Wednesday, June 30, 2010
A Dog Like Woman Beggar of Ajmer
I saw her on all fours and this was my first shot and I walked behind her watching the degradation of much touted humanity and womanhood.
And this is a common sight during the Urus of Khwajah Gharib Nawaz Ajmer Sharif.
Nobody even gives a second look, and all around her is a sea of beggars , they have all come here to ingratiate themselves , they will place floral tributes worth thousands of rupees , chaddar , to show their love for the Holy Saint.
In the two Deghs or vessels in the Holy Shrine they will offer gold silver, money , but hardly will they offer this beggar woman a rupee or two.
Such is the nature of selfish man , he only grovels for himself or his family.
And poets like me shoot them as the poetry of life gone awry, beggar pictures upsets the fucked somnolent consciousness of society..nothing more nothing less.
But they do not see the degradation of human life the ignominy of womanhood.
They wont ever see it at all...we wake them up with our pictures , and for the record this photo blogger who walks barefeet does not sell his pictures.
He sold his his prime used telly lens Nikon AF 80/200 2.8 ED for Rs 15000 , to make this trip to Ajmer and to share with you a world through the poetry of life.
22 GB memory card of Hijra despair remorse and the beggardom at Ajmer.
The Curse of One Sided Contacts at Flickr
I have a profile page at Flickr that clearly states I wont add a contact with incomplete profile details or with porn on their photo stream or favorites , this tasteless pictures are made visible to me as the person on the other end adds me as friend or family.
And I am not into porn or human genitalia but one sided contacts keep adding me I have just deleted 90 of them and it is a tedious task unlike Facebook where you merely Block the person , at Flickr you have to go to the profile page block him , wait for the next step thereby wasting my precious blogging time.
A sample of the block page at Flickr
Block ????
When you choose to block someone, it means they:
* Can't comment on your photos
(All comments on your photos made by them are deleted)
* Can't comment on your sets
(All comments on your sets made by them are deleted)
* Are removed as your contact, and you are removed as theirs
(They can't add you as a contact again)
* Can't add your photos as favorites anymore
(Any of your photos marked as their favorites are removed)
* Can't add your photos to galleries
(Any of your photos added to their galleries are removed)
* Can't blog your photos
* Can't add notes or tags
* Can't add you to photos
* Can't send you FlickrMail
Note: While the block itself will occur immediately, removal of comments and favorites can take up to several hours (though hopefully not that long!).
Please confirm that you're sure you want to block ?????
Or return to the list of contacts you are blocking.
I have removed the name of the person I blocked not wanting to hurt his sentiments.
But it beats me they will never read my disclaimer on my Profile page which states the following.
Unauthorized use or reproduction of my pictures or text for any reason is prohibited ...
PLEASE DONT ADD ME AS A CONTACT IF YOU ARE INTO PORN SEMI PORN , KINKY GROUPS I AM NOT INTERESTED IN BEING A POSTER BOY ON YOUR LIST OF FRIENDS EVEN IF IT IS ONE SIDED FROM YOUR END- I WILL BLOCK YOU IMMEDIATELY ..PLEASE RESPECT MY RIGHT OF PRIVACY..AS I RESPECT YOURS..
DO NOT ADD ME AS A CONTACT if you have tasteless masturbationally self-indulgent crap on your page!..find someone of your own kind dont subject me to blocking you - which I will if I see my thumbnail on your contacts page.
PLEASE DONT SEND ME INVITATIONS FOR GROUPS..I DONT BELONG TO GROUPS HERE OR AT FACEBOOK OR ELSEWHERE
I WILL BLOCK ONE SIDED CONTACTS THAT HAVE ADDED ME WITHOUT THEIR PROFILE OR AVATAR OR THOSE INTO KINKY GROUPS..PORN ETC..
I HAVE BLOCKED 425 SUCH CONTACTS..
The greatest problem of One Sided Contacts at Flickr they dont disappear if you delete them, your thumbnail will show on their photo steam , thereby
adding embarrassment to curiosity.
Because Flickr is trying to be the poor mans Facebook with respect to pictures they condone this , madness that is one big pain in the rectum of remorse.
And it hits me hard I type with a single finger due to permanent right hand , imagine my agony..if there was merely one step in blocking it would not matter at all.
But the number of steps drives me crazy to say the least.
