Shooting the Soul of My Cultural Heritage

Shooting the Soul of My Cultural Heritage, originally uploaded by firoze shakir photographerno1.

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You are the reflection of your parental heritage , my parents were god fearing god loving but not bigots what they put in me as a seed bloomed into the fruits of their labor of love.

My parents never told me to hate Hindus , my parents did not tell me to hate Parsis or Christians , they never had thought for hate such was their struggle in life , starting our migrant roots at Kurla slums called bakhar and than assimilating a place of our lifes destination Khatau Bhuvan Wodehouse Road now Jony Castle, and this was my dad as my mom was very young, I was perhaps a year old in 1955.

As this is not a biographical blog all I want to say I am what my parents made me no venomous hate for other peoples religiosity , I dont know my attachment with this quaint laid back secluded Hanuman Mandir where the form of Hanumanji was discovered from under the ground this was all sea area once upon a time..I bought my landlord Jagdamba Tewaris brother Ram for the darshan of this Mandir.


And because the person holding my camera was having difficulty taking this shot I went back home and came back with my three and a half year old grand daughter Marziya Shakir who took shots I shall post after this lot.


And I have shot over 700 or more pictures of this temple known as Shree Daya Sagar Hanuman Mandir at Bandra Bazar road bordering a slum on three sides.


And without sounding biased after living in India all my life assimilating values traditions I would suffocate and die in a Muslim country ...I am making a general statement but I could never be comfortable in a country that treats its minorities shabbily where Sharia laws could choke the soul of Humanity in the hands of a corrupt rogue Mullah.

I am apolitical I am a follower of Imam Hussain poetically known as a Hindu Shia for the love of my Hindu culture and traditions that have helped to be a good Muslim too.

I dont expect others to be like me or think like me I am happy the way I am and would not change all this for anything in the world..

And tomorrow I will shoot the 14 Stations of the Cross show my solidarity with the Christian brethren of my city , Christian ethos that was part of my schooling and added to my life and contributed also in making me a good Muslim.