Street Fighting Beggar Women of Ajmer

Street Fighting Beggar Women of Ajmer, a photo by firoze shakir photographerno1 on Flickr.

I shot this in 2010 while trying to walk the mountains of Taragadh barefeet Ajmer , and the cacophonous sounds of fighting beggars can be heard in my ears even today..shooting beggars in Ajmer is one of the most daunting task as some of them can be really aggressive and there is a local mafia at work in collusion with the authorities , every one has a marked territory you cant usurp the begging space of another beggar ..

And they come in hordes live on the streets near the hillock on the way to Taragadh.. and they are everywhere the beggars of Ajmer ..like you love shooting flowers mountains and getting a kick I shoot beggars I dont get a kick but I showcase their lives pathetic conditions at pilgrim sites ,,,they sustain themselves entire families ..

Beggars at Ajmer come from WBengal Assam and Uttar Pradesh Bihar ..maybe Gujrat too.. Ajmer is hope for the homeless the needy and the Holy Saint provides ..

On the way to Taragadh there are lepers , diseased deformed beggars.. and I can go on shooting them forever some are cordial to me some are abusive but I shoot them nonetheless ..as a Malang I am now a recognizable mystic face .. beggars are kind some talk to me offer me tea..I have eaten with them.. and as I am not writer oriented I shoot pictures .. I am bad at remembering names I dont carry a pen or paper no Dictaphone just the universal eye of the camera aligned to my cosmic vision.

Beggar children work the most in some cases long hours keep changing their begging spots ,,but sometimes the goons snatch their money so the beggars allegedly work under the protection of the local mafia boss , he settles disputes .. he gets the pick of the litter too.. it is sad , dressed the way as I am .. in Ajmer it is no problem they think I am a Bawa too... some call me Camerewale Bawa..

I spend my time in Ajmer at the house of my host Peersab Fakru Miya Hujra no 6 ..I hardly shoot the Shrine , or I am at Char Yar sitting with the Malangs the Dam Madar Malangs I belong to this order .. with my foreigner friends .. or I sit with the Rafaees Jalali Chowk or the Hijra Bawas ..

Otherwise I am at Moti Katla with my hijra friends Naina Rubina and others or the eunuch children.. I sit with the Delhi hijras or the Bombay hijras ..being barefeet it is tough shooting their Sandals on the road..

Sometimes I go to Pushkar ,,, I did not go last year..

My transgender pictures are not for public view ..