I Shoot The Dabbawalas of Mumbai..

After the Anna Hazare protest at Azad Maidan where 5000 Dabbawalas took a day off from work,  the first time in 120 years  and came to support Anna Hazare to fight against Corruption..
I shot this and thereby came to know most of the Dabbawalas ,that had gathered there reciting hymns , bhajans and shouting slogans . this was a unconditional support to a movement called India Against Corruption.

Normally the dabbawalas dont dabble in politics , carry on with their work of delivering the lunchboxes tiffins to the working class of Mumbai.

And it is a tough strenuous job , carrying a crated of daabas on their heads ,or maneuvering their cycle loaded with tiffin boxes .

During the rains they are always drenched to the bone without raincoats , but they deliver peoples food punctually .

And all this is my pictorial tribute to the actual humble brand Ambassadors of my beloved city ,Amchi Mumbai .

Shooting The Dabbawalas Of Mumbai

There are a lot of subjects in Mumbai , if you really put your heart into it and you pursue it doggedly , and you use your inner res-courses to add beauty to the subject of your choice .

I was an avid learner and I pursued my subjects , whether the Bawas Rifais Malangs , Naga Sadhus the beggars or even the transgender ,I did not give up .

I shoot them even now and add them to the respective sets at Flickr .I shot religions , rituals faiths , movements anything that was curious photogenic , I shoot drug addicts to but from a distant as these are dangerous denizens volatile and  are unpredictable .

But however here in my backyard it was the Dabbawala that fascinated me with his hardword, professionalism, simplicity and above all humility .I shot him eagerly , I shot him to promote his tribe , his zeal and his passion .There was no other agenda , and I hot him as a street photographer chronicler and as a documentarist.

I talk to them , I respect them and pursue them with a poetic energy.

The Dabbawala is Mumbai , the best of Mumbai , you cant have a Mumbai without the Dabbawala or the Dabbawala without Mumbai.

There are always around offices , you cannot miss them at Fountain , Nariman Point or BKC or at the main local suburban railway stations.

On the humility of the Dabbawala everyone earns his merit , film makers , advertisers but has anyone really genuinely done anything for the Dabbawalas kids families I am not sure of.

Will you see a Dabbawala own transport system , fleet of cars , mini trucks , I doubt it , he and his cycle are what Dabbawala dreams are made of.

This Was Shot When Nerjis Was A Year Old

tomorrow
17 July
sharing
her birthday
with her dad
asif shakir
she turns
3 year old
street photographer
of bandra brave
observant bold
unafraid of
the mumbai rains
even if she catches
a cold . obedient
she does what
she is told
a blossom
in the shakir
household
with marziya
zinnia to
add to her
joy .values
uphold
a wealth
even more
precious
than gold