The Whipper Boy Band Stand Bandra

The Whipper Boy Band Stand Bandra, originally uploaded by firoze shakir photographerno1.

Since the time I began photography almost 10 years back I have been fascinated with a community that whips itself to eke a living, I call them whippers and some of them are followers of Goddess Ambe.

I shot them and this boy I shot at Band Stand , I shot him in color and slide.

Actually when I spotted them I did not have my camera I told them to wait and promised them Rs 50 .

I rushed home got my camera and shot an entire slide roll I gave them the amount I promised them and this is unique picture as the whippers normally dont pierce their cheeks.

Its another story I never ever saw them again, and these days you hardly see the whippers on the streets of Mumbai.

Some know me some make heavy demands so I stopped shooting them.

But all in all I have had a great rapport with them and a few years back I took the whip from a whipper who was a regular visitor at my old shop and in the middle of the road I whipped myself too.. my shop help shot the pictures..

I am not sure it hurt me as my back and my head are totally immune to pain of any kind due to the scourging and head cutting rituals I do during Moharam.

And this was a post untouched by text I am updating it with words 11 July 2010.

This is a set on Flickr one of my favorite and this is my genre my specialty shooting rituals customs that make up the colorful life of India.


I hardly am able to move out of Mumbai so I make do with whatever God offers me in my camera s beggar bowl.

Now that I hardly carry my camera I shoot street scenes with my eyes..I saw a young kid without a shirt enjoying the monsoonal masti, he was sitting outside a shop and a stream of water fell on his head .. he was enjoying it and s was I , this across my house I thought of rushing up and getting my camera to shoot it but I let it pass.

Similarly I saw a young strapping kid asleep near Globus and besides him lay two stray dogs, it was drizzling but it dd not matter they were happy to be wet and to be where they were..I wanted to shoot it but again I would have to go home to get my camera so I let it pass.

And at home there is Marziya but I dont shoot her , and she is totally busy drawing with her coloring book...