My Lalbagh Chya Raja Visarjan Journey Barefeet From Lalbagh To Nagpada 2012, a photo by firoze shakir photographerno1 on Flickr.
Whether it was my pre intuition or a warning from cosmic forces of my impending loss I dont know but at Chinchpokli the bastion of Chintamani Chya Raja I switched cameras and began shooting on the much heavier Canon EOS 7D with vertical grip,,
Instead of following the Raja pushing through crowds , I did not have the strength , I walked towards Chinchpokli and decided to wait for Raja and shoot him from here and I met my dear friend mentor Venay Parelkar , he was waiting for eminent photographer Shivji who had come to shoot the Ganesh Visarjan from Jodhpur.
He was going to Girgaum Chowpatty and told me to come along with him , but for several years I have been shooting the journey of Raja so I was tempted to join him but at the same time reluctant and my new bag was heavy.. I shoot with a single camera and I had bought two cameras I had come and shot the Lalbagh Chya Raja Arti and Rajas departure celebrations at 8 am at the Pandal and the card and all my other unused cards worth Rs 20000 were stolen from me at Nagpada along with my wallet.
But in the melee I lost Venay Parelkar and so carried on shooting the Raja following him instead .it was my destiny and so I reached Claire Road where calamity struck..
But I must tell you all every year I meet the hijras when I set out to shoot the Journey of Lalbagh Chya Raja , I had met Reshma Hijra last year , this year she had come with a larger floral tribute and I met other hijras from Lucky Compound.. .
I also met a transgender at the Pandal Rose I shot her pictures all in the stolen card .. I shot the shopkeeper of Lalbagh who gave me batatawada a bottle of water free also in the stolen card ,,,including pictures of me shot by Sagar Bekal and pictures of Raja shot from the trolley at the Pandal by Sumit Kale volunteer of the Mandal all gone..
So this is my Lalbagh Chya journey I kept it on hold to post the pictures of my 5 year old grand daughter Marziya Shakirs birthday party... Forgive me ..
I shot 2 memory cards of this journey ..the guy who stole my stuff from my bag hung on my back in the crowds , opened the first compartment .. the second compartment had my camera Canon 60 D and too my good luck it was down below and on top of it was a heavy naryal coconut given to me by a volunteer at Byculla Bridge ... so it was well protected ..at Nagpada Petrol pump a fellow photographer told me my bag was open and my kingdom crashed .
I informed my wife she said come back but I still went to Nagpada Police Station and informed them of my loss to the duty officer he did not take my complaint but noted my details in a book with my address number...and told me he would call me if they found it..
However I shall shoot this journey again next year be more careful... and try to be less overconfident .. because the thief is much smarter than the photographer on the street ...and works in groups in a crowd... pinning you in such a way that you will never know you are being robbed ...