What bugs me is how can Flickr a fabulous site allow people to become members without valid identification or profiles.
And I hope with all the changes on the new Flickr page in the future this aspect s taken as my feedback.
I am still protesting against the enabling of Comment Moderation , so I have strangled my comment box for good.
Mind you I miss comments from my old friends at Flickr but than those who shit hate comments on my controversial religion and street pictures are in a large majority.
And because I want you to sincerely read this I have taken the help of Raveena Hijda the Rare Beauty and Seductress and the Hijra Goddess of Ajmer.
My Flickr Profile Page
http://www.flickr.com/people/firozeshakir/
Tuesday, June 29, 2010
The Documentary of Hijra Pain Ajmer Urus 2010
The Documentary of Hijra Pain Ajmer Urus 2010, originally uploaded by firoze shakir photographerno1.
132,052 items / 981,247 views
Another 97 pictures I have placed on the Flickr uploader will complete this 4 GB cars
I have another 3 cards of 4 GB to upload.
I normally place my stuff on the uploader and go to work when I return I add details titles or poetize a picture or too,.
Few I post to Facebook and some to my Hijda Eunuch blogs at Word Press .
It is a tedious task, but through Yahoo application all my thumbnails show up on Facebook and on Twitter through another application.
So please dont think I am on the computer 24/7 I am not.
Because of a troubled state of mind I hate to add text only where required , or I leave my pictures blank.
This is a passionate Hijra documentation , beneath the smile lurks a hurting hijra pain of servile existence.
And for the first time in my life since the time I began showcasing the Hijra Angst one of the head of the Hijras in Mumbai Ma Madhurima Hijra Guru of Park Site Vikhroli patted my head blessed me and said Beta You are doing a good job for our community.
These few words made my day.
I have to rush to work..now.
A Story of Love Gone Awry
he had a tryst with destiny
he could not tell her sorry
a story of love gone awry
to leslie and randy..
The Sacrificial Goat Has No Tomorrow
on borrowed time he lives
appeasing the soul of god
humanity that slaughters him
he unconditionally forgives
Documenting the Soul of Humanity at Ajmer Urus 2010
Documenting the Soul of Humanity at Ajmer Urus 2010, originally uploaded by firoze shakir photographerno1.
And so my story of Ajmer Uris 2010 continues another 200 more pictures will bring this second memory card to an end.
I have 3 more memory cards of 4 GB left to upload.
A Photo Blogger Is A Beggar Too
one begs for money
the other for pictures
it is true
a beggars bowl
a pact renew
charity overdue
one with his mind
the other with his
camera your insipid
soul see through
shoot and preview
pictorial pathos with
demented passion pursue
on the wings of angels
of cyberspace
on your computer
you view
a thankless
thank you
Sweet Sofia and Me
131,821 items / 980,015 views
The first time I shot Sofia she was dressed like a boy and hung around with the hijras , and than she transformed into a diva.
She walks like a ramp model, and rarely mixes with anyone , but her favorite haunt is Babar Alis tea joint at Moti Katla where they all come to bond and make new friends.
.Babar Alis joint is literally a watering hole for the prey and the hijda head hunter.
Sofia had her rooms at Irfans hotel.
And this was shot by Irfans photographer friend who works for the Ajmer newspapers.
Monday, June 28, 2010
Documenting the Hijra Soul at Moti Katla
131,583 items / 977,667 views
This is the famous area called Moti Katla where the affluent hijras from Delhi Mumbai stay,the influence of Khwajah Gharib Nawaz is felt by the Hijras from Delhi Kolkatta and Mumbai and nearby places in the northern states including Pakistan and Bangladesh.
They come in hordes t renew their spiritual pledge with him dancing away into the Holy Shrine with their Sandal processions floral tributes and chaddar offerings.
Nothing is bigger than the Urus of Gharib Nawaz as Khwajah Moinuddin Chisty Al Sabri the Sufi Saint is ubiquitously called by all and sundry.
The Hijras stay here at Moti Katla in old time houses belonging to the Khadim that have balconies facing the main road that leads to Bulund Darwaza.
So when you come through this main road you can see the hijra beauties watching you from above.
The hijras are great spenders they dont scrounge and feed the poor and needy twice a day till they are there .Once they present the sandal they leave Ajmer back to the places from where they came from.
