Shooting The Hijra Sandal With Kamini and My Hijra Guru Laxmi Narayan Tripathi

Shooting The Hijra Sandal With Kamini and My Hijra Guru Laxmi Narayan Tripathi, a photo by firoze shakir photographerno1 on Flickr.

236,532 items / 1,977,196 views

I shot the hijra sandal pictures with Raveena hijra , Kamini hijra and my Hijra Guru Laxmi Narayan Tripathi dancing to the mesmerizing beats of the drums , the crowds were surging and with so many pretty hijras moving their pendulous hips and their bounteous chests it was a moment in frenzy, I was barefeet , hopping on one feet because the roads were hot and the sweltring heat the sweat and and the push the pull drove the people around bonkers.

Marc Malang too was silently shooting away merged with the background and mobile phones videographing the free for all dance of the hijras.. this was one of my finest street moments and stealing the souls of the hijras ..

Kamini was dressed in green making the other hijra envious and green too, I was short on memory cards but I managed to shoot the dancing procession , till the hijras took a break in a nearby hotel room and here I shot the sensuous seductive Ritu Hijra ,Kamini and Laxmi in their mirthful elements.

All in all shooting the hijras at Ajmer 2012 is one of the finest lilting memory rollicking revelry fun frolic , and all this series shot by me is not for public view at all.

Urus of Hazrat Khwaja Banda Nawaz Gulbarga Sharif Karnataka

Urus of Hazrat Khwaja Banda Nawaz Gulbarga Sharif Karnataka, a photo by firoze shakir photographerno1 on Flickr.

Hazrat Khwaja Banda Nawaz Gesu Daraz (name at birth: Syed Muhammad Hussaini) (July 13, 1321 -November 1, 1422), was a famous Sufi saint from India of Chishti Order, who advocated understanding, tolerance and harmony among various religious groups.

Gisu Daraz was a murid (disciple) of the noted Sufi saint of Delhi, Hazrat Nasiruddin Chiragh Dehlavi, who in turn was a disciple of Nizamuddin Auliya, the spiritual master of Delhi. After the death of his master, Chiragh Dehlavi, Gisu Daraz took on the mantle of the successor (khalifa). Thus later on when he moved to Daulatabad around 1398, owing to the attack of Timur on Delhi, he took the Chishti Order to South India. He finally settled down in Gulbarga, at the invitation of Bahamani King, 'Taj ud-Din Firuz Shah' (r. 1397-1422).

Biography
He was born Syed Mohammed Hussaini in Delhi in 1321. At the age of four, his family shifted to Daulatabad in Deccan (Now in Maharashtra). In 1397, he went to Gulbarga, Deccan (Presently in Karnataka) at the invitation of Sultan Taj ud-Din Firuz Shah of the Bahmani Sultanate. Bande Nawaz authored about 195 books in Arabic, Persian and Urdu languages .

At the age of fifteen, he returned to Delhi for his education and training by the famous Sufi saint Hazrat Nasiruddin Chiragh Dehlavi, who bestowed him with his Khilafath and succession after about fifteen years. He was also a very enthusiastic student of Hazrat Kethli, Hazrat Tajuddin Bahadur and Qazi Abdul Muqtadir. After teaching at various places such as Delhi, Mewath, Gwalior, Chander, Aircha, Chatra, Chanderi, Miandhar, Baroda and Khambayat, he returned to teach at his base, Gulbarga, in 1397 and died in Gulbarga in the year November 1422.


Works
His magnum opus, Tafseer Multaqat in Arabic, was compiled into one book very recently. It is unfortunate, however, that most people even within Gulbarga are unaware of this work. Little has been done to publish this and his other works on a large scale. Other books authored are: Avarif-ul-Ma`arif, Fasoos-al-Hukm, Qaseeda Amali, and Adaab-al-Mureedein.


Urs 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014,
People from various walks of life, irrespective of caste and creed, assemble even today to celebrate the urs - death anniversary - (which takes place on the 15th day of Zul-Qa`dah of Muslim calendar at the famous Bande Nawaz Dargah in Gulbarga every year. His descendents still live in Gulbarga. Almost all family members along with several hundred thousand devotees from near and far irrespective of religion and beliefs gather to seek blessings.

The present head of the family amongst his descendents is Syed Shah Khusro Hussaini, who has written many books about his great forefather.

www.dargahajmersharif.com/BandaNawaz.htm

Naina Hijra The Uncrowned Beauty Of Najafgarh

Naina Hijra The Uncrowned Beauty Of Najafgarh, a photo by firoze shakir photographerno1 on Flickr.

