The Bhelpuriwallah

The Bhelpuriwallah, originally uploaded by firoze shakir photographerno1.

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He is bhelpuriwalah I know since 1982..I dont know his name , he parked his cart at a junction near Tawah Restaurant , and I knew him well as I stayed for somettime with my family at 28 th road Bandra in a company flat.

It was during this time his son died , he was totally doomed and crushed ..I moved away time elapsed and than he began parking his cart near Waterfieled Road ..he would see me nod but we never talked at all.


And I know as a father he carries the memories of his dead son , the way he pushes the cart I feel he is pushing his dead sons body to the crematorium, I feel his pain after so many years and I took this shot asking him to stop .. and he gave me a faint glimmer of a smile a smile of Hope.


Street photography is not randomly going trigger happy shooting street scenes , no it is much more street photography is shooting stories that encapsulate pain and raw human emotions..

A picture must touch , yes it must touch you and then reveal what was hidden from you, it reverberates as a memory you may or you may not have lived..

If I had just posted the picture as is where is, you got one aspect of his life's story his struggle and his determination to survive even though a few want him out of the city , yes in times like this when you cant nab terrorists than you search for a scapegoat even a North Indian becomes a terrorist , a bar dancer becomes a terrorist even the Muslim man with a goatee and a skull cap makes you think he is a terrorist..

And it makes me laugh at the cameo of life , why must a terrorist look like a Muslim , if he is a wily terrorist smart cyber savvy, he will look like a policeman , a postman , a courier boy, an Army man, a Catholic priest a Sadhu and even as a politician, any life's or even Laxmans common man for that matter.. , Kasab blew the myth of the Taliban type terrorist, even a guy riding a roller skates could be a terrorist..

There was a time I was stopped at all Nakabandi because I wore a turban, though I was clean shaven, but I was a suspected Terrorist simply because I have a Muslim name..I than began wearing saffron , Hindu religious attire I have never been stopped at all, but I have stopped thinking about all this , the Mumbai police know me now at least in the areas that I am a regular visitor.

Street photography is learning wisdom of the streets , I had a photographer friend Dr Reza Masoudi from London , he was here last year to shoot Moharam Ashura in Mumbai He called me to share lunch with him at Lucky Hotel, he is an excellent street photographer too, and after lunch he was going to walk all the way to Makdhoom Shah Babas Shrine to shoot pictures ..

I dd not accompany him ..he is working on a documentary of Shia life , during Moharam , he has shot Lucknow too.

He kept taking notes and I told him the largest collection of the Shia ethos during Moharam is my Flickr photosteam..for that matter Hinduism and the Hijra ethos too.

As a street photographer all religious events feasts festivals celebrated on the streets come under the canopy and purview of street photography.

Street photography is shooting candids too.. have good reflexes and fast I shoot on a single frame mode unlike the Mumba phot journos whom I call Khat a Khat photographers.. in a speed that betrays oxymoron haste..

But I get tired of still photography and if God permits I will take up shooting the streets and everything connected to life with a video..

People invariably complain there is nothing to shoot in Mumbai and if you open your minds eye let Shiva out there is whole unexplored world out there..and because I shoot with my mouth I am not taken as a serious photographer but a dim wit of a dick head of a photo blogger.


The only person who would call me to talk to his students on the aspect of street photography and photo blogging is Mr Shreekanth Malushte who taught me photography and taught my daughter Samiya too including my kid brother Firdose ..

And because Shreekant Malushteji does not take two years old in his classes I am teaching my grand daughter Marziya Shakir the Art of Unlearning Photography.

My shop help who does not know the ABC of aperture or Fucked F Stops shoots me better than the best photographers off the street..All my pictures are shot by him..

So a bhelpuriwallah can also open a can of worms ..and it takes only a picture to tell you the lifetime story of man ..

Photography is not shooting pictures but adding poetry where no words existed at all.. and you dont have to be a poet to read poetry.. you could read it with your eyes closed too..


And one of the slum kids looked at me proudly in the eye and said Uncle main bi ap ki tarah.. photographer banooga..which means I want to be a photographer like you..

And I wanted to tell him be a photographer , but not like me or you will be broke all your life..

I dont sell pictures I dont sell words..a blogger is a commodity that has not yet reached the the markets of Mumbai..

I make my living stitching up sartorial egos when they begin bursting on the seams ..yes I am a tailor..by default

a tailor made default..