Tuesday, March 15, 2011

The Hijra Mystique

176,148 items / 1,374,625 views

on the soul
of humanity
the hijra
looms large
his angst
his pathos
his passion
his poetry
peaks
silently
eloquently
in the
language
of love
it speaks
on the soul
of man
havoc
it wreaks
the hijra
heart
is a lonely
hunter
comfort
it seeks
from the
darkest
of deep
desires
on his
consciousness
it sneaks
the hijra
voluptuous
buxom
slithering
reptilian
a vicious
streak
androgynous
hardly meek
fashionista
sartorial
unique
human
emotions
choked
on a creek
garbed
in a netted
sarong
blushing
cheeks
tantric sexuality
unstoppable
technique
moments
to moments
every night
every week
neither man
nor woman
dichotomous
physique
an accident
of birth
born a man
a womans soul
she tweaked
a widows peak
made in India
a goddess Greek

old wine in a new bottle
hide and seek

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The Hijra Angst Passsion and Poetry

176,148 items / 1,374,232 views


broken wings
broken dreams
like a bird she flies
sweeping the soul
of androgynous angels
in the skies hijras
are human a burning
flame that will burn
eventually die
hijras weep tears
dreamless cries
hijras to be hijras
have paid a price
the soul of a woman
a man in disguise
beneath the feet
of her sorrow
paradise lies

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Bacchon Se Bheek Mangwate Hain

176,148 items / 1,373,667 views


waqt waqt ki bat hai
kashmir ki wadiyan
kashmiryat chodkar
bandra termius
par ghar banate hain
door gagan ki
chhaon main
kuch sapne
yad ate hain
kismet ke mare
dar dar ki thokre
khate hain
bachon se bhik
mangwate hain
gardish muflisi
shikast aur har
inke arman
bambai ke
gutter main
beh jate hain

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A Wheel Chair Called Desire



176,132 items / 1,371,415 views

Nowadays of late street kids stalk me , they want to be seen on the Internet , and the quintessential ubiquitous camera has added to the notoriety of my pedestrian fame.I get invitations to come for a function and a reminder too Bhai dont forget your camera.

The slums that I cut in through as a short cut to my workspace has a bunch of these kids all ready with their Friday best before going to Namaz smile ..I am impulsive I shoot I dont shoot..

Than nowadays it is the truck drivers of Chinchpokli Bandra that want to be photographed too...they invite me for tea but I pretend I am in a great hurry to ease my self away from such situations.

There are Sallu clones with jeans on much below the equatorial region of their pelvis a imitation silver bracelet with a turquoise a toothy smile also wanting to be photographed..with a colorful Be Human t shirt.

I tell them politely just hang in I am coming back in a few minutes than for that day I change the route to my house...and if he catches me the next day I give him some other lame or langda excuse.

The people I eagerly shoot are hijras , beggars sadhus I stopped shooting politicians and public rallies.

This kid on the wheel chair does all kinds of stunts to draw my attention..

Than there are young kids who tell me dont forget to post their pictures on Facebook.

Flickr is their favorite because it has Bandra Bazar Road as one of the most sought after categories.. than my set on Street photography and of course my hijra sets.


I carry my camera all times battered bruised but it captures the soul of my surroundings my angst and the angst of the people I shoot.

They dont begrudge the fact that they cant download my pictures from Flickr.

And I dont post pictures at Facebook at all only my Flickr links.. and Facebook pushes my viewership to over 22000 people accessing my Flickr blogs almost every day.. this I say in sheer humility and gratitude.

Yes I pimp my blogs at Facebook

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Labels:

The Umbrella Lady Bandra Reclamation

176,127 items / 1,371,384 views

She sits there as seasons come and go , an umbrella the bare necessity of her life , winter summer are fine her bad days begin when the rains set in , but she sits at the same place determined facing the ravages of time and space.

I have shot her extensively never spoken to her I dont know her name and she has never talked to me , she does not beg let me make this clear to you..,

You give her something she will accept without a thanks.. you are saving your soul not hers.

She is a landmark of Bandra Reclamation even great politicians stay opposite her house on the road.

And I shoot her as poetically as it is possible , she and Maria the leper lady , the cute blind beggar boy has disappeared for good .

Appu the limbless guy I have not met since a very long time...

The other set of beggars are those that sit at JJ Colony Bandra.

The Turner road traffic signal kids a is lost chapter of my tryst with street photography.

