Firoze Shakir Poet - Frozen Time: 03/07/11

Monday, March 7, 2011

Neend Bhi Khuli Na Thi Ki Hai Dhoop Dhal Gayi Paon Jab Talak Uthe Ki Zindagi Fisal Gayi

Neend Bhi Khuli Na Thi Ki Hai Dhoop Dhal Gayi Paon Jab Talak Uthe Ki Zindagi Fisal Gayi, originally uploaded by firoze shakir photographerno1.

Where Do I Go From Here ? Garib Nagar Dark Clouds Dark Future

Where Do I Go From Here ? Garib Nagar Dark Clouds Dark Future, originally uploaded by firoze shakir photographerno1.

174,912 items / 1,361,988 views

was it sabotage
was it a conspiracy
to get back the land
or was this plot
at the highest level
planned only
god knows the truth
but he is silent
taking the blame
perhaps it was
his cosmic hand
dreams broken
homes demolished
by a stealthily fire
bricks turned to tears
ashes and sand
on the soul of our
beloved mumbai
pain stretches
corrodes expands
corrugated silence
railway tracks
running
over the soul
of humanity
despair
despondency
doom
man must
withstand
images uploaded
unscanned

174,674 items / 1,361,139 views

I dont shoot disasters but I shoot human pain , as it unfolds itself on the streets , I shoot pain as it is my inheritance of my Shia faith, I shoot Moharam , I shoot Bakra Eid simply to catch the inevitability and eventuality of death in the eyes of the sacrificial goat,

I shoot and document the poetry of human life and fate as it affects religiosity per se.

But I keep away from disasters as a photographer I am a coward I cant run after human life trying to save themselves from a calamity with a camera in my hands , I am a poet first before I am a photographer and both are human mind you.

So I did not shoot the raging fire in the night when it struck the soul of Garib Nagar , I had the time but not the inclination , and the following day dressed in black without my usual bedecked persona as member to a funereal party I came I shot and I wept , at the hand of god , his wrath fire and brimstone it seemed totally biblical reliving the words of a Presbyterian priest..

I shot but I did not need to poetize pain , it was poetizing me from within.. I was offered a cup of tea by a family that had lost everything, I refused at first but than took it I was in bad shape I had lost something too ... I dont know what but I am sure you understand.

I did not shoot Garib Nagar for any other reason but I shot it with a greater passion over a 1000 pictures in five hours traversing across the destruction , my feet burnt though I wore slippers.. my soul stirred and when I did stop shooting I knew it was over for me I could never walk back to Garib Nagar again.

I did try to cut away from the Navpada end I had come with a rail ticket to enter from the Bandra West station end and I had forgotten to buy a return ticket , and when I thought of cutting out from Navpada Gate No 18, my feet pulled me back in..and finally I took a rickshah from Bandra Court Behrampada and reached home totally drained and my uploads at Flickr continue since than non stop

This is my story of Garib Nagar in brief.. I was going to Linking Road last evening by a rickshah and the ricksha guy who was from an area close to Garib Nagar and he had his interpretation on the cause of the fire he said no authority could ever get rid of the settlers from Garib Nagar even if they paid out in crores someone must have given a few paltry lacs to a guy to get this deed done and he waited for my reply i had none..

I was shot an effect without a cause.

International Women's Day 2011 At Garib Nagar Bandra East After The Fire

International Women's Day 2011 At Garib Nagar Bandra East After The Fire, originally uploaded by firoze shakir photographerno1.

174,753 items / 1,361,423 views

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

International Women's Day (IWD), originally called International Working Women’s Day is marked on the 8th of March every year.[1] It is a major day of global celebration of women. In different regions the focus of the celebrations ranges from general celebration of respect, appreciation and love towards women to a celebration for women's economic, political and social achievements.

Started as a Socialist political event, the holiday blended in the culture of many countries, primarily Eastern Europe, Russia, and the former Soviet bloc. In many regions, the day lost its political flavour, and became simply an occasion for men to express their love for women in a way somewhat similar to a mixture of Mother's Day and St Valentine's Day. In other regions, however, the original political and human rights theme designated by the United Nations runs strong, and political and social awareness of the struggles of women worldwide are brought out and examined in a hopeful manner.
Female members of the Australian Builders Labourers Federation march on International Women's Day 1975 in Sydney
The mimosa (technically, the Silver Wattle) is the symbol of the celebrations of Women's day in Italy and Russia

The first IWD was observed on 19 March 1911 in Germany following a declaration by the Socialist Party of America. The idea of having an international women's day was first put forward at the turn of the 20th century amid rapid world industrialization and economic expansion that led to protests over working conditions[citation needed]

