Once A Beggar Always A Beggar

He is my beggar friend from Dhai Djinn Ka Jhopda Ajmer and he comes here during the Ajmer to supplement his earning , he has a wife and family too and he has a mobilephone ,  He told me his name gave me his number but I misplaced it .. He is from Murshidabad W Bengal most of the beggars I have met in Mumbai too are from Murshidabad ,, What kind of place is Murshidabad I dont know ,,

This crippled beggar with deformed legs , waits for me where he sits , and he hugs me when he sees me , treats me like a royal guest , he will call the tourist photographers to take our pictures a keepsake for his family and he gives crisp notes to the photographer .

While I sit with him , sip tea that he has ordered for me , we talk as I have known him for many years ..the place gets crowded , and people come to me kiss my hands ask me to bless them, as I look like a saintly Bawa , holy man ,,,they give me money and I collect all this my earnings and before leaving I hand it over to him.. and he is moved to tears , he is a very soft hearted humanbeing,, and we have a cosmic relationship we both are beggars he begs from so many gods I beg from one ,, he begs from the crowds I beg within my loneliness .

This picture was shot in 2012 I did not meet him last year and I wish I had not lost his number I could have called him ,is he well is he in hospital..and its people like him that give me the inner spiritual strength life cant be as bad for me as it is for him..and than I wish I had shot his video.. my video craze is new it goes into the soul of humanity of the people I have begun to shoot , the earcleaners the street barbers and there are so many untold stories waiting to be shot..

Ajmer is a city that is Hope for Beggars , the hopeless the homeless thanks to the Holy Saint appropriately called Gharib Nawaz One Who Blesses The Poor ,,Hazrat Moinuddin Chishti Al Sabri .

And I have been coming to Ajmer since 2005 and my host Peersab Fakhru Miya of Hujra No66 and his two erstwhile sons Farid Miya and Qambar Miya treat me like family , they give me food shelter and if things ae bad my end they buy my return ticket to Mumbai and once to reach Ajmer I was desperately broke I sold my prime Nikon 80- 200 2.8 Lens this is the craziness , and than one is forced to say Yeh Toh Khwajah Ka Karam Hai.

And I dont sell beggar pictures because this is what people in India think instantly ..and I have yet to find someone who buys beggar pictures I would give him the entire lot and give the entire amount to the poor children of my country.

I am in Ajmer for two or three days if there is time I pay my tribute to Lord Brahma and see my two friends Raj Tilak and Niru,, and buy a new dagger from Raj Tilak to cut my head during Moharam.. last time I bought four and gave it to a few Shia kids ..

Once I spent a lot of time with the Hijras at Ajmer but that passion to shoot hijras has subsided I shoot them if I meet them..but instead I prefer shooting the Rafaees and the Malangs being a Malang myself and the Urus is the best time to bond with man and God.


Ajmer is a momentous memory a memory that never ends or fades and you can only go to Ajmer when you are called this is spiritually known as Bulawa or Calling ,,

Will I be Called ,, Only Khwajah Garib Nawaz can answer that ...