I shot this picture a long time back at a Holy Shrine , his mother was being treated for possession..waiting for the loban smoke that would make her normal temporary get rd of her hallucinations and her mind running at random .
And now in retrospection I still dont know why I shot pain reflected as calm on those related to possessed souls.
The most tragic and painful was the fate of the relatives family members of the possessed person at any Holy Shrine , be it Unjha or Hussain Tekri.
Alot of folks I was told in secrecy came to the shrines to get their wards treated , being very poor , at times they just left the ward behind to fend for himself or herself.
And some fell to conmen fraud shamans who stole away every penny from the relatives of the possessed , and it hurt me
but what could I do ..
In India even educated broadminded people get swindled by such glib Babas , duplicitous spiritual charlatans .
And this child was in his own dream world as his mother on the other end screamed shook her entire body , as her parents tried to grapple with her calm her down.
It is not easy shooting the possessed , sometimes they get provoked by the camera flash or even the sight of the camera and can cause immense damage.
I have been hurled abuses , threatened at Haji Malang when I shot a woman , she was someone I knew in Mumbai but had gone into a possessed state.
I have seen a lot and now living with the Malangs I see so much pain , it beats me.
I warn people who come for my advise regarding their possessed relatives ,, I tell them to go to a professional mind doctor , instead of falling prey to mumbo jumbo..
There are holistic healers too , but very few , now it is about big bucks and everyone is out to con the simple minded.
The worst are the godmen , and the rape of a tele actress is the latest story in our newspapers and she was swindled for lacs ..
I was lucky that I was able to shoot a lot of possessed people as a photographer , and I shot them without making it obvious.
Shooting dark forces , possession , rituals , is not a very easy task..unless you know the khadim at the Holy Shrine and you are writing positive ..I try not be pre judgmental... never ..I shoot without hurting religious sentiments ,
