After he had inserted the rod into his head people who gave him money placed it into the rod at the other end.
And I never saw this Rafaee again..this shot at Mahim in 2005 and there was a time I could not stay away from these events ..
As a photographer I was clueless I shot many things , birds bees , flowers , waterfalls sunrise sunset but eventually as time elapsed shooting religious festivals , Urus , I took more interest shooting street life street pain all as part of my repertoire .
And it dawned on me thanks to late Fred Miller that I was a street photographer a genre I shot but could not club myself in.
And poetry juggling with words on a few pictures became part of my visual history.
I wanted to shoot the underbelly of religious ritualism , possession exorcism without hurting or ridiculing the people I shot , and though I was a Shia born Muslim I smoothly paved my way into this form of Indian Sufism called Rifai Silsila ..and these were not easy folks to shoot , they had their spirituality a unique life style ..I met resistance from some who thought I was shooting them to expose their smoking hash , others thought weird things but one common thought I was shooting all this to sell pictures and make money.
And I suffered this ignominy silently , till I bought Late Handi Sai to my design studio , showed him my actual profession those days , and he looked at my world of glitz and gloss Bollywood glamour , took me aside and told me seriously ,, you should become a Rafaee .
I smiled , and respectfully told him I liked their rituals but was happy cutting my head with real blood during Ashura and politely refused his kind offer .
Till he was alive Handi Sai considered me a good Murid friend wellwisher I had lots of rejects sleeveless jackets , shirts kurta pajamas that I gifted to him to give to his group that were poor and impoverished ..So it was this bond this trust that gave me access to their world cut off from the mainstream.
And than years later in 2011 I became a Malang with my Belgian friend , and there was no need to become a Malang but I guess it made it easier to document this Sufi group, followers of Ali.. and lived an austere lifestyle .
And similarly I met the Nagas at Kumbh Mela befriended them , and attained a Guru a learned man a teacher who had become a Naga Sadhu a man adept in Islamic scriptures I took him as my Guide shot The Nasik Kumbh and the Maha Kumbh thanks to Vijay Giri Maharaj of Juna Akhada .
But one person who really fascinated me with his Tantrik knowledge grasp was Kapoor Khamkhya from Hardwar affiliated to Goddess Khamkhya . I met him at the Kumbh , and did not have much time .. but we keep in touch and I hope to shoot the Khamakhya temple with him in Guhawati Assam.
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