I have shot this ritual intensively and it is not just Tamil folks but even non Tamils who undergo this cheek piercing.. there is immense pain, sometimes the devotee goes into a trance or positive possession..I shot this event at Juhu Mahim and Sion Koliwada ..
I also shot a hijra who came every year to get his cheek pierced during this festival of Mother Marriammen .Because he took part in this event all the hijras from Sion Dharavi adjoining areas came to support him danced and made merry..This part of my hijra documentary has been completely disabled from public view .
I shot this event at Mahim beach and other Tamil pockets and I was introduced to this feast accidentally by Bhima Davendar of Nehru Nagar now my closest friend ..lots of celebrity wives come to the renovated Marriammen Temple here ,,in this slums in posh Juhu area.
Bhima introduced me to Lakshmi a Tamil from Salem her pujari brother Ganesh at Mahim Fishermens Colony and I shot this event for many years , demonic possession and some amazing stories in pictures .. I even bought my foreigner friends to shoot this event .
Soon I became a known face among the Tamils over 10 years or more and I met Shanmukhnanda and Sundar my two trusted friends and they touched me deeply when they placed my name on their Marriammen Festival banner .. Photography by Firoze Shakir and I became their wellwisher fan for life ..Whether I shoot this feast elsewhere I dont know but yes Juhu and Worli I do not miss come what may.
I will pierce my cheeks one day most probably at Worli ,, to show my spiritual oral solidarity with the Tamils who have been very kind hospitable to me ..and when I am at Worli I shoot their slums the Worli Gutter and the ragpickers that have worked hard struggled bought up their kids , educated them and a vegetable seller Ganesh is saving money to become a cinematographer.
Most of my Tamil friends call me in advance and I have one regret I wish I could learn Tamil ..as they treat me like a brother Tamil ..during the procession they come ask me to have tea cold drink and this is my India of love hope humanity hidden away from tourist brochures and public glare ,, this is the India I live and relive and love to shoot and share .
Lakshmi from Mahim has settled down in Salem the great Mother Marriammen temple town and wants me to come there but my legs are manacled to my work in Mumbai..
I was accosted by a drunk at Juhu Beach a Tamil he did not know me may have been from another suburb was not understanding why I was shooting the piercings , he threatened me to pierce my cheeks and i told him get the rod go ahead ..thanks to Shanmukhnanda who barged in and spoke to him in Tamil and calmed him down..Most of these people are not happy being photographed or documented ,,, so this time I shot more videos less stills.
And I remember as I understand some Tamil when my friend told him that I too do a ritual when I cut my head during Moharam.. so Goddess Marriammen calls me to shoot her , her people her followers and I gladly come here ,,
Here at Nehru Nagar after the beach piercings I aborted my photography did not shoot the rod removal and my friend Bhima and his wife called me at home the next day to find out if everything was OK with me .
I would love to shoot Thaipussam in the Far East but I dont have the money or sponsor so I shoot the similar rituals here in Mumbai.
The most unusual ritual this time at Juhu was a man with 6 short swords pierced in his back..he was from Salem.
So this is my genre . I shoot pain overcoming pain...and ritualistic rhapsody of pain.