Chatti and 9 ka kul are important dates for these androgynous devotees of Gharib Nawaz.
In the nights the hijras dressed in their finery move around the lanes of the Dargah or sit and chat at Babbbar Alis s tea shop.
Around the dargah there are Qawwali programmes almost very night where these beauties are called to add their glamor and glitz , dance.They are paid handsomely by the crowds and the patron that called them.
I am a known face at Moti Katla.
Hijras also stay across the road on the other side of Moti Katla but I dd not go there.
Hijras are found in some hoses near Sola Khamba but again I would visit this area when Laxmi Narayan Tripathi my hijra Guru was around.
This time she did not come because of the ailing health of her father.
She was tremendously missed by everyone.
Marc De Clercq my friend from Brussels ace photographer who like me shoots the Hijra ethos was here much before me and we spent some time together at Gopal Haji and Babitas house at Moti Katla.
I was not in a very comfortable state of mind , overloaded with constrains back at work I shot without my early passion.
My heart as a photographer was not in its right place.
I just shot what came in front of my camera lens .
I was invited to some hijra dancing events I skipped them as they happen pretty late and I was staying at the house of Peersaab Fakhru Miya Hijra no6 and did not want to over impose my activities on him.
Their doors shut by midnight.
And the hijra events carry on till the wee hours of the mornings I am told.
And I had already shot 22 GB footage in a few days I decided after Chatti it was time to hit the return trail.
This is my second memory card I am uploading there are still 3 more to go.
Stray Dogs of Ajmer
Sometimes I bitterly wonder whose life is better the dregs of human life on the dark streets of despair or stray dogs overrated over loved by animal lovers
Sometimes I really wonder if animal lovers are really human lovers too, the rich buy pedigree dogs costing a bomb , but wont adopt a human child in its place.
These are personal thoughts I kept Alsatian dogs and Persian cats , but stopped keeping animals in domestic captivity completely
I have seen rich people feed crows , cats dogs while the poor beggar child watches from afar.
I came to the conclusion all this animal charity business is a fucked farce at the expense of unending human sorrow.
I maybe wrong but like I said these are my thoughts .
Its nice to love animals take care of them but spare a glance towards the human cub too..if he bites you need not take 14 injections, and he rarely bites he is born without teeth..
India The Land of Mystical Dreams
131,484 items / 977,350 views
spiritual diversity
yet supreme
land of ram and rahim
sufism
a path of peace
not extreme
a mortgaged soul
to redeem
holding the khwajah
in high esteem
what you are
runs in your
bloodstream
as you flow
downstream
from one world
to another world
in a pipe dream
you dont lose steam
fraction of a second
a change of theme
karmic sorrow
that loves to scheme
cacophonous shouts
silent screams
to sabitha satchi
Sunday, June 27, 2010
Two Beggars On The Cross Roads of Life
The beggar with roots for legs and the other blogger beggar who shoots such dregs .
The Veil of Silence
it identifies her
as a muslim
she covers
her face
the garb
of her destiny
the garb
of her race
but it troubles
those who dont
wear it
who cant bear it
as always
she who is
fully covered
is considered
out of place
but if you walk
topless in
europe
or othe
western
countries
it is no disgrace
cultural differences
time and space
leave the muslim
woman and her hijab
let there be peace
allah be praised
Mans Thirst For Life
an empty stomach
that keeps him alive
man who was born
to walk bare feet
on the sharp edge
of a knife
man is man
because of
human strife
mans eternal
loneliness
mocked him
to share his lot
with her fucked lot
he took a wife
A Human Dog Called Man
I could have rushed across and shot him head long , but the floor was burning and he shamed my own scorching barefeet .
And do you really think a man cares for another man, bullshit, I have shot so many beggars and perhaps they would see him if he was stark naked ,only to give him a cloth to cover his shame and move away.
This is street humanity in a nutshell.
I am not a anthropologist but yes I am a mind reader.
There is another hitch, most of the beggars with sever deformities are brought to such sites in hordes paid wholesale to beg, what they make at the end of the day is kept by the powerful beggar mafia in collusion with the authorities.
And mind you there is no overheads no investment ..this is the chakra of convenience at the expense of failed humanity.
