Tuesday, October 22, 2013

The Sewing Machine Of Time ,,


It is easy to get a gents tailor in Mumbai , but finding a ladies tailor who delivers on time and copes of with the women of Mumbai is one very difficult task.. at Bandra Bazar there was a Gujrati tailor who left behind a couple of ladies shops to his many sons ,,,they specialize in cholis and other simple sartorial fare and serve the middle class Hindus Jains and Muslim .. I have hardly seen any Christian lady at their shops.

One of the sons was telling me that their father used to sleep at the waterfront at Gateway of India and saw terrible times , finally he worked hard bought a small hut in a shanty at Santa Cruz ,, today they are all well settled .

One of the oldest Bandra tailors was Advocate Tailors Dhirubhai Parmar , his father started Advocate and today Dhirubhai caters to the third generation , and he has been serving them for over 45 years , I like him , he reminds me of my fathers time ,,My father late Mohomed Shakir was famous both at Wodehouse Road and later whn he shifted his shop which was next to Charagh Din called Ambassador , to Grants Building .. he named it Smart Wear Tailors , and later it was taken over by Billy Shoes Chines shoe makers .. so my Dad took up part time employment with New Lords ..an extension of Charagh Din and Mr Bhagwan Daswani at its helm,.along with Shashi Daswani the young smart polite and enterprising face of Fashion.

So tailoring has been part of my reckoning I hated this line and God pushed me into it I worked at Burlingtons Taj Mahal .. and that was an experience I cant forget Bul Bul Master .. and attending Mr DRD Tata and Mr JRD.. Roger Moore ..Gregory Peck and the cast of Sea Wolves,, Mr Jim Brown , Mr IS Johar , Ashok Hinduja and so many others .. and was lucky to have learnt something under late Mrs Jennifer Kapoor and Late Gaby Kapoor ..Sunita Malgaonkar later Mrs Andre Kapoor Timki Singh , Anne Gracias ,, and Lorraine Rhubottom..

So many memories moments and all attached to a sewing machine of Time ,,, learning about fashion from Renuka Batliwala at her store next to Treasures of India Dhanraj Mahal learning French at the Alliance with Alain Ficat..

Understanding the life times of Leybourne Callaghan Callaghan of India , Mr Rusi Karanjia giving him fittings at Framroze Court , his safaris were exclusively made by my Dad.

And one incident pertaining to my Dad ..He had a chela Govind , Govind made a mistake or something they say my Dad put a hot iron on his back... this was Guru Chela parampara I was very small but later Govind became Govind Master of Colaba and I meet his son when I pass my old house Jony Castle at Wodehouse Road.

I made suits for Mr Dhirubhai Ambani dressed in white dhoti and he once asked me why I wore Dhotis I answered that the Dhoti was the beginning of Fashion and when time comes to go they wrap you in a dhoti too.. he smiled ..

So the sewing machine has not left me there is one at home which I gave my wife a Singer bought in 1988..

And there are many tailoring stories many chapters , they refuse to leave me ,,, Devanand Rajesh Khanna ...and many others ..

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The Street Side Tailors Of Latur


Through this picture I will tell you a story of another tailor in my area , he has a rented cubicle , and does roaring business ,but he works exclusively for the jean sellers of Bandra Hill Road ..the roadside jean sellers give him old second hand branded jeans , he alters them narrows tapers them ..the kind of jeans you see Miya kids Salman clones wearing them , some of the ladies jeans are altered as shorts and sell like hot pants as hotcakes.

He also alters large size shirts narrowing the sleeves and the bodies that go with the narrow stiletto jeans ,, he in is incapable of altering any other stuff , he refuses work from the locals..

Even on Hill road near the old defunct Bata shop you have a tailor operating from the bakda but our guy beats them all. he has no help...

The jeans sell for Rs 500 onwards , young Muslim boys are employed by the Jean seller on commission , and the Jeans are washed and ironed by a Dhobi in my area , there are two Dhobi guys both are busy with ironing the Jeans shirts ladies tops.. mostly second hand branded.

Chota Mota film designers buy all this for the junior artistes cheap and best....

But the Latur street tailor was promoting tea ...Tata Tea..

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The LetterBox And The Muslims Of Latur


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..

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The Goddess Mahalaxmi Of Latur

Mahalakshmi is the presiding goddess of the Middle episode of Devi Mahatmya. Here, she is depicted as Devi in her universal form as Shakti. The manifestation of the Devi to kill Mahishasura is by the effulgences of all the gods. The goddess is described as eighteen-armed, bearing a string of beads, battle axe, mace, arrow, thunderbolt, lotus, bow, water pot, cudgel, lance, sword, shield, conch, bell, wine cup, trident, noose and the discus sudarsana'"'. She has a complexion of coral and is seated on a lotus.[6] She is known as Ashta Dasa Bhuja Mahalakshmi.
She is seen in two forms, Bhudevi and Sridevi, both either side of Sri Venkateshwara or Vishnu. Bhudevi is the representation and totality of the material world or energy, called the aparam Prakriti, in which she is called Mother Earth. Sridevi is the spiritual world or energy, called the Prakriti. Most people are mistaken that they are separate beings although they are one, that is, Lakshmi. Lakshmi is the power of Vishnu.[citation needed]
Mahalakshmi's presence is also found on Sri Venkateswara (at Tirumala) or Vishnu's chest, at the heart. Lakshmi is the embodiment of love, from which devotion to God or Bhakti flows. It is through Love/Bhakti or Lakshmi that the atma or soul is able to reach God or Vishnu. Lakshmi plays a special role as the mediator between her husband Vishnu and his worldly devotees. Lakshmi represents a more soothing, kind, warm and approachable mother figure who willingly intervenes in the lives of devotees. When asking Vishnu for grace or the forgiveness, the devotees often approach Him through the intermediary presence of Lakshmi.[7] She is also the personification of the spiritual Fulfillment.[8] Also, she embodies the spiritual world, also known as Vaikunta, the abode of Lakshmi-Narayana or Vishnu, or what would be considered Heaven in Vaishnavism. She is also the divine qualities of God and the soul. Lakshmi is the embodiment of God's superior spiritual feminine energy, Param Prakriti, which purifies, empowers and uplifts the individual. Hence, she is called the Goddess of Fortune. She is believed to be the mother of the universe.

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Once Upon A Time In Latur ..

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The Hindu Niqab In Latur


i shot
the Hindu niqab
on the other
side ..in a
Hindu temple
of Shivas bride

demystifying
a dilemma
to hide or
not to hide
the face
in a veil
a woman's
chaste
pride
but here
a fashion
statement
in its stride
an element
of her
mystique
a thought
open wide

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Coral On My Hand

mystically
charging
my mind
poetically
a thought
i understand
politically
galvanized
on one end
polarized
on the other
end the pangs
of this fairyland
where angels
weep on the soul
of my beloved
motherland
divided we fall
united we stand
those that instill
fear make us
strangers in
our homeland
satyamave jayate
truth will prevail
be it the lotus
or the hand
the destiny
of hope
a beacon
lighting
the path
converging
away from
mindless
wastelands

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The Poetry Of Life



the mysticism
as it magically
opens up
page after
page life
a moving
going round
round revolving
stage ..from
one moment
to another age
people wingless
birds in a rusty
cage .. collusion
of diverse emotions
being human
taking umbrage
street anger
street rage
urban brown
faded beige

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