157,396 items / 1,246,088 views
I have been shooting Saqlain since he began scourging his back as a little toddler I would shoot him in Bandra and at the major Moharam juloos in Mumbai Ashura Chehlum.
And actually he wanted Marziya to shoot his back but she handed the camera to me so I took this shot and the next ones too.
I want to reiterate I dont glorify bloody acts but this is a part of Azadari and has been going on for many years , when I shoot kids getting their head cuts I shoot it as a photographer I dont promote or proselytize any rituals for that matter,its the Shia parents prerogative they get their children marked with the dagger more prolifically in Hyderabad than in any other city I have covered shooting Moharam.
In Madras parents even Hindu parents would line up to get their childs head cut , but I was far too tired and exhausted I would go and perch myself for long hours on Mesaqs van and shoot from the top .Madras is quite tame as compared to Mumbai or Hyderabad .
And whatever edict or fatwa against Kamazni or Zanjir Zani issued from other countries I think the Indian or the Pakistani Shia is hardly ever give up his fundamental right to bleed for Hussain.
I cut my head twice an year during Ashura and Chehlum to show you that I am human too.. I bleed it would hurt me earlier perhaps but now my head is immune to poetic pain or otherwise.
In Madras it was the first time I cut my head with my own camera round my neck otherwise as in Mumbai my friends would shoot my act on my camera... my so called Tandav on the Soul of Shimr.
My grand mother used to tell me in Lucknow she had seen Khana Badosh women in a village doing the zanjir matam too .
Girls are not encouraged to cut their heads but in Hyderabad it is a common sight and I shot girls getting their head cut in Madras.
In Mumbai Kurla my friend Papu Bhais daughter cuts her head herself and that is something between her and her father .. he is compatible to the fact that she likes to cut her head.
Marziya will never cut her head or have her back scourged , but she is not afraid...she has got over fear and as a photographer she shoots the events as coolly as I do.
Sunday, December 26, 2010
Saqlain The Shia Braveheart
Ya Hussain A Chant Of Peace
157,372 items / 1,246,011 views
yazid shimr and his gang
are alive all around
on the soul of humanity
as enemies of hussain
abound hidden
in the crevices of
tainted minarets
can be found
desensitized
demoralized
the soul of humanity
with suicide bombs
they pound only a single
chant of ya hussain
hits them
like speed of sound
man kunto maulah
on the plains
of ghadeer he had
crowned
Marziya Shakir 3 Year Old Shoots The Bandra Mehfil Juloos 2010
Marziya Shakir 3 Year Old Shoots The Bandra Mehfil Juloos 2010, originally uploaded by firoze shakir photographerno1.
157,363 items / 1,245,832 views
Dressed in black a Press Card round her neck this picture was shot by my grand daughter Marziya Shakir 3 year old on the Nikon D 80.
I was not in a great frame of mind so I had planned not to cover this juloos because of my sever cold and flu but when Marziya returned home from a majlis I took her with me both of us shot a few frames.
The Mehfil juloos begins from the Bandra Mehfil and ends at the Bandra Shia Mosque Bandra Bazar Road.
This year the message of Hussain and Humanity was driven home with powerful banners placed on the Sabils.
My good friend Ashiq Ali and the boys of Anjuman e Yadgare Mehdi had really done a great job with a passion driven by their love of Hussain and their collective cause of promoting peace as the only message among all communities beyond caste color and creed.
Because of this helpful attitude of these Shia boys Furkan Mohsin Ejaaz Irfan and others even the neighboring boys non Shias come around and help in the cause of Hussainiyat.
Marziya first shot the Zanjir matam last year when she was barely two years old at the Almeida Park Moharam juloos.
A Wild Flower Growing In India Called The Hijra
A Wild Flower Growing In India Called The Hijra, originally uploaded by firoze shakir photographerno1.
Humanity is what I shoot my religiosity is my personal prerogative I showcase the angst the poetry the pathos of the hijra through pictures ..I have no other agenda I dont feel sorry for them , I think they have more guts to live the life they chose to live.