I am not critical like some of my white friendly photographers.. I cannot curse or call a ritual madness , I cannot say what I shoot is rotten or against my beliefs or religion..I dont ridicule the people I shoot , if my intention is to ridicule a religion custom or tradition I should not shoot it at all.
So this answers a part of my inner feelings towards shooting beggars.I shoot beggars to show you how lucky you are walking on Adonis like two legs..and neither do I insult or humiliate my country , I show you the diversity and the strength of survival of a beggar on the road of life.
Sometimes I feel angry with myself , wielding a camera in hand letting the silent cry of pain reach your ears too..and I dont sell my pictures ..or my text.
I show you undiluted pain pedestrian pain..from a bus window train window and from the window of my own restless soul.
I dont get scared when I shoot what I shoot for I know I shoot truth as it exists in front of my camera eye.
Yes I am a street blogger I blog a man who walks like a dog a vital cog.. as he slogs ..
And yes mind you somebody would see him if went across the tree lifted his leg and began to pee on a fucked system that sucks.. otherwise only the poet and the photographer in me sees him..
Man was born in a hurry , he s always in a hurry man has no time for another man..
Man came alone to this world defenseless and will leave this world alone..
The family friends relatives is nothing but a man made farce to hide the reality of a farcical fucked life of Man.,
Yes I am a beggar too and this beggar offered his soul in the fucked beggar bowl of the extension of my life called a camera
The Moulaiee Hijra Bawa of Ajmer
She is a hijra bawa , a mystic who gave up glamor glitz in the service of God and Humanity.
She is a staunch believer of Ahle Bayt and strikes a chord with people of same bent of Mind.
On her lips there is a flowing chant of Ya Hussain , Bibi Sakina and Hazrat Abbas...
She told me that without the sacrifice of Hussain , and if Yazid had been given a free run , Islam would have perished , because the Islam that Yazid the accursed promoted was totally alien to that preached by the Holy Messenger of Allah.
Mind you these bawas seek no other worldly gifts , their life led in austerity they sit at Char Yar and evangelize spirtual peace.
They do Dua Tawiz and exorcism too.
Most of the rich hjras approach them for their problems and those of their disciples.
This hijra guru spoke at length about the miraculous powers of the Rozas or Shrines at Hussain Tekri Jaorah.
So each Bawa here follows his own agenda of spirituality under the shadow of Khwajah Gharib Nawaz..
She also told me that it was Mauwiyah the accursed who forcibly castrated males turned them into the Harem eunuchs to protect his women folk ..so the Eunuch tryst with destiny in Islam began in the Ummayad Caliphate.
So I would each day of my short stay in Ajmer visit their world, I was basically at Moti Katla with the hijras or the Malangs and Rafaees and Hijra Bawas at Char Yar.
Remaining time I spent at the Hujra of my host. Peersaab Fakhru Miya of Hujra No6.
Laeving aside his hujra I did not venture to shoot the Dargah premises , I had shot it extensively in my earlier trips till photography was banned within the Holy Shrine..
You could shoot if you had the permission from the Dargah authorities, I on my part was happy shooting the scum on the streets..
I shot the Dhai Djinn Ka Jhopda ., Taragadh, Qawwali jashn on Chatti and religious dancing trance.
I shot my return trip by bus outskirts of Surat and and I came to Vasai Mumbai and took a Local train for Bandra West home.. on the day of the rickshah and taxi strike .
I shot 22 GB travelogue of my stay in Ajmer - of the Ajmer Sharif Urus 2010.
5 Memory cards of which I uploaded one card of 3.48 GB
I was in a financial strain and Peersaab Fakhru Miya Hijra No 6 paid for my return journey ..
I was sure with my problems at work on the rise I would not make this trip eventually but Khwjah Gharib Nawaz made it possible.and gave me a new life too.
I was crushed to the floor in a stampede at the Dargah entrance , people walked over me , till the Khadims spotted me and saved me from further harm, my body was shivering but yes I was lucky to have saved my Nikon camera.
I am not yet recovered walk with a limp and from the day I was in Ajmer I had stopped my diabetic medicine and insulin completely..I have not resumed it yet.
I was completely barefeet , I climbed the mountains of Taragadh barefeet too..
And I type with a single finger of my permanently damaged right hand..
I came back early from Ajmer to get back to work and I missed the antics of my two and a half year old grand daughter Marziya Shakir .
