After a very long time , I met Mr Vijay Khatu my friend , he was not well , lying at his workshop at Parel..this is one of the largest Ganesha workshops I think, I shot extensively , and than moved towards Lalbagh Ganesh Gully to shoot Mr Rawles workshop, I shot both his main road workshop and the one behind the bus stop..I did not the shoot the ones at Kala Chowkie I was too drained out.. 
I came to Lalbagh Chya Raja Pandal met my dear friend Raju Langewal treasurer , he was surprised to see me in shorts and tshirt without my turban and ornamentation..
I shot Lalbagh  streets and my favorite Goddess Gauri at Swapnil and Pritams outlets at Lalbagh..
I shot the shutters of Lalbagh Chya Raja Pandal..the festival is almost a month away...
I am street photographer a beggar poet .. I shoot misery cavorting with hope I shoot original content. I am Shia Sufi Hindu all in One
Friday, August 2, 2013
Ganesha Calls Me To Parel And Lalbagh,,,,
The Beggar Poet Malang
in a world 
of pain pestilence 
garbage dung 
where the old 
pay for botox 
to look young 
where dreams 
from fans hung 
self strung 
where deformity 
of body soul mind 
punctured lungs 
where bombs 
detonate where 
muslims kill muslims 
even during ramzan 
teeth bites its own 
tongue ...
a cause that bestirs 
an hornets nest 
far flung 
rest in peace 
freud  adler jung
The Malang Shot By Marziya Shakir 5 Year Old
Marziya Shakir shot me is fine but to add depth to her shot she added the girl in the frame and my 5 year old grand daughter is a good photographer blessed by Dr Glenn Losack MD her only acknowledged photo guru , the other Guru is Viola from Denmark,, I am not considered a Guru .. only Dada or grandfather .
And I am happy that she knows her mind and follows it , Marziyas picture of Mr Shreekanth Malushtes photo outing with his students at Bhauji Lad Museum and Rani Bagh has come in a local newspaper too.. but a more poignant photographer in my family is Nerjis Asif Shakir 2 year old and waiting in the wings Zinnia Fatima my third grand daughter 22 month old..
Ours is a camera centric family barring my daughter we are strictly opinionated Canon users ..we would not take Nikon even if it was given free to us..
We used it i our hey days actually over used and got abused by their technicians ..decided no more Nikon.. Only Canon.
I Got A Call For Help From A Sikh Gentleman Yesterday
I Got A Call For Help From A Sikh Gentleman Yesterday, a photo by firoze shakir photographerno1 on Flickr.
I normally dont pick up calls from unknown numbers , but this one I did , he was polite , a father in serious trouble , his daughter was seriously ill, according to him he had a woman working at his house a Bangla woman  and she had left due to some reason or other , he had discovered a small black doll with a lot of pins on the head...
His daughter was suffering from severe black outs and pain in the head , he had met a lot of shamans , tantriks bawas and gone to Meera Datar too, but she is not recovering .. he thought perhaps I knew someone who would help him.. 
I told him not to fall for anymore bawas , all this was one way or other about making money , I told him to invoke Guru Nanakji , have faith in his belief and go to the Gurudwara instead and I told him she would be cured , because as a Muslim I too would invoke his Holy Saint to help her recover .. and he sounded a bit relieved , he said there was Ilm .. I told him yes but today it was in the wrong hands  have seen a lot charlatans how they hoodwinked simple people even at  Dargahs , and if these  people could not change their own evil ways con people how could they ever heal others.. 
There are good healers but sadly they are only a few .. so he requested me to save his number and he would update me on her mental health.. so this is life..and being a grandfather with three grand kids all girls I know the pain I suffer when they fall ill.. 
I could refer him to Malangs but I wanted him to heal her with his own fatherly love  through Guru Nanak Sab.. Nanak Nam Jahaz Hai.. 
I prayed for his daughter and asked my  grand daughter to pray for her .. Nerjis is a healer too..
The Blind Beggar Boy Of Boran Road Bandra
A part of his life is a set on my Flickr photo stream, a very tragic story of a blind beggar boy from Murshidabad W Bengal..I hope it does not separate from the mother state a new state eponymous to beggars .. but most of the Muslim migrant beggars I have shot specially the ladies dressed in black sarees are from Murshidabad.
Well I digress the blind beggar of Boran Road Bandra , Boran Road is a road from Hill Road that connects to the backlanes of Bandra Bazar Road .
The Blind Beggar boy through local Sunni mosque sponsors has had thee unsuccessful eye operations , and after some rest came  back to begging again..
I have not spotted them this Ramzan the blind beggar boy and his bearded guardian who takes care of him.
The blind beggar boy is a real fight back story, he is mostly silent , just smiles never talks and I dont even know their names , never felt the necessity to ask them.
These are famous Bandra Bazar beggars ...
I Stopped Shooting Beggars ... These Are All Old Reworked Images Thru Aviary
I Stopped Shooting Beggars ... These Are All Old Reworked Images Thru Aviary, a photo by firoze shakir photographerno1 on Flickr.
As I mentioned earlier I hardly take my camera out, and it is not laziness , just a passing phase of not shooting images at all...above all I hate taking my camera in the rain , holding the camera in one hand and the umbrella in the other damaged hand is not my cup of tea.. and I have shot most of the beggars in my area...the new ones who come here during ramzan are not as photogenic as the ones I have shot,..
