You Can Only Shoot What You Were Destined To Shoot ,,,

Old Lady Chennai

every line
every stroke
every wrinkle
in place
her eyes
broken down
windows
of  pain
her tribulations
her sufferings
hardships
gasping for
breath on the
emotive surface
of her withered
face aging with
dignity impoverished
grace once she was
young dainty her
rustic beauty worthy
of praise ..but than
cruel time with a chisel
hammer knocked off
her dreams her hope
with a beggar bowl
in ugly hands he
replaced ..now she
waits for her death
to take her back to
the nether region
some other planet
a more human better
place ..her god died
young he committed
suicide seeing the
gross mistake he
made in creating
this race ..man
god forever
parted ways

Chennai Street Life Ashura Day

There are images I shoot impulsively , there is an urge that forces me to capture a face a moment and I forget it , years pass and than I revisit it once again as viewer not as a photographer and I ask myself why did I shoot her ,was it because she was begging , or was it compassion ,,what was it.

Unlike a lot of people that shoot as a photo journalist I record the proceedings of an event but also the surroundings ..I shoot anything everything it has to connect with my inner vision that is more of a poet than a photographer .

And street photography has no limitations , there is is a huge ocean of emotions underlying currents beneath the rippling waves of humanity.

Photography should be held by humility , arrogance has no space , if I had a better camera bigger lens would it change my inner quest would it change the equation of my vision.

I come across situation that punch me right left and I realize I left my camera my mobile phone at home , than I request God to let me get this offering again so I can capture it.

And it does happen most of the time ,,,

Mother Please Tell Me I Wont Be Living On The Streets Like You When I Grow Up

Indian law has a blindfold
it only sees what it is told
travesty of justice ,,,
good days kept on hold
women are bought as
commodities in a
market as flesh are
sold .. the homeless
 living without hope
out in the cold
this is humanity
three cheers behold


a poem dedicated to a friend
from a picture another story
unfolds ,,,

Mother And Child Chennai Street Photography

Shooting pictures is not having a camera and hitting the trigger at random on the streets , the street is a river of life where hope like a little boat tries to remain afloat.

Today a very good client , I tailor his clothes asked me to teach him photography , I told him if you can hold the camera the way you hold a little baby ..the spirit of photography will enter your soul ,, it took me about 15 minutes to explain him everything in a nutshell but I told him to get a good Canon camera , the Nikon D40 he had borrowed from his friend I told him was not good at stealing souls ,,

But I told him I will bring my own Canon 60 D and help him till he gets a good camera ,he can afford any camera , he is a lover of Urdu poetry and I told him shooting the street was poetry too..

He is very close to Imran Khan cricketer , and  the tinsel town called Bollywood ,, he only wears clothes hand stitched by me.

The Blade Matam Of Chennai

between the finger
of the hand it lies
as it cuts through
the chest ya hussain
ya hussain it replies
bringing tears to
the azadars eyes
our pain re echoes
on the sands of
karbala our
maksade hussain
for maksade fatima
our salvation
our paradise

our blood needs
no disguise ,

Must We Always Tell You Why We Bleed !

1400
years
we shed our blood
warning you of
terrorism in Islam
you shut your eyes
you shut your ears
you paid no heed
now they have risen
the children of a
serpent seed blood
related to yazid
ISIS  by any other
name ethnic cleansing
is not just their misdeed
decapitations crucifixions
rape enslavement murder
genocide by this evil breed
born out of spiritual lust
power greed ..indeed

killing fields ,, we wait
for our Imam the Mahdi
we will give our heads
but for our lives we
wont plead hussain
humanity beyond
caste color creed