Chancawalli Urus 2010

Chancawalli Urus 2010, originally uploaded by firoze shakir photographerno1.

I start a new set at my Flickr photostream,the Chancawalli Urus 2010..
The Chancawalli Dargah houses the revered tomb of Baba Haji Syed Usman Shah Qadri alias Chand Shah Baba Vihar lake Road , Pachkauli..Piru Baugh Mumbai..you reach there via Powai ..
I came here in the night along with my dear friend Sakib on his bike , we had a great problem finding the Dargah because Sakib forgot the road ..

We reached there eventually , and this was my second trip, last I had come here many years back when Sikandar Wali Baba the head of the Chancawali Rafaees was alive..

I have documented the life style of the rafaee Sufi body piercers or mendicants or fakirs..they have a Dhuni here and Chancawalli Dargah is on a huge Muslim Sunni cemetery..It is a very serene place away from the hustle bustle of life, I shot this kid at the sanctum sanctorom of the Holy Shrine..he was so fascinated with my rings and would not let go of my hand.
After shooting pictures here I visited the Bawas at the Dhuni and they just could not believe I had come to visit them.

I met Barsati Bawa now the present head of the Chancawalli Rafaees.

I shot a lot of pictures and at about 3 am I reached home..Sakib and I had dinner at the Dargah with his florist friend Rahim Bhai.

I shot the herbal aphrodisiac and medicine sells extensively that had almost every herbal cure for any illness..there was only one single gemstone guy and it was the first day of the Chancawalli Urus ..so his business had not yet picked up.



But the most intriguing incident , happened when I was shooting the Dargah interior, the poor lady who takes care of the shoes slippers of the devotees , saw me bowed her head , than coming closer to me she placed Rs 21 in my hands ,,she said she would have given me more but business was bad as it was the first day of the Urus , I was about to tell her I am not a Fakir, but I kept quite not wanting to hurt her sentiments.

So I quietly took the precious mount , I thought I would give it to some beggar lady at the Dargah, but Sakib told me to take it home , the next morning I gave the amount to my maid servant for her kids..

I realized that giving alms is a privilege but receiving alms from a person poorer than you is an honor..yes verily I am a beggar too.. and the humility of a person poorer than you is the humility of God..