In 1910, Second International held the first international women's conference in Copenhagen (in the labour-movement building located at Jagtvej 69, which until recently housed Ungdomshuset). An 'International Women's Day' was established. It was suggested by the important German Socialist Clara Zetkin, although no date was specified.[2] The following year, 1911, IWD was marked by over a million people in Austria, Denmark, Germany and Switzerland, on March 19.[3] In the West, International Women's Day was first observed as a popular event after 1977 when the united Nations General Assembly invited member states to proclaim March 8 as the UN Day for Women's Rights and International Peace.[citation needed]

Demonstrations marking International Women's Day in Russia proved to be the first stage of the Russian Revolution of 1917.[4]

Following the October Revolution, the Bolshevik Alexandra Kollontai persuaded Lenin to make it an official holiday in the Soviet Union, and it was established, but was a working day until 1965. On May 8, 1965 by the decree of the USSR Presidium of the Supreme Soviet International Women's Day was declared a non working day in the USSR "in commemoration of the outstanding merits of Soviet women in communistic construction, in the defense of their Fatherland during the Great Patriotic War, in their heroism and selflessness at the front and in the rear, and also marking the great contribution of women to strengthening friendship between peoples, and the struggle for peace. But still, women's day must be celebrated as are other holidays.

my poem in humility

she has lost everything
such was the fire's sting
burnt her soul
her children s wings
on a mound that was
once her house
she sits doomed
around a cosmic ring
a pain that pulls
her heartstrings
only memories remain
dust to dust
ashes to ashes
sweet nothings
a womans day
at garib nagar
her angst
her anguish
her burnt
feelings

Over 2000 People Rendered Homeless In Garib Nagar Fire Blaze

Over 2000 People Rendered Homeless In Garib Nagar Fire Blaze, originally uploaded by firoze shakir photographerno1.

Word Verification At Blogspot Is a Tool Of Mass Destruction For a Blogger

This is For The Hon PM and Mrs Sonia Gandhiji.. A Postcard From Garib Nagar

The Brave Firemen of The Brave City of Mumbai

The Brave Firemen of The Brave City of Mumbai, originally uploaded by firoze shakir photographerno1.

The House Burnt Down All That Remained Was The Doorknob

The House Burnt Down All That Remained Was The Doorknob, originally uploaded by firoze shakir photographerno1.

The Brave Firemen of The Brave City of Mumbai

The Brave Firemen of The Brave City of Mumbai, originally uploaded by firoze shakir photographerno1.

The Ground Was In No Mood To Cool Down At Garib Nagar Bandra East

The Ground Was In No Mood To Cool Down At Garib Nagar Bandra East, originally uploaded by firoze shakir photographerno1.

My Slippers Were Burning as I Walked On The Hot Rubble Garib Nagar Bandra East

My Slippers Were Burning as I Walked On The Hot Rubble Garib Nagar Bandra East, originally uploaded by firoze shakir photographerno1.

What Remained Of His House Was The Expensive Godrej Doorknob?

What Remained Of His House Was The Expensive Godrej Doorknob?, originally uploaded by firoze shakir photographerno1.

Garib Nagar File Will Soon Be A Closed Chapter On The Soul Of Humanity

Garib Nagar File Will Soon Be A Closed Chapter On The Soul Of Humanity, originally uploaded by firoze shakir photographerno1.

174,532 items / 1,359,769 views

What caused the fire the real reason we will never know at all just a message of get the fuck out written on a burning wall , such is the apathy the inhuman treatment for the poorest now turned beggars as they grovel for aid as they crawl like vermin living on charity is what hurts most of all.

Was it a sabotage was it a builder politician nexus , a supari to get the land cleared who will tell it all , a system the actual truth will stall, red tape bureaucracy hurdles and soon the rains will fall.. breaking the spirit of these poor people simply because they are Muslims outsiders from Uttar Pradesh a thought by some to forget them once and for all.

As a beggar a poet of Mumbai I shot these pictures with weeping tears standing human souls like their wooden tin houses on a living graveyard sprawled ,a little child holding her broken doll, the holy scriptures the tazbi prayer beads all burnt to ashes mixed with the soil and all.

For the conniving politician the loss of a huge vote bank to keep him his party on the chair installed , he will now go out of his way to offer sops as relief cure all ..the benefactor a silhouette of lurking hope tall handsome and tall.

What I shot was the poetry of life's drama including the deathly pall. I pray to God such hard times on my worst enemy should never ever befall...