I Have The Hijra Vardan

I Have The Hijra Vardan, originally uploaded by firoze shakir photographerno1.

Vardan means blessings even in disguise , I have been blessed by the Almighty to shoot the Hijras , no two ways about it, hijras I dont need to stalk they follow me and we meet on the crossroads of life,there are places if I go I know I will meet hijras , but for some reason if I am unable to go there I will still meet hijras within the spectrum of my surroundings.

My going to Ajmer this year looks a very distant dream..I dont think I am destined for this trip , but thats Okay, God works in strange ways , I dont hold this against him.

Similarly every year I try my best but have never been able to go to Koovagam.

All my friends go there I am left behind but yet I get hijras to shoot and I have shot over 11000 hijra pictures all on my Flickr photostream.

I have composed poems for the hijras trying to demystify the hijra angst , this genre I call hijra poetry.

And on Flickr it is mostly hijra lovers , crossdressers who add me as friend.

And I have shown my solidarity with the hijras and the gay community shooting the Gay Parade in Mumbai fort two consecutive years.

My Hijra Guru is the iconic Laxmi Narayan Tripathi without her blessings I would have not reached the pinnacle of photographing the Hijra angst.

The HIjra human pain , the hijra anguish , the hijra struggle and hijra hardships

So this is my tribute to her and hope she prays for me at the Shrine of Khwajah Gharib Nawaz the Patron Saint and Protector of Hijras and Humanity.

And this was shot at the Maryamma feast Sion Koliwada where the hijra in the yellow saree has a 18 feet steel rod pierced into her cheeks from one end to the other ..