Shooting Moharam in a city where you have never shot Moharam before where the Shia community does not know you is pretty tough , and there must be very few among the Shias who document Shiasm as photo journalism like I do , I shoot pictures and the poetry of sadness within the pictures in a sea of black sometimes powerfully soaked with blood ,,
And censorship shooting a documentary kills the soul of photography , being a Flickr Pro Member , I have to shoot within the ambit of Flickr guidelines though I am shooting stuff that is Shia symbolism within their rituals .
And unlike others who force their religion up your throats I dont , I am not a Shia evangelist , a fact that I shoot all religion mostly Hinduism and Sufism besides Shiasm.. and it is not easy shooting Moharam in your own city where you have lived for over 59 years , being abused by hotheaded misguided Shia bullies is what we face , their over zealousness has no limit no decency and no respect for elders or seniority and so I distanced myself shooting any segment of Moharam in Mumbai save the Majilis at my house that as the patriarch of the House I have to attend ..
I have cut down on my religious photography in Mumbai , I am not young nor do I have the stamina because of my ill-health and diabetes .
And the cities I visit during Moharam Ashura mostly is for 3 or 4 days and I shoot over 2000 images on a single camera ..I spend my money my time , and I shoot as per my vision ..I cannot borrow your narrow mindedness or your eyes to shoot what I want to shoot ,, And perhaps in all humility I must be the only Shia who has documented Moharam in most major cities and posted it online .. and I try to capture the simplicity , the austerity of Shia pain pathos as poetry.
No I dont think I will ever go to Karbala , out of due respect I have to make myself more spityually capable to visit Karbala if I did get a ticket I would certainly give it to a poor Shia who desrves the Karbala of his dreams more than me,
For the moment my Karbala is India and the rivers Ganga Yamuna and Sarswati quench my thirst for Ghame Husaain ,, my thinking may sound alien to you but than once again I use my mind without blinkers not yours ,, and I cannot change my parentage my Lucknowi upbringing my Adabb My Tehzeeb my culture and my Indianness that is certainly not Arabic by all means .
I am proud of my Hindu cultural inheritance , my roots are deep down totally desi.. my grandfather Daroga Nabban Sab was related to poet Mir Anis .
My wife comes from Iranian ancestry ,, but her mothers family were Shias from Siwan Bihar.
My father was a Moghul Pathan.. his father converted to Shiasm and we have remained Shia till date.
My brother married a cultured Hindu girl from a very noble impeccable family it was certainly no Love Jehad ,, they are happily married settled in UK.
So our parents gave us the choice to opt a path and we opted truth equality justice and all bound to Hussain as Humanity.
And my pictures reflect the Silhouette of my Soul as a Malang of Ali too..