All part of their karmic
cosmic androgynous fate
a hijra the world ;loves to hate
standing alone reclusive
elusive at eternity's gate
used misused abused
to get equality justice
he eagerly waits
Why Cant The Hijra Live The Life He Wants To Live
Why Cant The Hijra Live The Life He Wants To Live, originally uploaded by firoze shakir photographerno1.
born as
a freak or
an accident
of birth
luck by chance
he begs
prostitutes
earns his living
through
badhai and dance
looked down upon
stigmatized
insulted humiliated
by every glance
the silhouette
of the hijra
in his mudra
in every nuance
ardh nari nareshwar
neither man
nor woman
the untouchable
created as
androgynous
anomaly
in a cosmic plan
testicular tragedy
his gender spans
wastelands
of vast expanse
at koovagam
on the death
of lord iravan
weeping crying '
breaking bangles
a new widow in
a spiritual trance
a gaping hole
where once a lance
A Wily Parrot Reads My Fate
from a bunch
of cards
my fucked fate
he read
i would be
broke all
my life he said
i had misfortune
marked on
my forehead
a transvestite
from lahore
with 10 heel
stiletto heels
would share
my defeated bed
would continue
giving me head
but than he halted
my face went red
very soon to a
blog goddess
i would be wed
i told him
i was already
married
to a woman high bred
he said marriages '
are made in hell
dont be misled
divorce is made
in heaven
so softly tread
man needs more
than a single
homestead
continuing
his drone
my fucked future
he led
at cafe Leopold
you will soon meet
your two best friends
glenn and fred
one of them
will gift you
a nikon d300 camera
the other will gift you
'a new moped
but for your
shia pictures
on the internet
you will be
cursed for life
by wahhabi
ragheads
i cried out
when the wily parrot
bit my finger instead
of my dickhead
blogging the soul
of a poem
from my sickbed
Blogging Is a Creative Art Like Making Chappatis
Blogging Is a Creative Art Like Making Chappatis, originally uploaded by firoze shakir photographerno1.
157,240 items / 1,245,040 views
When I returned from Chennai the first thing I did was upload the Ashura pictures shot in Chennai , but I jumped the gun as prior to Ashura I shot the 7 Moharam juloos of Chennai, I got messages from several brave hearts from Chennai as to when I would post them , but after my problem with Flickr management regarding the restriction of my Ashura set in Chennai to public viewing , I did not want to have back to back Moharam pictures , and the 7 Moharam is a long series .
And I follow Flickr terms and regulations my account is marked safe and all my blogs originate at Flickr including my archives of 157240 images .
Than while posting the Ag Ka Matam Jigedevi which I duly completed , I posted Dharmapuri this was the halting point it was from here I went to Jigedevi with my dear friend Dr Abbas Ali Meer , he had a medical camp to attend he left me here , I would have gone insane without my camera so I shot the streets of Dharmapuri .
I will soon complete this set and than upload the 7 Moharam Chennai pictures , in between the Dharmapuri photos I inserted the Xmas images and pictures I had shot in Mumbai on my return.
This year after my return from Chennai I have been unwell, I caught the flu, I am asthmatic too, and a diabetic, I did not take any medicine in Chennai for a week I left it on Moulah Hussain I walked barefeet most of the time I was in Chennai.
For the first time as a blogger who documents Mumbai fetes religious events I did not shoot the Urus of Maqdhoom Shah Baba Mahim the police sandal or the Rafaees , I was caught up with a lot of work on Friday that was the day of my dear friend Sakibs sandal, finished my work past midnight.I did not make it all .
Last night after work there was the Mehfil Juloos till the Shia Bandra Mosque I was in bad shape , I passed it on my way home , it had not started , but I rushed home after talking to a few Shia boys.
However once Marziya Shakir and her mom returned from a majlis I took Marziya with her Press Card round her neck and made her shoot the Bandra young boys doing the Zanjir matam.. this I had promised her and after a few shots I shot too, we both came home.
My wife is still at Ziyarat and Marziya is waiting for her return.
And such is life on a slow blog track in Mumbai.
Today is my day off I will rest.
Bulbous Bold and Beautiful
157,187 items / 1,244,410 views
as the mumbaikar
housewife weeps
her tears on the soul
of her dependence
on onions sackful
badti mehngai
onions gul
the onion trader
cunning artful
making loads
of money bagful
from the other side
the government
watches sheepishly
helplessly
corruption scams
more scams
now this terror
in the kitchen
handful
sheela ki jawani
theaters yet
to get houseful
jhatkas matkas
crowds cant pull
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Shah-e-Mardan Sher-e-Yazdan Quwat-e-Parwardigar Lafata Ila Ali La Saif Ila Zulfiqar , originally uploaded by firoze shakir photographerno1 ....
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Dargah of Hazrat Syed Ali Mira Datar Unava Gujrat , a photo by firoze shakir photographerno1 on Flickr. HAZRAT SYED ALI MIRA DATAR'S G...