Fridays near the Bandra Shia Mosque namaz time you see the burkha clad Muslim beggars of Mumbai...

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Are Hijras Really Men Or Women ?

176,148 items / 1,373,598 views

Hijra maidens I have shot over the years in retrospection would be called hijras because I tell you they are hijras and because they are part of the hijra community..

But if you take some of the hijras I have shot in isolation they would put the prettiest Bollywood starlet to shame and this is the androgynous nature of the Hijra two spirit theory.. they are neither this nor that yet they are something is a confusing allegory of poetic desire.

Hijras have changed the nature of their souls when they first ventured into no mans land, gradually their bodies their minds their feelings become powerfully feminine..I am not a mind doctor or a anthropologist I am neither as lucky as the white photographers that stay with hijras for months on end and I dont envy them either or women photographers who have a greater comfort level with hijras..


I somehow know the hijra angst as a poet and because the hijras and I are connected to Sufiism.. the mystical world the connection between dargahs and hijras is time immemorial...I have shot the grave of Eunuch Saint and his Biological son close to Taragadh , I had a dream and my Pir made me go there barefeet..what happened there is as strange as strange can be , this was the toughest trek I had taken a path through the mountains instead of the usual one that leads from Taragadh.

There was a Tantric bawa waiting for me , we had never met he was from the forests of Bangladesh and knew everything about me.. he disappeared as soon as I went int the hedges to relieve myself..

And than this year I met the Sada Suhagin Bawas not hijras but who wear women s clothes are married to god and father inumerable children,, this Suhagin Bawa has 9 children from a single woman.

The hijras are totally enigmatic charismatic and they have the power to holistically heal otherwise they would not be blessing your new borns..during Badhai.

I shot Raveena Hijra at Haji Malang she had come from her Friday prayers dressed in white and than hurriedly began changing to get ready for her womans avatar and I started shooting her as she was changing from an Androgyne into a woman.. this was shot for myself as a poetry of a hijras life change.

And once changed she became a woman, so also Preeti or Naina or Monalicious the hijra from Mumbai.

So hijras poetically speaking are women and there is nothing to betray their male origins.

They bitch like women , they back stab , they cheat , they are cunning shrewd over possessive and once spurned they become killers too.

A distant relative in Kanpur met a tragic death after falling in love with a hijra chapter closed...his family mourned for sometime .. and than moved on.. so once I began shooting the hijras they though I had gone mad or insane such is human life the other side of the hijra fence.

And such incidents happen in normal female relationships far more acid throwing bride burning to name a few.

Hijras cant produce children but have inherent motherhood qualities and their kids turn out better citizens is something I can vouch for..

Than at the other end there are eunuch children adopted by the hijras like Jyoti Mona or Nandini.

This is a very long winding subject but I think hijras are women provided you are ready to believe they are women and not men in wolves clothing's..

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Hijra Beauty Lies In The Eyes of The Beholder

176,148 items / 1,373,593 views

We first met at the All India Hijda Sammelan Fashion Week..she called herself Simran..

I shot her walking the ramp .but than there was a massive flare up, Baby Hijra Guru who was running this event lost her cool with us we were just two photographers and Doordarshan that was covering the event.

She accused us of shooting the hijras while the were changing which was a blatant lie as we could not go on the stage or backstage , at least I was down below dressed in saffron..

So we were shown the door I came back the following day to Park Site Vikhroli to shoot some more I was told the event was called off.

I met Baby Hijra Guru by than she had found out about me the hijras have a powerful network..she offered me tea, and we had common friends Laxmi Narayan Tripathi her gharana had not attended the sammelan due to some issue..and Baby Hijra Guru chela of Ma Madhurima and I became friends for life.

Whether it was late Raigni Nayaks chautha Ajmer Sharif or my trips to Baby she took care of me and was highly impressed when I took my American friend Dr Glenn Losack to Haji Malang and he shared meals with them but only ate what my wife had given him in the tiffin box.

Simran I met at Ajmer again in 2008 I think and shot her at Moti Katla, while we were having chai, never met her again,

Most of the hijras I shoot I hardly know them the one who is a dear friend is the Hijra breast feeding mother Nisha she calls me Firoze bhai.

I dont take their contact numbers or ever try to get in touch with them perhaps Khushi from Mumbai is the only one I talk to once in a while.

And I must confess as blogger poet shooting hijras I am more comfortable with the beggar hijras at traffic signals or the beggar hijras in trains.. they are my main subjects and spirit of poetic profundity.