Noubat Ali Baba Char Yar
Noubat Ali Baba heads the rafaees at Char Yar and is highly respected and with a large number of Murids around him.
I have a nice equation with him having shot him for several years.
Saturday, June 26, 2010
He Is A Moulaiee So Am I
he is a sunni
follower of a sufi path
he is a moulaiee
so am i
shiasm
my birthright
from my mothers womb
from the streets i did not buy
tears on the soul of humanity
ya hussain we both cry
our eyes the source
of the euphrates
will never run dry
every land is karbala
every day is ashura
time wont deny
Ali imaam-e-manasto manam Ghulaam-e-Ali
hazaar jaan-e-giraamii fidaa-e-naam-e-Ali
Ali is the master of all, I am the slave of Ali
thousands life are to be sacrificed for Ali.
words embedded on earth and in the sky
Man Kunto Maula
Fa haza Ali-un Maula
Whoever I am master to,
Ali is his Master too.
a chant that does not die
on the wings of ahle bayt
a faith that moves mountains
we fly
Marziya Shakir Mind Games
I have kept my Ajmer pictures on hold and I am uploading pictures I shot after coming back from my Sufi pilgrimage.
These are about 175 pictures including street shots I shot from a bus yesterday and some of the rains in Mumbai.
I can shoot cliche rain pictures tht media shoots near Gateway, Worli Chowpatty but I have no time or inclination..
Shooting the rains is shooting just a drop as it affects the soul of Man in Mumbai.
Marziya shot the Kolis of Bandra Bazar while I helped her hold the camera.
Vat Purnima 2010
I was waiting for a bus at Opera House today, to go to Kalbadevi and the bus 101 was taking a lot of time , but as soon as I saw this lady doing the Vat Purnima puja and rituals I forgot about my bus and shot a lot of frames.
Vat Purnima 2010
130,713 items / 972,629 views
Maharashtrian women celebrate Vat Purnima on the streets tying a string and doing puja beneath a tree .
...
This is one feat that fascinates me and is part of street study on Hope and Hindutva.. a message of Peace and Humanity..
i shot these new pictures from a bus and I shot another set at ground level at Opera House on my way to Kalbadevi..
http://www.maharashtratourism.net/festivals/wat-poornima.html
Wat Pournima is the festival for Maharashtrian women, which is celebrated in the month of Jesht (May-June). Women observe a fast and tie threads around a banyan tree and pray for the same husband in every birth.
The celebration derived from the story of Savitri and Satyavan. It has been foretold that Satyavan won't live long. Resting on the lap of Savitri, Satyavan was waiting for death under a banyan tree, when the day of death comes. The messenger of Yama, the God of death came to take Satyavan. But Savitri refused to give her beloved husband. Messenger after messenger tried to take Satyavan away, but in vain. Finally, Yama himself appeared in front of Savitri and insisted to give her husband.
Since, she was still adamant, he offered her a boon. She asked for the well being of her in-laws. He granted it to her. She then followed him as he took Satyavan's body away. He offered her another boon. She now asked for the well being of her parents. This boon, too, was granted. But she was relentless, and continued to follow him. As they approached Yama's abode, he offered her a final boon. She asked for a son. He granted it. She then asked him how it would be possible for her to beget sons without her husband. Yama was trapped and had to return her husband.
So, married women pray to the banyan tree for the long life of their husbands and children. Their fast is observed the whole night till the next morning.
Crying For Imam Hussain
Imam Husain is Humanity and his humanity his sacrifice touches everyone not only a Shia but a Sunni too on the path of Sufism.
Zubair Bawa is a Moulaiee for him life without Hussain is no life at all.
He is forever reciting couplets on Imam Hussain and the Tragedy of Karbala.
And one need not be a Shia to cry for Hussain..
Zubair Bawa curses all the killers of Imam Hussain and he shouts out all the names of the rascals one by one .
Zubair Bawa is one of my favorite pictorial subjects..goes without saying.
Zubair Bawa and Me
130,699 items / 972,550 views
Zubair Bawa is a Moulaiee a lover of Ahle Bayt, he curses the killers of Imam Hussain.
Publicly he curses Muawiyeh , Yazid and all those that hated Ale Rasool.
Most of the time Zubair Bawas scream of Ya Ali can be heard everywhere and today it is Imam Alis Birthday.
