Maria and both Mary are coverts they became Christians . but has the conversion helped , I dont know they are both begging on the streets , perhaps the only saving grace is that Maria's grandchildren wont have to beg at all..
I have been documenting Marias life since many years , and ever since the monsoons set in Maria has left Mumbai , her sores her leprous condition gets worse her body parts start falling in the heavy rains .so Maria has given her place to her daughter Mary who begs outside a Sunni Mosque dressed as a Muslim , with a head scarf and I pass her on my way to work , always inquiring about Maria..I give her money too.. though she never asks me for a penny.
My grandchildren know Maria , both have shot Maria , and respect her a lot , teaching both my grandchildren to use the camera was to bring them closer to God through Humanity ,,
The colors of Religion certainly teach you God but nothing about this humanity of beggars lepers and the rest.
So Marziya now and Nerjis now 3 both Canon users shoot Maria like me .. Maria has empty sockets for eyes but the sound of my feet and she knows I am there we chat , Maria ties her beggars tin to the stump of her leg.. and within the tin is another smaller tine beneath the smaller tin she places the notes that she gets , this precaution is necessary as drug addicts pretend to give her coins and would steal the notes from the tin.
Its a very hard life , and drug addicts love Bandra as the Bandra cops let them live without ever nabbing them , they will be nabbed when a little child is raped by one of these drugaddicts .. we as a society wake up when our houses are burnt down.. we hardly know the meaning of prevention ,
Well back to Maria ,the leper lady of Boran Road ..I have shot over 250 images of Maria , my American friend Dr Glenn Losack too is very fond of Maria ..he has shot her too..
I hate conversions completely , but even this conversion from Hindu to Christianity has not really helped Maria or her daughter Mary..I think and I wont be surprised when some rich Wahabbi Muslim pays a hefty sum and gets Mary to accept Islam.. the seeds have already been sowed ,. Religion too is dictated by Money.. and the poor see God though their empty stomachs .
These are my Bandra Blogs , and there was another lady homeless destitute I called her the Umbrella lady of Bandra Reclamation she died recently unsung uncared both my granddaughter gave their pocket money to her .. and this is the power of the Camera , they shot her and learnt the true meaning of Charity .
The third person in my story of beggars is the limbless Appu my best friend he is a human torso and has met Marziya when she was young .. but Appu has disappeared too he is a Muslim migrant from Assam ..he begs at Mohomedali Road or near Mahim church these are the few people I documented to awaken the dead soul of those who get hurt when we shoot beggars , they find our photographing beggars gives India a bad name ,, and they actually forget those who really give India a bad name ,,
Shooting beggars to sell their pictures was the first unwarranted response , but than those who know me , also know that Photography is not my bread or my butter .. I shoot pictures like a painter loves to painter or like a carpenter loves to use the chisel. I use my camera to take you to the dark nether regions of the underbelly of my city Mumbai.
I have shot beggars at Red Light areas , these were once rich guys who spent everything on Mujra dancing girls now grovel the earth taking brown sugar or working out as pimps ,, yes I am a storyteller bad grammar , rusty lexicon but my camera makes up for all those shortcomings
And Hijra beggars in trains hijra beggars at traffic signals I shot them all ,, and this section I removed from public view because of picture stealers at Flickr.com
