Hardcore Street Photography Or A Poetry of Pain, originally uploaded by firoze shakir photographerno1.
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I will be doing this ritual soon , it has eluded me for reasons unknown to me but not fear or pain..I cut my head three or four times a year during Moharam so pain is not the criteria.. and as I have been shooting documenting this festival in Mumbai for many years now I am aware of its importance to the Tamil Hindu diaspora of believers of Mother Marriamma in Mumbai.
This ritual has to grow become a part of your system and the poetry of life , because I have shot it passionately as passionately as I shoot my own Shia rituals it has entered my psyche too and I am a mystic who understands the power of such rituals part of my cultural inheritance and the heritage of Mother India the country of my birth.
I am known to the Tamils and all the rod and hook piercers and participants know me very well I am part of the canvas of this event wherever I am invited .. be it Nehru Nagar Juhu Mahim Macchimar Colony or Madras Wadi or Sion Koliwada..
I am very close to Davendar of Nehru Nagar Juhu , Laxmi the sister of the high priest of Marriamma Mahim Ganesh and Shanmuhgam of Madras Wadi Worli also Punjabi young guy Sam Bhatia of Sion Koliwada ,.a devotee of Mother Marriamma has been a person who has kept me informed of this event.
Sam Bhatia an event manager cum famous caterer participates in the Chattri ritual or human juggernaut , body pierced with 108 rods in the front back side of the mouth including the tongue sometimes and the cheeks.
I shoot this event like most of the events on an empty stomach a forcible fast and barefeet..here at Worli seaface where the rituals began late but I had come at 4 pm my barefeet got burnt and I still have blisters with pus in them and I am a diabetic..but I defy all thoughts of pain being a beggar poet the metaphor of this event enters my poetic psyche seamlessly and fluidly.
I prefer Mahim Macchimar colony because I feel close to home and I have never completely shot the event at Mahim from beginning to end I tire out and call it a day..
At Nehru Nagar I shoot the removal of the rods and at Worli Madras Wadi too..
But I must tell you if the person piercing your cheek is a novice you are in trouble as one false move your cheeks will be ripped apart leaving a scar a disfigurement for life..so the rod piercer has to be a seasoned hand like Rajah Maharajah Shanmugham Ganesh or Davendar there are others too I dont know by name.
You have to undertake a fast before doing this ritual.. tie a yellow thread with a leaf as a symbol of protection of Mother Marriamma.
This is akin to Thaipussam but not Thaipussam per se.. it is similar yet very different though the origins maybe the same...