I find Naina looks stunning without makeup as her skin has a natural glow and Naina loves whites , and simplicity , her wish getting marred settling down as a normal housewife..

And among the hijra community one person that genuinely cares for me is Naina , whenever i met her she will offer me breakfast , tea and will tell a guy to see that I am provided for with water or snacks.

She is a true friend and our friendship goes down many years when I first met her climbing the Haji Malang mountains I was barefeet and she was concerned and kind and gave me a band aid for the cuts on my feet thus began our friendship and mutual respect for each other.

This year at Haji Malang she was staying downhill and invited me to their Niyaz I could not make it , at Ajmer I took most of her head shots sans make up.

And so we meet at both these Urus ..and share a great bond .. as humanbeings.

Soma The Dark Dusky Hijra From Delhi

Soma The Dark Dusky Hijra From Delhi, a photo by firoze shakir photographerno1 on Flickr.

236,530 items / 1,977,157 views

If memory serves me right I think I first met Soma at the All India Hijra conference at Park site Vikhroli, I was dressed as a sadhu and had been bodily thrown out by the hijras for entering their conclave all be it with a Press Card many years back my earliest tryst documenting the hijras of India.. as a neglected abused community and highly misunderstood one too.

However Santosh Shetty social activist adopted son of Hijra Guru Ma Madhurima gave me permission and I shot the hijras up close and strangely it was friend Laxmi NarayaN tripathoi who told me to go there much before she became my hijra guru.

It was here I mtr Soma who befriended me she was originally from Mumbai relocated to Delhi with the Najafgarh hijras of Babita and Gopal haji.

She fed me and saw that I was not hassled by the other notorious fist fighting hijras who hate photographers dressed like sadhus.

We became friends I met her over the years and this was the first time I saw her as a complete woman and shot over 100 pictures of her grooming applying make up, and dressing up.

She may not be fair or sensuous like Raveena but she had the killer hijra oomph subtle and powerfully vixen, and I shot her with a divine passion.

And this pictures is my tribute to her charm her grace her beauty and her lingering lassitude poetic and ethereal.

She was very hospitable and among the Najafgarh hijras it is Naina who really cares for me including Priti I am always welcome in their private chambers even while they are changing and they know I wont misuse their privacy .

And they give me more respect since they know I am am also from the Sufi Order of Dam Madar Malangs and I am showcasing the story of their ancestral pain living as broken dolls neither man nor woman.

I missed my friend Nisha Khushi and Puja but I shot many new hijras , I shot Basanti my gypsy hijra friend who stalks me to no end.

So there are a few hijras it is a delight shooting them and I add Soma to this list.

You can see all her pictures in large format at my site option reserved for those I have added as Friends on Flickr.com

Kamini Hijra and Me

Kamini Hijra and Me, a photo by firoze shakir photographerno1 on Flickr.

236,529 items / 1,977,135 views

I first met Kamini at Haji Malang she was there with a friend Khushi a hijra stylist from Delhi .
Kamini had come to Haji Malang at the invitation of my hijra guru Laxmi Narayan Tripathi.
Kamini is a hijra with beauty grace and comes from a highly cultured background , I never till date asked her any personal questions I dont even know her surname.

But as a photographer I enjoyed shooting Kamini she is a natural born model, and she hardly mixes around , she is a fabulously gifted dancer , she is well endowed and the few that know her , will find she is kind hospitable and religiously god fearing.

Having met Kamini at Ajmer over the years she stopped coming to Haji Malang I never asked her a number or her address , and frankly there was never time to get chatty or sociable .

And at Ajmer I mostly met her hosting the Niyaz to the Holy Saint Garib Nawaz or dancing on the streets along with other pretty hijras during the Sandal , a procession of hijras offering tributes to the Saint at the Dargah , as I cannot carry the camera within the Dargah I shot the proceedings barefeet on the hot Ajmer roads .

And so I met Kamini once a year , and we have a mutual respect, she knows I shoot her titillatingly and she surrenders herself to my camera , and I try to shoot her with a pristine passion her beauty that touches all who see her or meet her.

I dont stalk her if I meet her I shoot her , and after the Niyaz and the Sandal I did not meet her at all, I met Raveens Naina and the dusky sexy Soma I shot them..and here too I dont get personal, my objective was to shoot hijras show you their lifestyle their humility towards the Holy Saint and their love for Ajmer.

