to it in July 1839. Details of the process were made public on 19 August 1839, and Daguerre named it the “ Daguerreotype “

The announcement that the Daguerreotype "requires no knowledge of drawing...." and that " anyone may succeed...and perform as well as the author of the invention" was greeted with enormous interest, and "Daguerreomania" became a craze overnight. An interesting account of these days is given by a writer called Gaudin , who was present the day that the announcement was made.

This information with respect to Photography- by M.S.Hebbar,AFIAP.,Hon.YPS.,Hon.FIP

Today the world celebrates World Photography Day , I dedicate this post to late BW Jatkar , my Guru and a Guru to many other photographers like me..most of them dont even know that a giant of photography has passrd away.

He left this earth on 2 August 2009.


He is survived by his wife , son and daughter Shivani Birje of New Jersey.


The picture is of a 21 month old child called Marziya Shakir who shoots with a Nikon D80 assisted by me..

from a giant called jatkar
the magic of photography
into my vein flows
from my veins
it touches the soul of
marziya 21 month old
grand daughter
of a barefeet blogger
called firoze
camera the greatest
instrument of peace
that god chose
holistically healing
the wounds of the world
as everyone knows
giving hope
harmony
love and peace
instead of blows
from one end
to another end
pictures glow
making poems
out of pictorial prose
a new world is possible
as a blessing
it bestows
from a little seedling
into a giant of photography
called black and white jatkar
as it grows
photographers never die
they leave their
footprints on sands of time
that we expose


And I am crying now..
when I die Marziya - will inherit my pictorial heritage ..a better poem she will compose ..

The Tower of Babel

The Tower of Babel, originally uploaded by firoze shakir photographerno1.

on quicksand
a tower of babel they built
a dangerous structure
standing on rusty iron stilts
than came the fire
along with fate
hope too wilts
on the soul of society
another betrayal
another guilt
but the resilience of man
from his mistakes
his failures
a new behrampada
rebuilds

On A Mound of A Rubble Dead Hopes Lie

On A Mound of A Rubble Dead Hopes Lie, originally uploaded by firoze shakir photographerno1.

88,410 items / 535,910 views

what once was a house
a home a factory
a shop
now a graveyard
on a mound of a rubble
where dead hopes lie
as heavy rains
like thunderbolts
fall from the sky
on the soul of
Beharampada
an embittered cry
a hand
at the mercy
of a cup of chai
no schoolbooks
no school uniform
no time for padhai
the moon of ramzan
lets out a sigh
rozas sairi iftiari
as time passes by
the fear of swine flu
with prayers defy
isolated behrampada
also a part of mumbai
molten tears
on shriveled cheeks dry
threatened survival
where fate has
become
the lord of the flies

What Media Does Not Shoot The Blogger Shoots

What Media Does Not Shoot The Blogger Shoots, originally uploaded by firoze shakir photographerno1.

Time like a bandit
the Muslim ethos loots
robs them of their
hard earned fruits
a fire with nature
in cahoots
rains swine flu
their lives pollute
structure after structure
as it uproots
hopes trampled
by marching boots
from one destroyed
house to another
pain commutes
you have money
the world salutes
rich dividend
rich tributes
a beggar bowl in his hand
the Behrampada poor
at the mercy of
bureaucratic brutes
what media does not shoot
the blogger shoots

88,406 items / 535,894 views