JUST Jaffri United Social Troop-Holistic Healers, originally uploaded by firoze shakir photographerno1.
These are young Shia boys who treat the Kama and Zanjir matamdars, with their First Aid kit and these young boys are the best in the field , they are unafraid lead from the front are on their feet during Moharam events and processions.
They are polite courteous and know their job and they too do the Kama matam at Kaiser Bagh and on the streets during Ashura and Chehlum.
I owe a lot to these gus , being a diabetic my bleeding does not stop and this year I have punished my body beyond its shelf life , I had cut my head severely at Chennai Ashura , and than at Bandra East wih a blunt dagger , and here at Kurla I cut my head badly and the JUST guys found me in a dark corner and immediately treated me, when I say treated I mean clean my wounds with rose water , no ointment no septic shots or antiseptic.
Also bear in mind I use the same dagger that others have used before me sometimes it is washed or sometimes we use it after one guy finishes ..
The wound heals in a day and drys out, but my recent wound from Bandra East would bleed even after some parts had healed.
This morning I wore the same bandage to work but on my return I washed my wound with rose water and Marziya my 3 year old grand daughter took the shots.
Marziya Shakir worlds youngest street photographer is crazy about kama and kamazani, she can hold the dagger and shows no sign of fear at all, but she wont do the kama matam, it is not part of her womanhood, but yes she will shoot it soon , she has shot the children s Zanjir matam at the Guru Nanak Park juloos evocatively and brilliantly.
Her favorite video on You Tube that she sees regularly is my Kama Matam in Chehlum shot last year by Habib Nassers troupe.
My kama zani is the choreography of a rapid stream hurling whirling in outer space I call it Tandav on the Soul of Shimr , a Hindu metaphor of my Hindu Shia angst..
I am proud to a be a Hindu Shia with my roots embedded in the soul of Humanity a land that Imam Hussain loved and wanted to visit .. for it has one thing the barbaric Arab states did not have Humility Hospitality Ikhlaq and Khoolos.
This is my personal poetic expression of pain..I speak for myself only..
We Shias follow one path but each one of us is the product of our surroundings my world in Mumbai borders a Christian Church a Hindu Temple and a Sufi Dargah..
Yes I am a product of my surroundings it has influenced my personal poetry of lifes drama .. as a Mumbaikar .
I document the story of the Shia pain called Ghame Hussain..