My 2 year old grand daughter Nerjis , Marziya and even my youngest grand daughter 22 month old Zinnia Fatima all want to shoot with the camera on the tripod.. so there are these crazy sessions at home .. with the fish tank in the backdrop and me giving demonstrations to all three of them.
The fishes are fed by Nerjis Asif Shakir.. 
And honestly Aviary is not the best photo editing tool but it serves the purpose of poetizing my old pictures and mellowing them  mono chromatically ..if that is the right word.. 
Poetry is a inner thing words are redundant ,,, poetry is soundless bliss words are only the stepping stones into the image.
I am not a Photoshop buff at all... honestly I like to shoot what I see , without minus or plus.
Life is a bore .. I wanted to go to shoot 21 Ramzan in Hyderabad but I was flat broke so I decided to sit back at home and shoot my grand children doing the Amal.. work in the rains is a droplet ... though it only floods the streets I mean the rains of Destiny.
I came to Mumbai Bombay when I was a year old .. with my mom and we stayed in the shanties of Kurla bakhar in 1954 .. so now living in Mumbai has become a lifetime of sorts..cant imagine living anywhere else not even Lucknow  the city of my birth from where I was uprooted ..without memories save of both my dear grand mothers .. Khurshed Baji my fathers mom from Vazirgang next to Khakhan Manzil.. and Nazmi Begum my moms mother widow of Daroga Nabban Sab descendant of poet Mir Anees.
My dads Khurshed Baji mom was a widow too..a Shia lady who married a Sunni gentleman and made him a Shia too.. says a lot about her faith defiance and her path to promoting the True Faith of Ahle Bayth.
And all night there has been the 23 Ramzan Amal at home.
Muslim Beggars Are Like Fallen Leaves
god took away 
the fruits ..
fallen leaves 
as one dies 
another one 
grieves ..
muslims 
love killing
 muslims 
for their beliefs 
the followers of 
the three caliphs 
dont see eye to 
eye with the 
followers of ali 
so kill punish 
persecute them 
tyrant judge jury 
as a muslim i am 
ashamed perplexed 
hurt ..by what i see 
i distant myself from 
hate , from all kinds 
of hurtful bigotry 
one mullah of a sect 
has an issue with 
another mullah of a sect 
so suicide bomb the soul 
of humanity and the muslims 
of the world enjoy watching 
this murder mayhem.. 
completely the custodians 
of the holy cities ..
dont want shias others 
only one god who they 
consider wahabbi and salafi
allah ho akbar is a war cry 
instead of peace brotherhood 
if you dont agree .. with their
 views obsolete diagonally
Before God Gave Me A Camera He Gave Me Eyes ...
Before God Gave Me A Camera He Gave Me Eyes ..., a photo by firoze shakir photographerno1 on Flickr.
to see 
understand 
feel sensitize 
shoot without 
telling lies 
the cardinal
truth in one 
size ..make 
others realize 
muslim beggars 
pain humanize 
mother and child 
sacrifice ..at ajmer 
begging unashamedly 
by the street side 
self respect does 
not feed hunger 
with each shot 
my soul my god died
Muslim Beggars Keep The Covenant Of God Alive
 
invoking his name 
every minute they 
thrive ..they keep 
faith they survive
Mama When Will This End ..Begging On Streets At Every Bend
Mama When Will This End ..Begging On Streets At Every Bend, a photo by firoze shakir photographerno1 on Flickr.
mama 
we stand out 
wherever we go 
with our surroundings 
we do not blend 
the broken fence 
of our life no 
carpenter wants 
to mend ..a 
broken down 
dilapidated 
garden of 
sorrows 
dying blooms 
we must tend 
our fate is 
our chosen 
enemy also 
our friend
Jesus Wonders Why Muslims Cannot Live With Other Muslims In Peace
Jesus Wonders Why Muslims Cannot Live With Other Muslims In Peace, a photo by firoze shakir photographerno1 on Flickr.
muslims kill more 
more ...muslims
more than any 
pestilence natural 
disaster or disease 
one calls himself 
puritanical he must 
kill the one who is 
heretic -god he must 
appease ..forgiveness 
mercy humanity are 
not part of his thesis 
suicide bombing 
holy shrines mosques 
schools hospitals 
killing innocent people 
unborn children..no reprieve 
muslims love killing muslims 
in ramzan wonders jesus 
gospel truth and belief
The Kashmiri Beggars ..In Mumbai
from the vale 
of kashmir 
in an urban 
jungle they 
 survive 
breathing 
polluted air 
barely alive 
a rs 1 meal 
wont suffice 
begging at 
the urus at 
mahim 
their migrant 
fate a loaded 
dice ..kashmiriyat 
a memory what a 
sacrifice ...cry 
my beloved 
country they 
pay a price
- 
Shah-e-Mardan Sher-e-Yazdan Quwat-e-Parwardigar Lafata Ila Ali La Saif Ila Zulfiqar , originally uploaded by firoze shakir photographerno1 ....
 - 
Dargah of Hazrat Syed Ali Mira Datar Unava Gujrat , a photo by firoze shakir photographerno1 on Flickr. HAZRAT SYED ALI MIRA DATAR'S G...
 - 
Phir Saal bhar ke baad Gam-e- Shah Ayega, Zinda jo Rahega wohi ye Gam Manayega , originally uploaded by firoze shakir pho...