The LetterBox And The Muslims Of Latur

The LetterBox And The Muslims Of Latur, a photo by firoze shakir photographerno1 on Flickr.

I was the guest of Mr Madhusudan Bhutada of Latur and was here on official work, I visited Latur twice ..It was my friend Suren Gurbuxani who introduced me to the Bhutada family ,, a highly respected business family with great credentials ,,and the occasion was the wedding of Mr Madhusudan Bhutadas daughter .. and this opportunity related to my work gave me time to shoot a bit of Latur , thanks to Jaydev Bhutada who took me around ,.. but mostly I shot on my own.

I liked Latur a city of a mix of Muslims Hindus and Jains living in peace and mutual coexistence , I shot a few temples and spent most of my time chatting shooting the Muslim panwalas of Latur.

And I was mostly barefeet , and I shot all this in 2010 31 October ,,, memories still very fresh , I have not erased them from my camera consciousness.

And I have not seen my home state Maharashtra just a few places ,simply because there is no time and my destiny is not etched to those places I have not visited may never visit..

I am happy in Mumbai and shoot my backyard ,I have cut down on my photography completely I once always carried my camera , now it remains sheltered at home ,,,

I have stopped shooting those events I shot regularly every year , I dont think I will shoot them anymore .. I dont know whether I will go back to those places I shoot every year..

I am trying to distance myself from photography ..no more impulsiveness ..

I have pictures in my camera shot of my trips to town but I am too lazy to upload them instead I prefer playing with my old images , realigning them as new by changing the EXIF data , or using the Aviary tool generously ..some pictures need to retain their colors and would be dead pan as monochromes ,,,this is one of those kind of pictures ..

I met hijras at Latur too.. they stalk the purity of my poetic soul..and all my stories are now out of bounds for public.. they will die with me..

For me getting an award for shooting Hijras is the greatest insult to my photography, firstly I am not into competitive photography, secondly why is my contribution to shooting Hindu images beggars ignored ,, the Sufii and Shia elements ..288000 images at Flickr is a storyboard of pain pathos and poetry of life..it did not come easy, my camera was stolen during Moharam in Mumbai , and the hazardous conditions shooting the Maha Kumbh , the bomb blasts and all in a way part of my street photography,,,

And I am not a poet per se..I juggle with words within the periphery of my pictures .. I cant write poetry without pictures ,, it is like eyes without tears.

I once documented my Faith in Mumbai , but photographing religion is not congenial at all, because everyone wants you to be in the same religious mode like them in their bigotry narrow mindedness ...I cant do it because I shoot pictures with my eyes not yours .. you see them , you can always skip move ahead... you were never my target audience ,, I shot my Faith for my non Muslim friends and to show them what they were curious to see .. and I dont proselytize ,I will not hurt your religiosity or your ethnicity it is not the purpose or diktat of my photography..the bottomline I am only an amateur hobbyist photographer , photography is a means to an end and not my professional metier.

I dont sell my pictures I dont create pages to promote my pictures or my poetry , but I blog .. on the various platforms since 2005 ,,, Tumblr Blogspot ,Facebook Twitter .. I silenced all my Wordpress Blogs ,,,

I am given to bouts of creativity of late because bed bugs that have infiltrated my house keep me awake from 2 am till 4 am.. I kill them with my hands , my wife gently dips them in water and kerosene .we tried almost everything pest control other herbal remedies but they will go one day I am sure or I will go before them...

I pity my grand daughters and the rest of my family ,,,as this is worse than a scourge ,,,I stay in an apartment on the 5 th floor I pity those who live in the slums at the mercy of bed bugs and other insects..

We talk of removing dengue but if you come to my area and see the open garbage mounds you can be sure that people like me for once will be using the Right To Reject vote button lavishly..

Our representatives in Bandra have let us down at all levels and the hounding of the Christian community ..because of their legal crosses is surely not going to bring them back to power.. you dont mess with Jesus and Mother Mary and expect to get away..