Good Friday Was Bought To You By The Beggar Poet of Mumbai, a photo by firoze shakir photographerno1 on Flickr.
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Dear Firoze,
We just want to place on record, our deep appreciation for all that you do for humankind.
We are with you in spirit and in truth.
Blessings & Respect,
Your brother in Christ,
Joe Dias
DNA E-Paper - Daily News & Analysis -Mumbai,India
epaper.dnaindia.com/epapermain.aspx?pgNo=5&edcode=820...
epaper.dnaindia.com/print.aspx?id=13981&boxid=2658860...
Seeking inspiration from stations of the cross
Christians take out processions to experience the pain and
sacrifice Christ went through
Ashutosh Shukla
DNA [Daily News and Analysis]
Saturday, Apr 07, 2012, City, MUMBAI, page 5.
At Pratirakhsa Nagar, Vakola, fashion designer Firoze Shakir
stands out in the thousands gathered to see the enactment of
crucifixion of Christ. A Muslim by faith, it is not his fancy
Malang wardrobe, but his bare feet in the scorching summer
afternoon, which draws attentions. Apparently, he is here to see
the "passion of Christ".
Though he is clothed and even sits in a truck sometimes, the
scorching ground does make it unbearable for his bare feet.
"Christ walked barefoot. And it is the physicality of this pain
that I wanted to go through. For me, walking barefoot is giving
back to the society, as taught in my convent school," says
Shakir.
The 40-year-old Shakir, who has studied in the Holy Name
High School at Colaba, has been covering the 'stations of cross',
as the enactment plays are called, for five years now. "I even
go for the Lalbaug Raja ganapati too and take pictures for
posting them on flicker for people to see and follow," he adds.
A self-confessed poet, Shakir wants to prove that walking
aside Christians helps him "appreciate beauty of other religions"
and "identify with their pain", thus making more human. "I like
the passion of the Christ. I see his pain like that of Imam
Hussein. As a poet I see a metaphor there," he says.
While Shakir attended the stations of cross to prove his
point of religious harmony, many others came to learn from the
Christ's sufferings and the forgiveness he preached. "The walk
is a small act of reverence I make for his sacrifice for us.
It's a day of prayers and we look to learn from him," said Judith
Daftary, a 39-year-old who had come alone all the way from Marol
alone.
The D'Souzas who had come with their entire family wanted
their children to learn from Christ. "I want my kids to know the
sufferings He went through," said Ivy D'Souza, 36-year-old Santa
Cruz resident and mother of two.