I got a message from Wordpress support there was an error in deleting of my Hijdaeunuchblogs my blogs are once again back from the dead but I will never make them public ever again for me Wordpress is over and done with , I have made all my other blogs out there PRIVATE ..

Even my Shia Blogs Shah Ast Hussain I will remove from the public sphere , those who want see my stuff will have to access it through Flickr only..which is actually the source of all my blogs poems and my rant.


So these posts you see here are old posts I am updating many had no titles or text...text only where applicable.

Hijras is a subject I have adopted as my blog thesis and I am showcasing their angst their struggle to come to terms with society.

Hijras are an integral part of human society..deserve the respect that is much overdue.. why we see them as criminals beats me we call terrorists those who bomb our beloved country and yet we apologetically call some Netaji the real culprits that have raped our country of its respect grandeur wealth and beauty. so who are terrorists and who are criminals defies human intelligence wit and wisdom is my interpretation as a beggar poet of Mumbai.

Good Morning..Kick Ass Move Along..

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Babita Hijra Queen from Delhi

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Sohel The Scintillating Hijra From Delhi


buxom
voluptuous
flat Egyptian
belly
moving her
pelvic
a gyrating
graph
of seduction
soft succulent
as jelly
musky
manly
womanly
exotically
smelly

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Decoding The Soul of The Hijra


pain
superimposed
pathos of a hijra
underexposed
a road blocked
completely
closed
love came
saw nosedived
rose
kissing
her dainty toes
shyly she
inquired
aren't you the bareffet
blogger firoze
who shoots hijras
poems distant
yet up close
readable
Wikipedia
simple English
disguised
as printable prose
blushingly
she powdered
her nose
exposing
the sensuality
her pantyhose
the poet
plundered
painlessly
froze
a thorn
weeping
on the death
of a rose

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Where has Priya Gone ?

her lovers in mumbai mourn
embedded in their fleshy souls
a rose a sweet thorn
a Singaporean boy
a woman reborn
a hijda of substance
welcoming a hijda dawn
hijra beauty is not hijra porn

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What We Need Is A Hijra Cricket Team Led By Laxmi Narayan Tripathi

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Shooting The Hijra Fashion Week

176,148 items / 1,373,054 views


his was the first Hijra fashion show held under the auspices of the All India Hijda Sammelan that I shot with a dear friend and eminent Times of India photo journo Nitin Sonawane.


The hijras were great walking the ramp with sheer confidence and the crowds all hijras , would go mad, it was utter chaos and confusion , and I was new to photography and new to fashion photography, but I managed.

And these are blank uploads at Flickr. com , I am adding text and nostalgia.

I did not know these hijras I was a bit out of my element, mind you I am a street photographer and I hate flash, and this was an indoor event I had waited for 6 hours without meals before I was given permission to shoot it by Ma Madhurima Baby Guru and late Ragini Nayak.

And I shot the 40 day celebrations of the function to mark the passing away of Nayak Ragini.

I was invited here by Heena Hijra of Peela House fame.


Heena I have not met since two years though I did meet her beautiful Guru Lakshmi at Haji Malang this year and in a way God helps me shoot some of the most beautiful hijras in this part of my world.

I am thankful to him and his bounty.

And honestly shooting hijras is a not a easy task they are volatile people and wont hesitate in smashing your camera and your head too.

I have been lucky both with my head and my testicular fortitude.

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Priya the Hijra Bombshell From Singapore

born a man
but a beautiful
woman of
substance
at the core
so much
so more
a whispering
chiffon see
through dress
she wore
thanks to
a malfunction
right there
held by her
nipples
it almost tore
she would
never ever
wear it again
she swore
while the
hijra crowds
clapped
encore
wanting
more of her
they begged
they implored
yes on the fucked
soul of womanhood
the hijra had
finally scored

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Priya Hijra Bombshell From Singapore

176,148 items / 1,372,964 views

she will
have the world
eating out of
her hands
she swore
priya hijra
from singapore
a bombshell
in store
as she walked
the ramp
encore
over the rest
of the hijra
contenders
she scored
hijra gladtag
model at
the core
her sensuality
her androgynous
searing
sexuality
melting
the sizzling floor
clapping
their hands
the hijra crowds
let out a roar
i shot her as
fast as i could
before baby
hijra guru
kicked my butt
showed me
the door
i dont shoot
hijra fashion
shows
anymore

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