This is a great contrast to the beggar hijras I shoot in Mumbai, who dont even know Ajmer , beggar hijras at traffic signal dirty smelly running desperately behind cars from noon to dusk , to make a living and I pass them every day as I work a little ahead on the same road.

These beggar hijras are the children of a lesser god they wont be seen at Haji Malang , but are devotees of Tirupati.. Lord Balaji.

But ever since the blatant misuse of my hijra pictures at Flickr I have no desire to shoot hijras at all, and I am sure you would feel the same way if you were me , now if a hijra babe from Peshawar loves my Hira pictures I dont blame her , but than it is the nature of people living across the border to steal, if they cant get what they want , so what can I say imagine a fucked hijra woman in the head living in Peshawar and shooting the same pictures I shoot , shooting the same faces, or shooting Heena at Peela House , and yet she does not have a single picture of her with any of the hijras she has showcased in her photostream all stolen from my lot when it was public.

I always see that I pose with the hijras I shoot , be it Raveena Naina or my own hijra Guru Laxmi Narayan Tripathi it gives authencity and a signature to my pictures as historical record.

And so for a few rogue members stealing my hijra pictures you wont see my hijra sets collections and this is a vow I have taken I am a Pathan too.. all be it a Moghul Pathan unlike those from hijra picture robbing kleptomaniacs from Peshawar.. and it is a pity.. this defiance and this false bravado .. of this so called Flickr member..

I mean if you are so crazy abou Indian hijras get a Indian visa come down shoot hijras more the merrier why the fuck steal.. beats me.

And to those fucked ones who hide behind the thumbnail of the hijras I shot and indulge in identity theft I have nothing to say, they will be punished one day..

I am sorry as a Pro member Flickr Support has no means to kerb this menace and leaves its dirty work of policing to Yahoo Copyright that is a useless laid back entity that makes it all the more difficult for us to report theft.

I followFlickr rules regulations I stay to myself , I only coment on my friends pictures and I am a member here since 2007 I did not expect to be crucified this way as Flickr pro member .

A fact remains the Flickr spaceball too to protect our images can be breached us faulty and it is time Flickr developers worked and rectified it.

I post my stuff only at Flickr so it is scary as hell.

So you wont be reading my hijra stories or seeing my latest hijra updates .

I feel sorry for those hijras I shot at Ajmer who wont be seeing my pictures at all.

I dont enertain Friend request from strangers .. or people I dont know personally .. and only my Friends on Flickr can see my hijra blogs ..

Sorry ..

Mona The Child Eunuch and Priti Hijra

Mona The Child Eunuch and Priti Hijra, a photo by firoze shakir photographerno1 on Flickr.

236,528 items / 1,976,980 view

I have been shooting the life of Mona the child eunuch since several years she was very tiny when I first shot her many years back at the All India Hijra Sammelan at Park Site Vikhroli .

And than as I bean documenting the hijra ethos at Haji Malang and Ajmer I met Mona with her foster parents Gopal Haji and Babita hijra.

Mona has a sibling another eunuch child called Nandini I shot her too, mona is more boyish while Nandini is overtly femininie.

This year Nandini her parents Gopal Haji and Babita were missing at the Ajmer Urus.

So I shot Mona her chela Raveena Naina Soma and other hijra damsels from the Najafgarg gharana of hijras.

Mona would be searching for her pictures on the net but than I have shut my pictures from public view and this one thumbnail I am posting for Mona.

My hijra pictures shot this year in Ajmer 2012 and my older hijra sets collections blogs poems can only be seen by those I have added as friends on Flickr.com.

By friend I mean those I personally know interacted and have been friends since 2005 the time I began blogging at Buzznet and Blogspot.

I am blocking 1298 people at Flickr .com , one sided contacts into kinky sex , CDS hijra lovers and porn lovers .. I have nothing against their choice of sexuality but i do not wish to share their contact list I am a photographer and have nothing to do with their sexual choice or preference so I have blocked them all..and those who are blocking me are people who have stolen my hijra pictures robbed the identity of my hijra froends I shot and are impersonating them to connive entice youngsters to become hijras or are openly promoting hijra prostitution rings through yahoo hijra groups.

As a protest I have removed the bulk of my hijra pictures 19027 from public view ..

I wont ever be showing them to the public ever ..