Picture was shot when I was being initiated as a Murid of Peer Sayed Masoom Ali Shah Baba Malang Madari Asqan..this year in June 2011 at Ajmer Sharif ..
I have known the Dam Madar Malangs that sit at Char for many years . I always made it a point to visit them as I liked their spiritual state of mind , and their austerity, these dread head Malangs with hair as long as 30 feet or more keep the head covered in a giant turban, that they dont remove in public..
They live on a cemetery during the Urus of Khwajah Garib Nawaz also known as the Holy Saint Moinuddin Chishty Sabri from the Sufi order of Chisthiyas..one of the most famous important Sufi pilgrimage center in Ajmer Rajasthan.
All those Sufi Malnags Rafaees , and people of peace from all communities come to the annual celebrations of the Holy Saints birthday known as u7rus.
I come here to and my host is a a very devout Sufi scholar Peeersaab Fakhru Miya Hijra No 6 who propagates the message of Ahle Bayt.. Imam Hussain and his father Imam Ali.
As a Shia born I am very comfortable with his teachings and I stay every year at his house he is my extended family..this year my Belgian friend Marc De Clercq a great famous photographer who shoots hijras street life malangs and who walks on foot from Delhi to Ajmer with the Dam Madar Malangs had a desire to become a Malang , so we both became Malangs and our Peersaab is Peer Sayed Masoom Ali Shah Baba Malang Madari Asqan extreme right in the picture and his Murid Syed Saab Madari..
I went through the initiation ceremony first became a Maang and the following day Marc became a Malang too..and I walked barefeet with Marc from Taragadh to the mountains to the grave of a Eunuch Saint and his biological son , the toughest trek for me as my feet were cut up burnt but I did not give up till I had reached my destination.
Marc De Clercq is a great friend of my Hijra Guru Laxmi Narayan Tripathi now in Big Boss house and Marc shoots medium format , he has shot the eunuch festival of KoOvagam for many years I have yet to shoot it , I am plumb broke when it takes place so I have never been able to shoot it all..
But I dont begrudge him or my fate I shoot hijras through the year on streets besides shooting them each year at Ajmer and Haji Malang..I have no sponsors or financial backing to pursue shooting the study of hijras as a pictorial documentary, but I have shot over 17000 images of hijras till date..all at my Flickr Hijras of India set and collection that includes Hijra poetry and Hijra shamans exorcists and soul healers . .. eunuch children too..
I dont sell my pictures nor do I distribute my pictures , my pictures are all photo blogs , I pimp them through my Wordpress site Hijras of India or through Twitter and Google+ I am not on Facebook..
Marziya Shakir my three and a half year old grand daughter is totally a fan of Marc De Clercq and now that we are spiritual brothers Marc is related to Marziya too..
And Marziya Shakir is eagerly waiting for her photo Guru Dr Glenn Losack MD he saw her gift of vision and bought her the Nikon D 80..when she was a very tiny tot..
