so you are
the barefeet
blogger of mumbai
she said
going to hyderabad
to add another furrow
to the wasteland
of your head
to shoot
the sorrow
filtered red
festered feet
speeding ahead
towards
hussainiyat
your ancestral
homestead
Sajjad Bhai is a cop.. with a golden heart , I have yet to see anyone as humble as him, this giant of a man feels for humanity , and he draws me to Hyderabad , what he did for me in 2003 I can never forget , he carried my heavy camera bag ,because of him I saw all the Ashurkhanas , I shot the Bibi Ka Alam , and he is more than a brother for sure.
His duty as a policeman is his prime drive and when free he is there helping everyone as a humble volunteer of Choti Bargah of Hazrat Abbas , he Akhtar Bhai, Abid Painter and the Lutfi brothers and his brother Kazim.
It was Sajjad Bhai and the Lutfi brothers who bought me here to shoot this event at Mir Mousavi Shia cemetery on 9 Moharam, Hindus lining up the area to pay tribute to the Alam Abbas and a Hindu fire performer who leads the procession.
The Shias the Sunnis and the Hindus live peacefully and strengthen the message of unity in diversity and mutual coexistence..there is no hate or sectarian strife despite the Telangana issue..Moharam was given priority by all parties concerned..
And this is my last written blog I will take a much needed nap to get ready for my house majlis in a few hours from now..
This is the common blade , used by barbers all over India, and in Hyderabad it is used for scourging the back when tied like this in a wire. It cuts deviously and unimaginably more effective than a zanjir or flagellating steel blades of the Shia matamdar.
Kids use this as it is disposable, cheap and easy to get,most of the anjumans give it free, and this is not a boast on Ashura day in Hyderabad I think tons of blades are used at Bargah and at the procession of Bibi ka Alam. This certailny must be a record of sorts.
I have never used the blade on my body,not my choice as an instrument of pain, but finally it all comes down to technique and how you use it, in Kolkatta they use plastic foldable blades and you insert a half of this in the slot ..
The guys in Kolkatta use the surgeons scalpel too, and on 8 Moharam the Shia kids of Kolkata bash up their heads with steel tumblers .. crying out Ya Abbas Al Atash..
And in certain areas of rural UP the Hindus and the Sunnis scourge themselves too..such is the intensity and the pathos of a moment frozen in time called Ghame Hussain,.
But in April I will add a new dimension by inserting a sharp 18 feet steel rod in my mouth from cheek to cheek during the Maryamma festival at Mahim beach.. and show my solidarity as Miumbaikar with the Hindu Tamil community.. my aspect of Ghame Hussain...on the streets of Mumbai..
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Shia kids fascinate me endlessly,childhood should not be discriminated , I shoot kids from all communities , but the Shia kids have a unique element and I try to capture it as a poet using the help of my camera..and here this kid at Mir Mousavi Shia cemetery Hyderabad challenges me to a duel of the mind .
He talks to me a language I understand I learnt it effortlessly from Marziya my grand daughter 2 years 2 month old.
I think his conversation went this way..
Hi dude how do you like my city Hyderabad
I answered - Pretty Cool bro
How do you like our Moharam
I replied memorable traditional worth watching once in a life time..
Here he gave me a nice smile and charmed me with hospitality of his ancestral grace.
Than he asked me out of the blue ..when you coming next..I might be cutting myself too, just itching to do the blade matam you know..and so we continued our conversation , and I wondered he sees me plainly dressed in black , bare feet would he recognize me if he saw me after Moharam , bejeweled , in my signature sartorial avatar as the Shia Pandit once Moharam gets over..
And than I was thrown back to Mumbai, and my home and Marziya , I was talking to a relative , about matam in Hyderabad , and uttered chaku Urdu word for knife , without realizing my grand daughter had rushed to the kitchen came back with a sharp kitchen knife , before I could react she placed it on her forehead chanting Ya Hussain Ya Hussain..
I shot a picture and nothing scares Marziya , sometimes I wonder Mrziya does all this to demystify my dreams and delusions.
As I have another 250 pictures to post here at Flickr before I end the Moharam in Hyderabad series 2009 , all the pictures I have shot recently almost a 4 GB card are still in my camera.
The injury to my leg is taking time to heal ..my barefeet bravado has finally caught up with me..
I was invited to a juloos at Saki Naka last night but gave it a skip because of the pain and the limp..and my house is in total chaos for our house majlis..the only thing very close to my wife's heart and soul..both my sons wives have really changed the look of the house...my daughter Sam is playing hard to get with her old man.
But Marziya gets the maximum footage in our house , she is up to something new every time reciting nohas in her child like sing song way.
And the only two places I have not taken Marziya are the zoo and the swimming pool..
