Shabaraat at Rehmatabad Shia Cemetry

Shabaraat at Rehmatabad Shia Cemetry, originally uploaded by firoze shakir photographerno1.

This is an old Flickr post picture shot in 2007

Rehmatabad is the only Shia cemetery in Mumbai, there is another one someone told me at Marine Lines , locked up in some controversy, next to the Rehmatabad Cemetery is the more ornate and opulent is the Arambagh Khoja Ishnashari Cemetery, and in between the two is a unused Jewish Cemetery, gone to seed, the caretakers family , the poultry and the mess on the graves the neglect can be seen, many a times I have had the urge to go and shoot it clandestinely perched on the adjacent wall.


And the Jewish community has not done much to cleanse this section of their heritage as they have been more intense in shutting down an eatery that was called Hitlers Cross.. well its human nature.. we see what lies far.. and myopic to what lies in utter shambles close to the heart , like the dispassionate Parsi community the statue of the Khada Parsi.. crying out in vain..
Well Shabaraat , you find all the Shia women and their families on the mounds, on the graves offering Fatiyah, reciting Aital Kursi, and other Koranic verses, some shouting slogans , this is the segment of kids chanting Haidar, Haidar, and Ya Ali , I was subjected to a questioning but the Maulana caretaker recognized me , the watch man had informed him I was shooting the graves without permission.

This is a very small cemetery but is famous for the blood that flows freely during Ashura and Chelum, in Moharram.. only the brave hearted can see the gore of Kama or Forehead cutting with swords, scourging s , and all this is done in cramped corners..and Chelum in Mumbai.. is something one should see it here at Rehmatabad..but the Press is not allowed, and its a Shia Muslim affair..
And I was not sure I would have undertaken this pictorial pilgrimage , without the painkillers, I was barefeet, on the graves.. my parents lie buried here.