Firoze Shakir Poet - Frozen Time: 02/12/12

Sunday, February 12, 2012

What is The Future of Hijra In India ...But Than Fuck What Is The Future of The Common Man In India

What is The Future of Hijra In India ...But Than Fuck What Is The Future of The Common Man In India, a photo by firoze shakir photographerno1 on Flickr.

Two Mystics of India..

Two Mystics of India.., a photo by firoze shakir photographerno1 on Flickr.

Megha Bollywoods Hijra Queen...

Megha Bollywoods Hijra Queen..., a photo by firoze shakir photographerno1 on Flickr.

Aurat Ne Janam Diya Hijdon Ko Hijdo Ne Unhe Abad Kiya

Aurat Ne Janam Diya Hijdon Ko Hijdo Ne Unhe Abad Kiya, a photo by firoze shakir photographerno1 on Flickr.

jab chaha unka izhar kiya
jab chaha unka singar liya

Sometimes I Wonder If I Was Not a Photographer Could I Have Shown You All This

Sometimes I Wonder If I Was Not a Photographer Could I Have Shown You All This, a photo by firoze shakir photographerno1 on Flickr.

I learnt photography very very late in life and accidentally , I was a hardcore early morning booze guzzling alcoholic, a habit I could not get rid of as much as I tried ,I was very good at my work but I had a fucked notion that persisted I thought I was creative because I drank..

I drank and drank my life away, till one day about 17 years back I kicked the habit once and for all, and took up an intoxicating time pass photography, I began shooting the streets with the Nikon F 50..later Nikon F 90 X and the F 100..and thus began my tryst with film...and slides.

I shot to kill time never made a single dime on what I shot instead I began collecting old antique cameras and than sold them all for peanuts..about 275 of them.. twin lens reflex box cameras range finders etc...

I had to learn Photoshop computers once photography went digital, than came the Internet and the blogs, Buzznet Blogspot Fotothing and finally Wordpress and Flickr..Twitter Facebook and than No Facebook just Google+

So it has been a long journey since 2005 as a photo blogger and Flickr is Home of my over 200000 images I made some great friends as a blogger I fell in love with shadows being an incorrigible dreamer and a poet..

I began shooting hijras eunuchs transgender with a kindled passion , met the most beautiful women all hijras , documented their paper thin dreams their androgynous angst and it continues till one day when this flickering flames goes off.

I taught my first grand child the love of creating images , and today at 4 she shoots on the Canon 7 D and I have decided to sell both my infidel Nikons and proselytize my soul with Canon optics and technology, got sick and tired of shooting and promoting Nikon .. no more ..

My 6 month old grand child too is hooked on the camera and just loves it with a divine passion I have already begun teaching her to shoot picturesx and she began walking on the walker since yesterday.. she is a very fast learner..but the beauty in my house is my third grand child who lights up the moment she sees me.

My Haji Malang trip the arduous trek barefeet, my swollen legs my diabetic condition , have not finished me up yet and I have decided to take prior leave from work to go to Ajmer .. for the Urus of Khwajah Moinuddin Chishty..

I told my wife I will take her one day to Haji Malang she simply smiled she is a devout Shia and God and the Imams have been generous they call her to Karbala Najaf Damascus every Ashura , and they give her wings she flies away ...leaving me to shoot my Karbala that is Hindustan...I have no regrets no qualms .. I know if I did get a ticket to go to Krbala I would give it to someone more poorer and more deserving than me.

Well back to basics the person in the picture is Nisha a hijra eunuch transgender , the only hijra I shot breast feeding a child , my only daring pictures of a martyred motherhood I shot this a poet as a human being who loves kids ..and Nisha as she is caled loves kids , she stays with a family at Haji Malang away from the gathering of hijras who live in lodes ,.. she does her own thing , but she loves me and perhaps is the first hijra who addresses me as Bhai or Brother..

This time she called me in , fed me with papad and some bhajiyas she offered me biryani but I politely refused I had a long shoot ahead ..and we chatted about other hijras who normally come here but have gone to Kalliar Sharif Kamini and Co..

For the first time we exchanged numbers she invites me to Delhi but I have never gone back..I might one day who knows ..but I do want to visit Kalliar Sharif , Mira Datar in Unjha and Tajuddin Baba in Nagpur , I am not much into dfargah circuits and also Makanpur as a Dam Madar Malang that I humbly am..

No I dont want to go to New York Rome or France..I would love to go to Philippines to shoot the 14 Stations of the cross ..

And this is a very long series all shot in a single day.. MTNL Broadband plays spoilsport most of my uploads crash because of bad infrastructure lousy fucked slow connection..

My Tryst With Haji Malang Barefeet

My Tryst With Haji Malang Barefeet, a photo by firoze shakir photographerno1 on Flickr.

