Firoze Shakir Poet - Frozen Time: 12/24/11

Saturday, December 24, 2011

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It saddens me , when I go back in time the same place the same Urus day and the Sandal procession of Fakhruddin Shah Baba Mahim , these rafaees I shot documented doing their piercing acts ,their Rafaee silsila pride and as time took its toll, most of the Murshads that held this volatile group together died , Sikandar Wali Baba Handi Barsati Baba ..

Most of the famous rafaees moved away, not to be seen again Fayaz Ali, Hassa Ganda Farukh to name a few..it was here in this very lane a rafaeee baba while doing his sword rafaee , slashed my stomach with a sword , nothing happened to me , he hugged me and apologized but not before whispering in my ears Allah is your life source but Ali keeps you Alive ..

And this was the very turning point of my life a born Shia a devout Shia lover of Hussain follower of Ali I extended my spiritual chaddar and this year at Ajmer Sharif along with my best friend photographer Marc De Clercq from Ghent Belgium I too became a Dam Madar Malang..

And every year on the streets of JJ hospital I slash my head with a sword or a dagger doing Tandav on the Soul of Shimr my Dance of Death.

While I was shooting the Rafaees , Shakil Bawa asked me to dance with his group I politely refused my Moharam , my mourning for Imam Hussain continues for two month eight days , I did go into Kaif a state of Sufi trance fainted and was revived by Shahenshah Baba ..

Handi Sai who died was very good to me , and my dear friend so was Barsati baba I will miss all these rafaess and though a Dam Madar Malang I was introduced to Sufism by them.. through Sakib Firize Rafaee and Fahad Pathan..

I met Kamal Trivedi a friend from UK and though he is a Hindu he too has been very close to Shiasm and Sufism..he narrated an anecdote when he plunged his poetic soul in Sufism a friend told him that the Sufi Malang was a Hippy Muslim lover of peace hope and Humanity..

And as a Indian a citizen of the world I would rather be with these Hippy Muslims than pay allegiance to those rabid lovers of Allah who blow up Hindu temples Sufi Shrines and Shia mosques .. I distance myself from misplaced martyrdom of the blinded by hate neo Jehaddi.

And Terrorism is not new to Islam, it began when Imam Ali was decapitated in a mosque head bowed in prayer it continued mercilessly when his son Hussain was decapitated too on the sands of Karbala head bowed in prayers and eunuch Muslim society at that time shit fuckin scared of Yazid looked the other way.. so Fuck tell me something new..

Dargah Fakhruddin Shah Baba Mahim

Dargah Fakhruddin Shah Baba Mahim, a photo by firoze shakir photographerno1 on Flickr.

Dargah Fakhruddin Shah Baba Mahim

Dargah Fakhruddin Shah Baba Mahim, a photo by firoze shakir photographerno1 on Flickr.

The Sandal Procession of Fakhruddin Shah Baba Mahim 2011

The Sandal Procession of Fakhruddin Shah Baba Mahim 2011, a photo by firoze shakir photographerno1 on Flickr.

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This evening i went to shoot the Sandal procession of Holy Saint Fakhruddin Shah Baba , a very humble but powerful Sufi Saint and associate of Makhdhoom Shah Baba..

I was in time to be a part of the ascetics called Chancawalli Rafaees a motley group I have been shooting and documenting for several years during the Urus circuit.

However this is the first time I was shooting a sandal procession as a barefeet Dam Madar Malang.. and later I went into a trance a state called Kaif..

I did not shoot the entire journey but aborted the procession and headed out at Mahim main road jumped into a bus and came home ..

Nerjis Asif Shakir 5 Month Old Shoots on the Nikon D 80

Nerjis Asif Shakir 5 Month Old Shoots on the Nikon D 80, a photo by firoze shakir photographerno1 on Flickr.

Between Her Two Eyes Is The Cosmic of the Camera

Between Her Two Eyes Is The Cosmic of the Camera, a photo by firoze shakir photographerno1 on Flickr.

Nerjis Asif Shakir Malang 5 month old loves the Nikon D 80 .. she shuns the miniature that was the beginning of her schooling, she knows the camera she watches her picture I shoot on the camera monitor.. yes I forced the camera on her cosmic consciousness .. her legacy her inheritance .. and she will be better than me Marziya Shakir even Dr Glenn Losack MD..simply because Nerjis Asif Shakir is a born photographer .. she was blessed much before she was born..and my words will bear testimony to her holistic prowess her inner camera vision ..