Marziya is a water child an an animal loving person and welcomes any religious event as much as I do..mutually coexisting with her surroundings and the diverse colors of all the festivals that spark her minds plug...
I think she must be the only two year old child who has seen all the temples , all the churches and the sole Shia Mosque in our area..
And if there is anyone's pictures I enjoy shooting it is Marziya..
in back clothes
he is clad
when the alams come
he will remove
his shirt
do blade matam
like his dad
the coming of age
of a hyderabadi lad
ghame hussain
an eternal moment
of pain very sad
a spiritual agony
that makes them mad
they accuse us
of blood shedding
but maintain
a eunuch silence
when suicide bombers
do deeds bad
in every
shia city
karbala baghdad
muslims love killing muslims
a sectarian launch pad
tears on the soul of
a bleeding notepad
a shia blogger
never sleeps
a poetic pause of pain
nothing more to add
dedicated to sukhi hontu my facebook friend
This is Iqbal Bhai of Hyderabad I shot the picture without he being aware of it, and does one take permission before shooting such touching emotional situations, Shiasm is a faith one must also read as a poet to understand the pain of a community , that has been oppressed persecuted for showcasing the true Black Page of Islam the Martyrdom of Imam Hussain and the cruelty undergone by his entire surviving household at Sham Damascus under the accursed Umayed despot and the original butcher of Karbala before Saddam Hussain.. the father of modern terrorism..Yazid son of Mauwiyah descendant of Abu Sufiyan.
Iqbal bhai is touching the feet of those who came to the Farshe Aza to share the pain of Bibi Zainab the indomitable sister of our Imam ..she single handedly stood up against Injustice meted out to her family and racial profiling for being from the Holy Family of our revered Holy Messenger.
Reciter : Nasir Jahan
Jab Hoke Riha Qaid se Ghar Jayegi Zainab - Ghabrayegi Zainab
Aaghosh ke paleon ko kahan payegi Zainab - Ghabrayegi Zainab
Jab hoke riha qaid se ghar jayegi Zainab - Ghabrayegi Zainab
Bin bhai ke weeran nazar ayega madina - Hoga ye kharina
Pooche gi ye sughra tho tadap jayegi Zainab - Ghabrayegi Zainab
Jab hoke riha qaid se ghar jayegi Zainab - Ghabrayegi Zainab
Chajayegi rouze pe Mohammed ke udaasi - Royegi nawasi
Ashkon may lahoo qalb ka barsayegi Zainab - Ghabrayegi Zainab
Jab hoke riha qaid se ghar jayegi Zainab - Ghabrayegi Zainab
Kya dilpe guzar jayegi apne hi makan may - Aur aaho fughan mai
Sunsaan jo beteon ki jaga payegi Zainab - Ghabrayegi Zainab
Jab hoke riha qaid se ghar jayegi Zainab - Ghabrayegi Zainab
Barchi lagi seene pe laga teer gale par - Barbaad howa ghar
Ab Akbaro Asghar ko kahan payegi Zainab - Ghabrayegi Zainab
Jab hoke riha qaid se ghar jayegi Zainab - Ghabrayegi Zainab
Bechainiya badhjayegi hojayegi muzthar - Yaad ayenge Asghar
Paani kahin thoda sa agar payegi Zainab - Ghabrayegi Zainab
Jab hoke riha qaid se ghar jayegi Zainab - Ghabrayegi Zainab
Veeran nazar ayega makanka har ek hujra - Shaq hoga kaleja
Akbar sa bhatija ko kahan peyegi Zainab - Ghabrayegi Zainab
Jab hoke riha qaid se ghar jayegi Zainab - Ghabrayegi Zainab
Aaghosh ke palon ko kahan payegi Zainab - Ghabrayegi Zainab
Jab hoke riha qaid se ghar jayegi Zainab - Ghabrayegi Zainab
Ghabrayegi Zainab
Ghabraaegi Zainab dukh payegi Zainab
Bhaiyya tumhe ghar jaake kahan payegi Zainab
Kaisa yeh bhara ghar huva barbaad ilaahi, kya aayi tabaahi
Ab isko na aabaad kabhi payegi Zainab
Phat jayega bas dekhte hi ghar ko kaleja, yaad aaoge bhaiyya
Dil dhoondhega tumko toll kahaan payegi Zainab
Bin bachhon ke kehlaayi toh kehlaayi mein laikin, yeh kaise ho mumkin
Bin bhai ke kehlaayi toh marjayegi Zainab
Poochenge joh sab loug ke baazu ko huva kya, yeh neel hae kaisa
Kis kis ko nishan rassi ke dikhlaegi Zainab
I leave behind two things
The Holy Koran and Ahle Bayth
lighting your way
the flame of Faith
