Maria The Leper Lady Of Bandra And Her Daughter Mary, a photo by firoze shakir photographerno1 on Flickr.
Both are Christians , and both are beggars I have been shooting Maria the leper lady documenting her story as a blog ..I have never talked to them to find out why they beg.. and why has the Church not tried to rehabilitate them .. I dont ask questions I simply shoot ,
I pay them too but what I pay wont change their lives or their destiny..Maria moves out of Mumbai during the rains as her body parts start falling apart she goes to her hometown..her daughter Mary sits in her place at Boran Road Bandra.
Mary has two kids a boy and a girl I have shot them too , they sat doing their homework while their grand ma begged ,, now both are in a boarding school I believe ,,,when payback time comes her grand daughter might become a nun and her grandson a priest..who knows..
My grandchildren have shot Maria too,,, at a very young age I made them aware of human pain suffering much before they meet it in life someday..
Maria ties her begging tin by a rope to her leg as the drug addicts have snatched it from her I am told ,even the beggar tin has another smaller tin , the notes she puts beneath this tin , as she is blind the slum kids drop a coin and quietly remove the notes ,,, it is sad .
She trusts nobody..but knows I am around dont ask me how ,, she remembers my American friend Glenn and asks about him..
Earlier her daughter used to abuse me thinking I shoot her mothers picture to sell.. now she knows I do it to tell her mothers story so she always gives me a smile will ask me about my grand kids ..
