All over the cities I have shot documented Moharam..I have seen little kids getting their heads marked with the blade of a dagger .
Little kids who perhaps hardly know what is happening but are aware of the grimness of the moment.
In Hyderabad almost every child , including little girls get the head cut by the dagger known as the kama, it is a symbolic cut unlike the swift rapid strokes by Shia adults while hey do their kamazani.. or kama matam.
Almost every Shia child has a bandage on his head in Hyderabad on Ashura day .. and Chehlum.
In Chennai the child has his head cut on Ashura day and here strangely even Hindu mothers with new born boys have the childs head cut for holistic healing purpose ,, I asked one Tamil Hindu mother waiting for her childs head to be cut, why she was doing it , she replied to keep the child healthy and prevent evil eye ,, I had no words to respond .
In Mumbai the head cutting starts at Kaiser Bagh from eve of 8 Moharam and the kids get initiated thanks to Munna Bhai who helps them get over the fear of the blade.
Than the kama matam continues on 9 Moharam juloos that begins at Honda junction .. and ends a Amin Imambada .
More kama maam on Ashura Day morning a Amin Imambada , and later at the Ashura juloos on the streets of JJ till Mazgaon .
Within the Shia cemetery the kama matam is of sheer frenzy, and mostly teenagers take part.
Lucknow kama matam takes place on Ashura day juloos and Chehlum juloos .. but than comes Athvi the last day of Shia mourning and kids participate in large numbers at Kazmain..led by Baney Bhais Anjuman,
In Hyderabad even girls women do kama matam..
In Delhi Ashura day kama matam takes place at Kashmiri gate , and Chehlum near Jama Masjid and Sher E Marda cemetery.
In Kolkatta it is basically hand held razor matam.. and some kama mata,
At Hussain tekri Chehlum the Kashmiri Shia kids do inense kama maam most of the Kashmiri adults puncture their scalps with surgical needles .
As a people photographer as a documentarist I shoot , I dont hold opinion , I dont proselytize nor do I glorify bloodletting ,, but yes I shoot it prolifically .
My grandkids all girls are not scared of the kama ..
And this post is to give you the meaning of kama, this child was watchin me with two daggers , and than he walked upto Baney Bhai asking him to cut his head , and there is absolutely no force , child abuse ,,and this kid had no fear no apprehension ..
And for the record I hardly shoot kids doing kama matam, these are just a few I took ,, kids in Lucknow have requested me to bring them kama when I next come to shoot Moharam.
