My Tryst With Beggars At Haji Malang

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

Haji Malang is a very tough trek, if you are climbing the mountains barefeet ,  felling the pain of the people around you and the pain of mother earth as she is slapped by slippers and shoes ..they dont spare her shitting on her face urinating on her soul.. call me crass and crude..

This year was the only time I was put off by circumstances at Haji Malang and decided to move away , for personal reasons and I am impulsive I play by ear I know where I am wanted not wanted I dont push my luck or defy my karmic fate , but neither I am placid or allow myself to be pushed around being a Malang a street mystic I am perceptive to time that has yet to happen.. so I left Marc Malang and without informing him walked down the mountains .. away from the rituals hijras and everything else..

Ajmer I cant miss ..  try to reach there even if I am broke or down under ad going to Makanpur Zinda Shah Madar Urus .. was accidental luck to be a part of the Dam Madar Malangs I could have hung around stayed an extra day but I took a long trip back till Lucnow by bus... and Dewa Sharif was a nice break.

And every step I was connected to beggars , I saw shot and captured their angst..and than came the Maha Kumbh which was the biggest moment to bathe with the Naga Sadus in the Sangam, watch top shot photographers , privileged photographers shooting the Kumbh from up close..

I shot beggars at the Maha Kumbh too, but more so the Naga Sadhus selling their wares their nudity by the roadside , accumulating foreigners and getting a kick of becoming internationalized forever ,,,,

And now I am in Mumbai since many months ..immovable at one place.. I can sit in a train go to any place I want but I am not prepared I have to work everyday ..I dont mix , I dont socialize .. I dont believe in congregational gatherings perhaps Moharam is the only time I become part of a crowd for a common cause.

I keep away from mosques , I keep away from religious god heads ..I shoot beggars I see God in their eyes , refugees lost shipwrecked and honestly the only segment that really keeps God alive with every plea is beggars .. genuinely or pretentiously they call out to God..they make others wary of God..

I dont sit in a chai shop talk politics and the person who called me in the mornings my Guru is seemingly unwell has put his phone of the hook.. Mr KG Maheshwari.. I spoke to his wife a few days back she said he is resting .. I left it at that , I can go to his house but I follow protocol.. I only go when I am invited ..

I was at Kurla East yesterday ..Marziya likes catfish so I bought a few varieties for her fish tank..

And life is sedate , unpredictable , my legs ache , now with the lift broken down it is worse..

And this is a blog.. it overrides a picture , or rather gives it wings ..

And this is Haji Malang the beggars waiting for the Hijras .. at the Irani lodge , and all my hijra pictures are totally private .. you will never get to see them at all.. the hijra women kids , their world on my Flickr stream  has a board that says Rights of Admission sealed ..