Zubair Bawa is a Sunni adherent of Sufism , but it is the name of Hussain that makes him cry.
Zubair Bawa is from Kadial Sharif Dargah but is a staunch murid of Peersaab Fakhru Miya Hujra no6.
His voice has the power to shatter glass.
Zubair Bawa is very fond of me and will soon be going to Haj..shortly.
Gaddi Nashin Farid Miya Hujra No 6 Ajmer
Normally you are not allowed to shoot pictures within the Holy Shrine but Haji saab sitting next to me in white made it possible and on my right is Gaddi Nashin Farid Miya elder son of Fakhru Miya Hujra no 6 my host.
Next to Haji Saab is Hafiz Saab.
I was totally barefeet at Ajmer Sharif.
Friday, June 25, 2010
Hijra Offering Namaz
The hijras should not be condemned because they are transgender , born male but having opted for a womans identity and gender.
The hijras are as human as you and me //or more human than you or me.
The hijras are devoted to almost all divinity, the Muslim hijras offer namaz keep fast during Ramzan and abstain from their worldly activities and soliciting during this mubarak month.
Hijras are not guinea pigs or simians in a cage they bleed as you bleed perhaps more.
I shoot hijras with dignity, and hijras come in all shapes sizes quirks and idiosyncrasies.
I have been lucky to have been divinely helped to show you the hijra in all her beauty and simplicity.
I know hijras who tell me that they will soon leave the trade and become devoted housewives or mistress of the person they love.
So the hijra too needs love as you and me perhaps more than you and me.
To shoot the hijra as close as this is not photography it is a bond that comes from within the hjra.
I have met evil devious hijras too but I think of them as a minority and victims of abuse and neglect in their childhood.
I have seen photographers shoot hijras , only as photographers , they are much better than me in their art and technique.
I shoot hijras as poems and make you read them as poems too.. I stop becoming a photographer the moment I see them through the viewfinder of my human soul.
I dont ask hijras their names , their past life or any question that would embarrass or humiliate them.
I shoot them move away, if they tell me to stop shooting I stop immediately.
I respect the senior hijra gurus and Ma Madhurima of Park Site Vikhroli treats me like her son.
I know if I had overstayed a few more days I could have more than 20000 pictures of Hijras but I cut short my trip to get back to my work and my grand daughter Marziya.
I was certain this trip to Ajmer Urus 2010 would not materialize I sold my Nikon ED 80- 200 Lens 2.8 to make it happen.
It miraculously did happen in the end.
The Cosmic Poet and his Muse
Raveena the Hijra sensational beauty and me at Moti Katla soon after the Friday Namaz got over.
This balcony was earlier filled with the namazis.
Even a few hijras in white clothes participated in the Friday namaz from this house that is rented by Gopal Haji and Babita hijra of Najafgarh.
Gopal and Babita had to abort their trip , cut it short as a senior hijra from their gharana was sick,. so the house was left with a few denizens under Naina Hijra .
I shot a lot of pictures of Raveena , simply because she was highly cultured, educated ,seductive and a charming face to shoot.
I shot her as I saw her , and she is a consummate actress , mimic,all in one.
Her mobile phone kept ringing non stop, everyone wanted to talk to her..and she has no dearth of admirers and lovers..I presume.
She was the toast of Ajmer , I was lucky I was able to shoot all her colorful joyous moods.
She would give any starlet of Bollywood a run for her money..such was the magnetic power of her personality.
the cosmic poet and his muse
tryst with destiny no excuse
an opportunity to capture
her androgynous essence
he could not refuse
barefeet burning hot
without shoes
scorched and bruised
her charm her poisonous
fangs into my soul
she transfused
sensuality seductively from
her body into my body oozed
time stood still soulfully
diffused making love to
my mind totally screwed
she was dressed i was nude
seminal soliloquy no fluid
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Shah-e-Mardan Sher-e-Yazdan Quwat-e-Parwardigar Lafata Ila Ali La Saif Ila Zulfiqar , originally uploaded by firoze shakir photographerno1 ....
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Dargah of Hazrat Syed Ali Mira Datar Unava Gujrat , a photo by firoze shakir photographerno1 on Flickr. HAZRAT SYED ALI MIRA DATAR'S G...
