On Possession and Photo Journalism In Mumbai And Blogs, a photo by firoze shakir photographerno1 on Flickr.
I was lucky to actually shoot the preparation of the sandal paste at Shakil Bawas house , sandal paste is made from Sandalwood a very expensive aroma item and is placed on the tomb of the Holy Saint at Dargahs.
As Mahim Dargah is close to Bandra it was easy to document all this , but the sandal procession that comes to Makdhoom Shah Babas Urus to pay tribute from far flung areas has to first give salami at the Dargah of Fakhruddin Shah Baba and finally come to the main Mahim Dargah all this takes hours by the time the sandal procession reaches its final destination , young devotees carry the sandal paste on their heads in decorated lace thalis and it is these guys who come under the possession spell, they are held by others , so that they dont collapse on the roads , but even during the spell trance they dont let go the sandal paste.
Both the Urus of the Mahim Saints holds great importance and the start of the Makhdhoom Shah Baba Urus begins with the Sandal of the Mahim Police Station , they place the first offerings to the Holy Saint and their patron Saint too..and here mind you most of the police force devotees are Hindus and even the wives of the police go into a trance like possession when the Sandal starts its journey I have not been able to document this lately as it fell during Moharam..being a Shia Muslim we are in mourning , but yet I have shot the proceedings later on..
And also documented the life of the Rafaees at the Mahim Dhuni.. behind the Dargah.
Possession at Dargahs is very common aspect of Dargah culture ,,and you find women near the Dargah doors in a state of trance frenzy and spiritual pain.
And all my years in Mumbai I must confess , I have never seen the insides of Shakti Mills at Mahalaxmi .. my genre is street photography, with respect to people rituals customs possession occult and the supernatural.
And it is sad our political satraps wake up after a tragedy only , before that it is life as usual,,and though a blogger I must stress the photo journalists are treated with contempt by the cops themselves , manhandled spoken rudely pushed and so first the cops must get ther house in order before going after others .. even at events were the the photo journalists are invited the bouncers push them and I saw this while shooting the unveiling of Mr Rajesh Khannas statue at Taj Lands end..The photo journalists job is to get pictures and he will get it despite your intimidation .. I fought with the bouncers pushing the journos .. I was a VIP invitee with a camera , they did not push me .. as I was not part of the press enclosure .. but I sat away from the VIP space in order to shoot them .
The government talks of giving police attendant to the lady journalist , what about the ladies working in the hospitality sector why was this not given to bar dancers ... shocks me..
I know i am digressing on this post but .. change has to come from within.. not just cosmetically to run another term in office .
Law and Order in Mumbai has literally gone to the dogs , there are more drug addicts in Bandra on the skywalk , that we see them only the cops with blinkers dont see them.. why because drug addicts are a pain in the ass and bring no returns ,,, you catch them they cut themselves up and land the police into trouble and perhaps you cant house drug addicts in beggars homes ...imagine the other beggars becoming druggies too,, a social solution and serious policing is required without political interference and those with police security wont ever get gang raped or have their faces slashed in Mumbai trains .
And when will the Press Club of India treat bloggers as part of their community and not lepers and give us the same accreditation and respect..I dont know..
Imagine having a Press Card and getting treated this way what happens to lady photo bloggers and enthusiasts .. I wont say anything further .. the camera is the only instrument of peace and a catharsis to society's endless problems ,,
And I am sad because my grand daughters learnt to hold the camera before they picked up a Barbie doll.. both are 5 year and 2 year both are Canon users and street photographers like me .. so I feel ashamed when the camera gets gang raped too by a rotten system. and political failure ..and I pray for the speedy recovery of the photo journalist , may she overcome this sad memory , may God give her the strength to get over it and move forward..and dont give rape victims name like Nirbhaya you make me puke all over ,,,
