The Rains in Mumbai

The Rains in Mumbai, originally uploaded by firoze shakir photographerno1.

The lady beggar sits near the cross and this is a passage kind of lane , a short cut for pedestrians and two wheelers.


The lady beggar does her rounds of begging and parks herself here.

Once the beggar boy and his guardian sat here they have completely disappeared .

Such is the itinerant nomadic transitional life of beggars.

Very few photographers shoot beggars , but as a poet I shoot the poetry of a beggars life.

I know rich peoples kids one stroke of bad luck were thrown out into the mean streets.

Drugs alcohol races gambling as vices have reduced many a rich man to penury.

The beggars that are employed by beggar mafias are easily recognizable and work at pilgrim joints.

Beggars like this lady are defenseless live from hand to mouth.

Mostly they come from Murshidabad in West Bengal.

One thing even school kids who pass her by give her a few coins from their days pocket money.

I shoot stills moving pictures of human degradation and human pain to remind you of Apocalypse Now.


And Marziya sees the world as I see it from my inner soul, I passed the Umbrella Lady and I did not have my camera I gave Marziya Rs 10 ..without instruction and though the ground was soggy she walked and handed it over to the Umbrella lady.


Yes I have prematurely exposed my grand daughter to street life and pain....shown her something even her parents would have not shown her a chapter from the book of the living dead.


I may not live long but yes my vision rests with a two and a half year old intuitive child.

Marziya began shooting with my soul before she learnt to use the Nikon D 80..