Shooting Chehlum in Mumbai

Shooting Chehlum in Mumbai, originally uploaded by firoze shakir photographerno1.

Shooting Moharam gets me low , and I have shot Moharam in most of the cities where Moharam is held with Ghame Hussain as its main mode of action..Azadari e Hussain is what keeps Moharam alive , and wherever a Shia family lives Moharam its torch burns brightly.

Every house has their annual majlis at home and this continues through Moharam.. two months eight days.

The next biggest event of Moharam after Ashura which was the 10 day of Moharam, is Chehlum ..also known as Arbayeen or the 40 th day of Moharam.

In Mumbai the Moharam crowds during Chehlum exceed over 10 lacs or more, the Juloos or procession starts from JJ Hospital junction and also from Moghul Masjid , and proceeds towards Rehmatabad Shia cemetery.

On the streets of Mumbai , the zanjir matam, the Iraqi Kama matam continues with Nohakars from every Anjuman reciting their stuff.. their are also contingents that come from other cities to participate in Mumbai Arbayeen or Chelum.
So you have Kashmiri guys , or Hyderabadi guys doing the blade matam..

But the most ferocious , the most delirious moment of blood letting takes place at the Rehmatabad Shia cemetery soon after the short Majlis gets over..It is a virtual stampede and the Mumbaikar Shia is unstoppable , the swords the zanjirs and the kamas cut through the air into flesh and bone.

And if you can shoot this you can shoot death in the face too..this I say in total humility as a photographer and as a Shia blogger.

There is no saying when a blade will cut open your hands eyes or your person , I shoot close very close..but thanks to the veterans and friends I get a safe passage among the matamdars.

As of now I am not sure where I will shoot Chehlum , it all depends on my friend Dr Glenn Losack MD from Brooklyn Manhattan.

I will only make plans on his arrival I owe him this much.

For the non Muslim shooting Moharam a black shirt gets ready acceptance , and for the woman photographer a back scarf on the heads earns her respect.. and Moharam in Mumbai is shot mostly barefeet, or you keep your shoes in a plastic bag when you enter the cordon where the blood letting happens..

As a almost known Shia face I have had problems , as some guys dont like their pictures being taken of a very private spiritual moment happening in public.

So these are just a few tips in case as an amateur you want to shoot this event..I am an amateur too at heart..I dont need to tell this to the photo journalist of Mumbai..he is million light years ahead of you and me..he shoots with the latest gizmos we shoot with our eyes and nothing else the camera is merely an appendage of our pedestrian vision...over reaching its human constrains for all all times..