My Last Blog Today I Leave Mumbai To Shoot Moharam, originally uploaded by firoze shakir photographerno1.
Sunday, December 12, 2010
My Last Blog Today I Leave Mumbai To Shoot Moharam
My Last Blog Today I Leave Mumbai To Shoot Moharam, originally uploaded by firoze shakir photographerno1.
Even The Wahhabi Does Not Scare Me As Much as The Shia Bigot
Even The Wahhabi Does Not Scare Me As Much as The Shia Bigot, originally uploaded by firoze shakir photographerno1.
155,348 items / 1,225,707 views
Sometimes I am really concerned confused and in a torturous dilemma ,in every community you find the good the bad and the ugly..the ugly come on strong in their hate for everything. and I know we may all be Human but yet be different because of our surroundings and our upbringing..
I have no issue with the Sunnis or the Hindus or the Christians I take exception to the Wahabis and other sects that blaspheme the Shia , and than at the other end is the hardcore Shia bigot who blasphemes the Shia too for not being like him , and it is utterly impossible with the kind of background I come from , I did not choose my parents so I was lucky my parents chose me as part of their destiny and I think they did a fairly good job..I am as human as the guy next door.
I avoid religious arguments ,I stay away from diatribe and I post Shia images without pimping my faith , I post pictures as a photo blog.. so I have locked all my comment boxes here and at Facebook , nothing personal you have a issue about Shia rites of blood shedding , or their traditions go discuss it with their Mullahs dont heckle me ..I have placed a Do Not Disturb Sign on my web posts.
See my pictures move on , my text read or ignore it is your prerogative ..I document religion seasonally , I posted Hope Hindutva now it is the turn of my own faith.. and its my camera my vision that I shoot pictorially and poetically.
So during Ashura when everyone stays in his own home town I move out to shoot Moharam in other cities and share it as a blog.. and this is the path I have chosen to keep myself sane.
And the picture I have posted has nothing to do with my text but yes the first time I entered the Bandra Shia Khoja Mosque I was thrown out for being a non Muslim and for once though hurt I thought he did the right thing as the representative of the Shia faith.. I am a non Muslim in more ways than one.
Fade In Fade Out
155,339 items / 1,225,644 views
a wizened teat
dreamless
baby's mouth
life is a an
old newspaper
fucked from within
without
for the sanctimonious
who hates F words
a silence is also a shout
to survive in this rat
breeding world you need '
politic clout shut up
stitch your lips
when in doubt
what goes in
from one end
from the other end
must come out
allegorical
ironical
a new dilemma
unlived sprout
one dies
simply because
he has no disease
the other dies of gout
spectrum 2 G
IPL Adarsh CWG
would have not
blossomed without
patronage and a tout
radia tape red tape
is what life Is about
faceless puckered lips
holding a cosmetic pout
poetry is nothing but getting rid of body odor
I Did Not Want To Shoot Her Pictures .. But I Did
I Did Not Want To Shoot Her Pictures .. But I Did, originally uploaded by firoze shakir photographerno1.
155,339 items / 1,225,644 views
Earlier she would visit my shop with her daughter , pictures on my beggar set at Flickr, than she disappeared , she returned with the new offering a new child in her arms along with the little girl, I gave her some money but did not shoot pictures..
This time she came without her little girl , she calls me Uncle I gave her money shot theses three frames , two sharp and one blurred , and I am adding text to the blurred one for reasons unknown to me , beggars with new born on the streets of Mumbai is a common feature..
But as I know this beggar woman since a long time the thought saddens me , I dont talk to her or ever question her ,she is doing best what she does she begs professionally, but her husband is certainly enjoying the fruits of her labor no pun intended and this is what hurts ..
I am a photographer a compulsive street photographer, I dont preachify, its not my job..
Sometimes I wonder if change will ever come in the poor Muslim womans life ..
She has one purpose produce kids satisfy the husband carry on living.. women organizations the so called Muslim ones , beat the drums once in a while and move along with the time and tide , but nothing has changed beggary is lucrative and not as humiliating as the other women option, you know what I mean..
And the buck should stop, but will it..No
Education is a distant dream for the poor , I talk of good quality education in a convent school, once the child passes muster pay legally the blood money that is conveniently called development fund building fund , and pay it in lump sum.. no relief there .. and to think of it the Christian society is the richest philanthropist a very rich Pope and Clergy yet they they too beg like this Muslim beggar under the cover of an admission form...
I really dont know about Muslim schools none of my children passed those gates, I too studied in a convent school Holy Name High School Fort Mumbai.
Back to the Muslim beggar , forgive the bloggers unintentional diatribe the fault is not with Christian schools but with our corrupt system based on bribes donations hafta vasuli even this like beggary is lucrative .. than the other more humiliating option of openly robbing stealing .
And so I have documented the Muslim beggar showcased it all at Flickr on my photo stream.. beggars are beggars more wiser they are Muslim beggars and not divided as Sunni beggars or Shia beggars and you will find more Sunni beggars outside Shia mosques during Moharam..a simple matter of supply demand and convenience..
Even the Hindu beggar has the option of wearing the burkha and join the sisterhood of beggars.all held by a common bond .. empty stomach empty dreams ..
And this is my first blog before I take my diabetic overdose..of poetry passion and pathos..
This Is The Conscience of My Country Always Fast Asleep..
