A Letter To My Guru Dronacharya Mr KG Maheshwariji .., a photo by firoze shakir photographerno1 on Flickr.
Sir
Without kissing the dirt of your feet and rubbing it on my forehead I would have not become what I am today ,, I reiterate you taught me values you taught me somethings that are not photography and in a way I learnt everything you did not teach me .those things my parents bequeathed me .. they gave me a path luckily I met you on that path along with Mr Jatkar Mr Malushte and all that I imbibed I am now placing it in the open palms of my grand daughter ..
I taught my grand daughter that she was lucky, she sat played with the slum kids , I showed her the beggar world the world of hijras I showed her starvation , I showed her deformities sores and at that time hung on my waist she saw what I saw through the viewfinder .. today her vision is greater than mine and she will never be corrupted by camera club culture or by the breed of monsters of the camera club..
She wont be polluted by media photographers she shoots what they never shot as those days when her age they were shitting in their diapers ..I am lucky that I found a Master in you.. you are everything but not an old fogy or an old fart that I call those who have destroyed Photography for Good..
You at 90 are on the Internet sharing goodness you were never part of photographic politics .. and you never sold your pictures though you could have coming from a business family .. so I learnt much from you .. and today as a Dam Madar Malang of a fakir Sufi order I too understand the vagaries of time and tide ...
My grand daughter Marziya Shakir 4 year olds pictures are healing balm on the soul of humanity she will never participate in a Photography Salon .. where all pictures look alike only names change .. no I have empowered her to go beyond rules ,... it is not her camera but her poetic soul that overrides camera manuals ..she wont thirst for Acceptances Certificates of Merit or Awards pictures judged by those who have never shot pictures when they were 2 year old .. forgive me for my outspokenness in all humility ..
And hold on Sir at 7 month old Nerjis Asif Shakir is learning photography too .. so what you gave me , the fruits that you were offering to God that slipped from your hands fell into the out stretched hands of my grand daughters .
My prayers good wishes to your children , their children and their children too...
Your disciple
Beggar Poet
Firoze Shakir
