when I take their pictures
they tell me sir add a few
words of poetry it heals
us beautifully we only
want society to let us be
beggars mortgaged to
the dead soul of humanity .
This was shot in June 2010 and its been 5 long years after I wrote these few lines , but the road leading to the Bulund Darwaza Ajmer Sharif has beggars at every step, I shot him off Moti Katla on the main road and beggar shots cant be composed or you will be obstructing the large crowds and cops could tick you off for creating nuisance ,, so I merely point and shoot with my DSLR and I was stuck to Nikon I shot the bulk of my images on D80 and when bad times hit me hard I sold most of my silver jewelry , but kept this Nikon D80.
It was in 2011 I got the Canon 70 D and have been shooting on Canon for last 4 years now , as the Canon D70 is bulky with the vertical grip I mostly use the Canon 60 D .
I am a incorrigible hardcore Canon user but I could shoot the same stuff on my mobile phone too ,,a bit uncomfortably and I am getting used to the Xiaomi .
The beggars that you see in Ajmer Sharif , where the Holy Shrine of Khwajah Garib Nawaz is situated a few miles away from Ajmer Station , are a motley crew , unusual , unique and depraved beyond redemption .. some are almost dead than alive ,,and as a person who documents beggars there is no escaping them at all.. you find them littered everywhere living in muck and dirty surroundings ,,I mean if the erstwhile Khadims and the Government wanted Ajmer Sharif could be made as pristine as the Holy Cities in Saudi Arabia and Iraq.. I have however neither seen those cities I consider India my Karbala and my Dharambhumi.
And I showcase the state of our beggars to those fast asleep who talk bullshit that in Rs 12 you can have a decent meal in India , at Ajmer too you need money fr meals for the beggars too can get free meal at restaurants that sell coupons to the rich and feed them the most undernourished food that would make a dog puke too .. and a strange God makes these people get multi rich at the expense of the beggars.
So if I do miss going to Ajmer this year for the Urus I think it will be Gods will .. maybe the beggars need a break from my prying cosmic eye .
Having shot Ajmer Urus since 2005 its indeed been a long time ,,,my legs are in bad shape the recent hairline fracture has not helped either .
.“Hurrah for revolution and more cannon-shot!
A beggar upon horseback lashes a beggar on foot,
Hurrah for revolution and cannon come again!
The beggars have changed places but the lash goes on.”
WB Yeats