This Is The Conscience of My Country Always Fast Asleep.., originally uploaded by firoze shakir photographerno1.
Now dont blame those who loot it it..
The House Imambada Is a Bit Of Karbala At Home
The House Imambada Is a Bit Of Karbala At Home, originally uploaded by firoze shakir photographerno1.
Marziya Does Matam...fourth moharam..
chauthi ko moharam ki jab shimr e laen aya
hazrath ki shahdat ka har ek ko yakin aya
sab khalk khuda roie khud karbobala roie
jab katl shae di ko wo dushmane deen aya
sha kehte bhai se dariya ki tarie se
khemon ko hatane ko jab lsskare ki aya
ek hash bapa hoga andhera bapa hoga
gussa jo tumhe un par aye mahe jabi aya
kehte the shaewala e kome jafa pesha
tumne jo bulaya to yeh khak nashin aya '
kyon mujhko satate ho kyon mujhko kudate ho
main apse rahne es ban main nahi aya '
shaukat hai tere nale kuch aisa asarwale
sun sun ke jinhe munh ko har kalbo jigar aya
ya hussain ya hussain ya hussain
The Sunni Sabil Bandra Bazar Road
155,316 items / 1,225,334 views
the water is same
perhaps the pot too
is same
hussain is his name
he is the picture
we are the frame
they are the candles
we are the flame
on the soul of karbala
we lay our claim
they are our brothers
self same
they are sunnis
shias we became
through ashura
our nativity
we reclaim
the ladies
of the imams
household
in the court of yazid
snatched ridas
with their hair
covering their
shame
tears on the
soul of humanity
peace is our aim
Mr Razvi and Me
155,286 items / 1,225,117 views
Mr Razvi lost his young daughter recently , and has not yet got over her loss , she was a very brave girl who fought a terminal disease valiantly , an I was at her funeral I shot the pictures of her grave that was dug up showing you a reality of life called death.
One of his relatives was upset that I was documenting the event only the gents the majis , but Razvi Saab had given me permission as he wanted her memories of Rehmatabad be kept alive, and I wonder do we really die..we just leave our footprints on the sands of time and move into the next courtyard .
Razvi Saab is a courageous father , a very down to earth humble man , very proud of his Shia ancestry and we really are bound as fathers in the timelessness of life.
I sometimes wonder why people get upset at photographers who dont sell pictures , or use it for self promotion or to get fame or popularity ,my pictures you will never see in the newspapers either , it beats me I have thus kept away from all Shia majlis in Bandra , I have decided not to shoot ..I wont shoot the Ashura in Mumbai I will leave tomorrow to a city at the flip of a coin..I will let you know once I reach my destination .and shoot Moharam in that city..
And sadly there are more bigots in my own community than in my neighbors , so I am perhaps the only Hindu Shia born in India who shoots Hinduism as a message of peace of my cultural inheritance calling it a thread Hope and Hindutva.. and it is true that my Flickr photo stream might have more images on this faith a thought that upsets the bigots the narrow minded and the myopic Muslim.
But as my camera belongs too me, my vision my own , my soul not for sale I shoot what my heart tells me to shoot...and Hindustan for me is Humanity and Yes Hussain lives in it ..Verily every land is Karbala and every day is Ashura.
And I am proud of the saffron in my soul yes I am a Hindu Shia ..also known as the Shia Pandit of Mumbai.
The Source of Shiasm Is A Mother .
155,280 items / 1,225,092 views
The Quintessential Shia mother , a child at her waist a child holding her finger and maybe one more is common sight , you will see , mothers rushing to the majlis , and this is what keeps the flame of faith Azadari e Hussain alive from one generation to the next.
The Maulana on the mimber is blessed by the Mother , its her prayers that garners his future , and this is my humble tribute to the Shia mother , I dont have one so perhaps I see my mother in every Shia women that speeds past my camera lens and this was one hurried shot , and in the same way Marziyas mother my daughter in law takes Marziya every afternoon to the majlis the main education book of our spirituality,,,
Majlis will not be missed , come what may, the regimen of daily matam in the evenings at the house Imambada.
And without the Shia mother I cant imagine the unimaginable I have shot Shia ethos in most of the cities of India Lucknow Delhi Hyderabad Kolkatta Hussaintekri and Mumbai.. the Mother is the common link the strength of our Faith our spirituality our salvation here and the hereafter..
One Mother deprived of all happiness robbed of the fruits of the Garden of Zehra ..yes that One Mother and the million mothers all over the world symbolizing Hussain and a world of Humanity called Hussainiyat.
I dont shoot pictures I shoot you in your mothers arms , I shoot you with your snotty nose , your child memories and through your memories my own..
I Was Born A Muslim I Am Proud To Be A Shia
155,279 items / 1,225,073 views
to understand
the shia
you have got to
understand his pain
cosmic eternal
although plain
1400 years
self explains
a tear
a drop of blood
that he drains
bringing back
karbala
bringing back
hussain
black clothes
sadness
from dusk to dawn
envelops
his consciousness
reverberating
from azbids chains
the snatched ridas
sham sham sham
no constrains
a black chapter
of yazidi islam
a short lived reign
they erased it
from saudi
history books
the reason
why hussain
was brutally slain
calling it a jewish
'conspiracy
of their f****up brains
but what was
engraved by our
forefathers
as tabarrah
now on our
children s hearts
remains
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