Kids of the Gutter Diggers

Kids of the Gutter Diggers, originally uploaded by firoze shakir photographerno1.

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These are the children that are born in the gutters of a woman's womb, and this is without disrespect to womanhood or motherhood..their mothers and their fathers spent their lives in the sewers , open gutters and this is their path to nirvana..they work as daily paid workers for the local municipality , their bodies are always smothered with dirt filth and feces..

Normally this lot that I shoot on my way to my work place are gutter scavengers , they search for gold particles at Bandra Jain Mandir Road where there are gold smith shops..and gradually collect a bit of gold that they sell back to the jewelers and return to their family homes in Andhra Pradesh.

I normally dont shoot kids in a state of undress but this childs look at me got the better of me as a street photographer , she was conveying a million things in a cosmic second.

And they play close to open gutters but they will never fall into it , these are born gutter kids , they have been weaned in the gutter of life...I remember telling the contractor where they were working about safety measures and he retorted these kids are much smarter and he was right.

They have no fear of the gutters , the gutters is their life's playground and these are pictures I shoot I leave them without text and again while I shot them today I thought of elaborating on the nature of their destiny interlinked to the gutter , there is no getting away from it..and this time Rahebar Khan the local independent corporator with leanings towards the Congress I ,has opened up all the gutters to widen and upgrade them with concrete foundations , and the work continues in all the three lanes Ice Factory Lane , Chinchpokli lane and Bandra Jain Mandir road.


And as my life I manacled to Mumbai I am a prisoner of circumstances my surroundings and my emotions..I shoot all this , and as I dont yearn for Utopia or a Camelot in another man or woman's back yard I shoot the gutter of life as it cuts across my own soul.

Because I shoot pictures as poetry , I have no longings searching another dream world beyond where I live , I would never do the Haj where my beliefs my faith lies under siege..this is my personal opinion nothing can change it..

I have never been to Karbala or Najaf or Sham or Iran , they seem to be very far away from my destiny , I am grounded to my mother country and I am happy breathing the ar of the nativity of my poetic soul.

I have no desire for foreign lands , I am happy where I am..

If I die I would have only one regret not being able to pay off my limited liabilities to my creditors , friends who helped me when I was totally down.

Death is the only reality that gives me a reason to live , without cutting my wrist to emotionalize the pain of not living...



And so shooting a small child a by product of a gutter can bring you out from the gutter of your despondency and despair...yes the child held me with a glance accusingly mocking my camera and me .. he lashed my soul..

He said Photographer you are a Gutter Too...