And if I saw racist attitude , spiritual arrogance devoid of Imam Hussains Humility and Humanity it is among certain sections of Shias all over India ,, they think it is their right to insult and abuse and they dont spare foreigners who try to shoot them , and this uncivil attitude this bigotry is very common , and will never change , and eve those who are educated lack the basic civility despite the fact you are shooting them on the streets and not in the privacy of their homes .
Some experiences I have had push me to the brink, but than I take it all with a pinch of salt.
The first dumb thing they have in their hollow heads is that the man who shoots them is doing it for commercial gain makes me puke all over my shirt front.
And I maybe a Shia but I am a documentarist a chronicler and I use my images positively ,, but than who has time to educate the mentally uneducated .. that we as photographers try to make others understand our faith which is more than just spilling blood on the streets it is our frozen tears pour pain of 1400 year that we spread on the internet all over cyberspace ,, with our own cameras our own time our own internet user charges ..
And than the bigot a large number among the Shias thinks everyone is his enemy save himself and honestly it is all about your background your upbringing and your parentage ,,
My parents both dead taught me to respect another mans faith and his religiosity however different it maybe from my own.
I have received a message from a French photo journalist , he wanted to shoot Moharam in Mumbai after seeing my Shia documentary , and I have never met him we connected via Flickr .I told him though I would not be in Mumbai for Moharam I gave him contacts of both my dear friends Habib Nasser and Baqar Nasser .I told him I was planning to shoot Ashura in Hyderabad , and after a few days he sent me a message whether it would be OK if he came to Hyderabad from France to shoot it with me ,, I told him I have no issue so he has done his hotel booking etc,, as for me I will go by train and live at the generosity of my Shia friends in Hyderabad they give me a room take care of me as their own family something I never found in other cities I shot Moharam.
So these are a few personal stray thoughts , another city that is respectful photographers during Moharam is Chennai.. if you guys want to shoot there let me know I have some very dear friends .
I know a friend in Chennai who being a Shia took me to the Hindu temples Sufi shrines as he knew I shoot every religion my own and my neighbors too..
So I shot the Marriammen Temple the feast that I shoot every year in Mumbai in support of the Hindu Tamils ,, and as my respect for their spirituality will be piercing my cheeks with them with a 18 feet steel rod ,, Now What Am I ,,, Keep Guessing..
