A lot of people I met get tired of dogma religious rules the tyranny lopsidedness of the Mullahs fatwas edicts , gets tired of formal dictatorial diktats of religiosity that has got commercialized money based .. all this turns them towards Sufism and here I must mention Indian Sufism is nothing but a freer form of Sunnism.
So the person who moves away from a strait jacket does not have to change the core of his belief it all remains the same and that is why there are various Sunni groups trying to take control of the Dargahs including the Government as the funds are enormous no transparency and the politicians to eye this apple pie.
But that is not part of this blog I am not much of a conversationalist , and most important I avoid getting personal unless the person tells me and I know Bawas Sufi monks that have families but are happy begging with beads rund theur necks and turbans and a beggars bowl..
when I first made my appearance in the Sufi circuit with my Bawa attire rich original gems turban a staff in wood ad silver and barefeet I was a threat to the other bawas and what confused them moew why the camera on my person and I am a Shia too,, but than they realized if I did get money as a beggar I gave it to the Murshad and than one day the Murshad told me Bawa you better keep a beggars bowl I bought a fiber one for Rs 501 I carry it on my person at the Dargahs I eat my meals in it .. the original beggars bowl costs over Rs 50000 made out of dried coconut giant shell cured and mystified.
I met many Bawas highly educated and they had all run away from home nagging bragging wives , stupid dumbass children.. and fucked bosses.
The other allurement was perhaps the love for the chillum I dont smoke the chillum.
Than there are Bawas who keep young kids that are their apprentice , take care of their needs , make the chillum , press their legs and do all the odd jobs the apprentice one day will become a Bawa too and the lineage continues.
There are foreigners who have become Bawas they always request me kindly not to shoot their pictures it would hurt their families back home , bawas from Poland Russia Kazakistan and England too,
However now as a Malang myself I am surprised the number of foreigners that walk from Delhi to Ajmer Sharif at the start of the Urus ,,I have yet to do this trek,,
There are women bawas too,,who got jilted cheated by their lovers husbands and they have their own following ,,
There are Hijras who got tired being screwed , literally and metaphorically gave up everything and became Hijra Bawas ..
There are Hijra Tantrics Exorcists and Shamans too.. all living in a world beyond this world and I am holding on to them with my camera strap.. absorbing their silence their nuances and their myth ,
There was a famous photographer from Palanpur late Mr AL Syed who also renounced everything to become a fakir I am told ,,