Simran Dancer

Simran Dancer, a photo by firoze shakir photographerno1 on Flickr.

From the Womb of a Woman And The Sperm of Man The Hijra Was Born

From the Womb of a Woman And The Sperm of Man The Hijra Was Born, a photo by firoze shakir photographerno1 on Flickr.

sorry my hijra pictures are not for public view ,,

You Need To Be a Poet To Shoot the Fragmented Womanhood of a Hijra

You Need To Be a Poet To Shoot the Fragmented Womanhood of a Hijra, a photo by firoze shakir photographerno1 on Flickr.

Hijra Hindustani Meri Tasvir Uski Kahani..Ubalti Jawani

Hijra Hindustani Meri Tasvir Uski Kahani..Ubalti Jawani, a photo by firoze shakir photographerno1 on Flickr.

Hijras at Haji Malang 2012

Hijras at Haji Malang 2012, a photo by firoze shakir photographerno1 on Flickr.

I Am Connected To Hijras By a Silken Thread of Fate

I Am Connected To Hijras By a Silken Thread of Fate, a photo by firoze shakir photographerno1 on Flickr.

hijras
cursed by humanity
treated as scavengers
even at godly gates
hijras souls
like fragmented
broken plates
a god with
a kind
human heart
who will treat
them as his own
they wait
but god died
in his sleep
while creating
mankind
too late
the hijra
biologically
cursed as
wretched man
with womanly traits
a thought the circle
of confusion
complicates

For Years She Has Walked The Mountains For Being One With Haji Malang..

For Years She Has Walked The Mountains For Being One With Haji Malang.., a photo by firoze shakir photographerno1 on Flickr.

Hardcore devotees of Holy Saint Abdul Rahman of Haji Malang , walk up face difficulties , badly kept toilets ,no facilities to speak of , and yet they come in hordes to be one with him on his annual Uruius day.. Hindus Muslims Dalits Parsis Christians Sikhs , the beggars the cripple the lepers the blind yes he pulls them and with the tide come the eunuchs hijras transgender , cross dressers seeking salvation and I have blogged all this poetically through pictures ..

I was very late this time due to my new job, but I came to shoot the Urus of Sultan Shah Baba the second salami of Haji Malang.. and I reached here at 7 pm, shot a 10 GB card , and at 2.30 am decided to walk back to my own world barefeet .. and my legs are swollen as I did not sleep when I reached home at 8 am at 10 am I reported to work..

Such is the passion of shooting this Holy Shrine ..I shot the hijras possession , the urus of Sultan Shah Baba I shot hope peace embedded in humanity..

I must tell you while climbing the mountain I met devotees coming down who considered me a Fakir holy man , they kissed my hand the Hindus among them touched my feet they asked me to pray for them, some innocently offered me money food , and I wept within yes I am beggar too a beggar poet in the wilderness of Life ..

The alms they gave me I gave to a more deserving beggar than me he had no eyes ..

And the government has not bothered to help these devotees , its all about big bucks the government puts money where it earns money.. call it malls whispering woods or whatever , places like Haji Malang are hardly given a thought ..

I am a wingless bird in gilded cage

I am a wingless bird in gilded cage, a photo by firoze shakir photographerno1 on Flickr.

victim of
my karmic fate
my deleted dreams
my doomed destiny
hastily i age
against life
fucked forever
a war i wage
i am a tattered page
moods monosyllabic
melancholy on
a revolving stage
discolored
brown and beige
enfant terrible
on the rampage
my poetic pain
through moving
images
i assuage
dam madar
malang
mystic sage

The Barefeet Blogger As Seen By The Beholder

The Barefeet Blogger As Seen By The Beholder, a photo by firoze shakir photographerno1 on Flickr.

Simran Dancer My Best Friend- A Transgender With a Heart of Gold

Simran Dancer My Best Friend- A Transgender With a Heart of Gold, a photo by firoze shakir photographerno1 on Flickr.

224,486 items / 1,848,519 views

Before I begin I would like to cutrse MTNL Broadband my Internet Provider most of my pictures have lost their sequence because I had placed them on the Flickr uploader and went to work, from a batch of 130 pictures 25 crashed I called up there Tech Head Mr Shyam Sundarji and Raja their Technician , but as usual they are clueless why I suffer the most, their General Manger might not be facing this problem as he must be using either Reliance or Airtel or Tata for all you know..

And I must say MTNL Broadband is a Nightmare on Demand they dont refund you for outage that is the order of the day, their service sucks and they are totally heartless to old subscribers and problems and this is a typical Indian Chalta Hai Attitude..

Colloquially put in slum street language Subscriber Gaya Ma Chudane ..is the way I can express my eunuch sorrow and helplessness