When Light Is A Greater Curse Than Darkness

When Light Is A Greater Curse Than Darkness, originally uploaded by firoze shakir photographerno1.

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I had shot them hastily while climbing up the Malangad mountains and now I shot them again as I was at the foothills where these unfortunate Albino siblings sit and beg.. it is terrible but this is their vocation in life, unless society at large rehabilitates they are nothing but animals in a circus of life.

You think I enjoy shooting all this and forcing it up your gullet but this is part of my Haji Malang travelogue blogs...I shoot beggars to show you their world up close , my country has more ugliness in high places than you will find at grass root levels.

When the scams were being unearthed they all looked the other way and now all of a certain action is being taken after having given the people concerned ample time to destroy evidence hide the loot and god knows what.. everything is one big sham on the soul of a bleeding nation.

Politics is the greatest curse , and democracy in spite of it its silver lining preempts corruption whichever way you take it.

And I guess Democracy is an ideal for fools better than having to live under the scourge of a mad man like Muammar Gaddafi...

With this my two days at Haji Malang come to an end ..I shot some portions of the Urus 2011 and the rituals and surroundings, there is ugliness on top of Malangad on the first day of the Urus , I have not mentioned or shot it, it is not part of my documentary, Haji Malang is a disputed site and comes with a baggage of political shenanigans.

Whether you call this place by any other name it is inherently a place of peace hope and humanity and as such I shot it devoid all the other skirmishes.

But its true I came here also to shoot Hijras document their lives juxtaposed with the Sufi divinity, their spiritual getaway, and the hijras have invested in land here bought their homes to make living more feasible and accommodating for their community.

The hotel rents during the Urus like any other tourist festival place sky rocket and high.

I have documented the hijra life during the Urus , they beg here as per tradition from the shop keepers even I had to shell out Rs 50, but I paid it willingly to the hijras.. this is the money used for the community kitchen , everyday the hijraa groups distribute food for everyone including the poor and the needy pilgrims.


I did not shoot the Dhamal where rafaees show their body piercing skill because of my problems with one of the Trustee of the Haji Malang Dargah Trust who felt my documentary blogs were more hijracentric and hurt his sanctimonious background , and I never in the first place came just to shoot the dargah, nor was I under the sponsorship of the Trust so his words were unbecoming and he had no right to rebuke me in the first place I was a guest of the Holy Saint and not any individual..


Though without Kumar Ketkar Abhijeet Ketkar the Hindu Khadims of Haji Malang and Sakib my florist friend from Mahim who has shops at Haji Malang I dont think I could be here due to financial constrains and they invite me here year after year instill love and trust in me.

I reiterate I am not a Sufi adherent, I am an Indian Shia Muslim but yes I am under the influence of the positivity of Sufism.. and in India in my humble opinion in Sufiism and Sunnism there is a very thin demarcation line it is not about sect only about devotion and peace and humanity. and that is what I have shown through my pictures, poetry and my blogs

And as I am studying the life of the hijras as a blogger I shoot them to add their ethos to my set at Flickr.com and my Hijdaeunuch blogs at Wordpress.

Without the support of the hijra gurus like Ma Madhurima , Salma Guru , Baby Guru , Nayak Gopal Haji of Najafgarh and my own iconic hijra Guru Laxmi Narayan Trupathi and others these blogs on the hijras would have not been possible.

Khushi Raveena Megha Nisha Mona and the child eunuchs added the color and adventure to my blogs...and the crossdressers and ladyboys of India too.