In my short life as a photographer , I have shot hordes of beggars , but this lady killed my insides the first time I saw her while climbing the mountains barefeet to meet Malang Baba Wahid ,, I took a hasty shot of her , she was in a group that lives in makeshift tents at the mountain foothills ,,
And this was in the dargah lane ,here at Ajmer I think in humility I am the only one shooting the captive souls in wicker baskets , because I cannot afford to buy these souls I shoot them ..I can not sit compose my shots of beggars ,, with the crowds moving in it would be a stampede .and till date no Rajasthani cop has ever provoked me dressed as I am they think I am some crazy Sufi Bawa ,,and than being barefeet I look like a beggar with a stolen camera round my neck.. In Mumbai they would have locked me up as a suspect ,, beaten the shit out of me to tell them where I stole the camera from ,so I wear a press card ,, Internet Photographer No1 and as I dont have a car the cops cant catch me and give me breath inhaler test...
Well back to my beggar lady with two faces , after I shot her a few years back I never saw her again..the only beggar and Ibeg with him at Dhai Djinn Ka Jhopda , waits for me eagerly if I sit next to him , people give us both about 700 to 1000 bucks all crumpled Rs 100 notes .. this time I gave him my only beggars bowl too, he said it was lucky and he added he could never afford a beggars bowl, this beggars bowl, was given to me by a bawa ..I carried on my shoulders for a short distance at Haji Malang ,, I did not want to take it , but he said Keep it we are beggars ,,,under the shut eyes of the Lord..
So life has been a great adventure without going to the Niagara Falls , or Ladakh and all those tempting places in Switzerland ,, but I would die of thirst of life if was to shoot a landscape without beggars ,,I Co exist with beggars , I maybe a slight notch above the beggar on the street , but the day I die I will be looking worse than a beggar with nothing on me ,, just a jute gunnybag.. and the road leading to a Hospital to rest my bodyparts to be given to beggars I shot to inherit their humility and their simplicity .
And this is a blank post at Flickr I realize I blog better on Facebook .. because I know the faces of those who read me , and even those who read me with their eyes closed ,, yes my picture tells the rest of my untold story.
