Phool Sadak Par Khilte Hain.. Inhe Log Pairon Tale Kuchalte Hain, a photo by firoze shakir photographerno1 on Flickr.
There is not a single street in Mumbai where you dont find groups like this begging at traffic signals ,,little kids little girls running behind cars and in full view of authorities and money does change hands to look the other way.. at certain traffic signals the returns are good one such signal filled with nostalgia is the Talk of the Town signal off Marine Drive ,,, here the foreigners give good money,,,than comes the Regal signal , the Electric House Rajsi Bros signal,,
For some there is good money beneath the Khada Parsi signal here it is mostly Muslim beggars , deformed beggars ,, for drug addicts making a fast buck it is the JJ corner signal, most of the guys sleep beneath the fly over , take drugs openly and the JJ hospital Police station is just a few blocks away ,, the way I see it cops dont have time to mess with these lowest of the low.. it is not worth the effort or time.
The traffic signal I shot most of my pictures was the Turner Road traffic signal a documentary as a street photographer I knew all the urchins hijras ,, and this was possible as I worked close by for many years and another stint last year.
The Juhu Versova link road is famous for its hijras and the devdasi hijras I shot them a lot and then closed the shutter on all my transgender images over 20000 ..and most of the hijras that beg at trafic signals are men dressed as hijras or women dressed as hijras .. the latter at the Linking road signal.
There is a lot to shoot in Mumbai , if one wants too, if one has passion time and inclination for lofty fine art photographers shooting beggars street is akin to shooting shit lying on the road .. and fine art photographers , insect bird sunset mountain shooting photographers Mumbai is an arid wasteland..that is why most of them crawl out of their beehives to shoot Govinda at Dadar or Ganesh visarjan at Lalbagh or Girgaum chowpatty..
And if you are from Times Of India , the special press card than you meet the Kolis and shoot the Visarjan from the boats... I was adventurous once now no more I shoot the Maha Kumbh with the Naga Sadhus as my guru belongs to the Juna Akhada ..and so I will be shooting the Nasik Kumbh and bathing with the Nagas too.. My guru during the Shahi Snan calls me Ashok and I dont blame him.. though I am not dressed like him.. my guru dresses me up himself.. in white garbs..
And I digress this is a blog no editorial constrains ,, and luckily I dont have to lick his ass or give him head to get my picture published.. it is published without constrains.
Bloggers are opinionated , yes we are .. so we blog.. and are read and viewed ,,,
This was a picture I shot last year when I come to get my camera serviced at Natraj Rustomjee Andheri Canon Mastercare Service center ..
And I just got a call from Samsung Service head office Gurgaon regarding our Samsung LCD TV, I told them I will never buy a Samsung product ever , their parts are faulty and fall apart in a year or two I got a Westinghouse fridge 25 years old at my house I bought it when Mr Rajat Rawail who knew the manufacturers put in a good word to them on my behalf and it is working perfectly ,, it cost me Rs 50000 those days with the discount..
And my Flowerhorn I bought for Marziy Shakirs 6 birthday left me without a suicide note and the reason was a faulty heater ... and she was sad all day .. blaming me for abetting the suicide. luckily she did not call it murder ..
