Firoze Shakir Poet - Frozen Time: 06/27/10

Sunday, June 27, 2010

Two Beggars On The Cross Roads of Life

Two Beggars On The Cross Roads of Life, originally uploaded by firoze shakir photographerno1.

The beggar with roots for legs and the other blogger beggar who shoots such dregs .

The Beggar With Roots For Legs

The Beggar With Roots For Legs, originally uploaded by firoze shakir photographerno1.

The Veil of Silence

The Veil of Silence, originally uploaded by firoze shakir photographerno1.

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

Mans Thirst For Life, originally uploaded by firoze shakir photographerno1.

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

A Human Dog Called Man, originally uploaded by firoze shakir photographerno1.

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

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 Char Yar, originally uploaded by firoze shakir photographerno1.

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.