my new post ,, at Facebook
While I was dabbling in photography I had blinkers on my eyes,, I started my photgraphy with the Film era mostly shooting my stuff on Ilford Delta ASA 100 I had bought the entire stock from Vibgyor Raju Bhai and some of the stock from Standard Photo Store .. for color I used Velvia 50 or Provia , I would take old expired films from Richard Kelep he was kind enough to give them free at Kodak and with the help of maestro BW Jatkar I would experiment and all the labs knew me I shot trigger happily ,, but I shot ,,I knew Mazda Color Art Vishal Bhende ,,Fuji Foto Art ,Huzefer Rassiwala, Mahindra Patil.. and many more places including Bhai Humne who did my printing ,, but sometimes got my rolls developed through friends .
So keeping this traditionalist form of photography I did not succumb or get seduced by the video at all I just did not want to learn to shoot video.. 7 years I would ask people to shoot my granddaughter Marziyas videos ,, I wanted to keep her growing up as a memory but I did not know how to shoot videos at all...so there is just one video of Marziya at my You Tube Channel when she was 3 month old ,, learning to say Dada Dada Dada .meaning Grandpa.
I was inspired to shoot videos and I say this with gratitude watching Fo Paris my friend Francois who had joined me and Boaz Rottem to shoot Ashura Moharam in Hyderabad 2014 ,,, I would watch him taking videos but I was helpless I just shot stills or I would ask someone to take a video on my mobile phone ,,
But once I returned from Hyderabad I decided I will learn shooting video on my mobile and I made mistakes , I did not know the basics I shoot as is where is without ever editing ,, and I shot videos of the Marriammen Feast , but what got me hooked was shooting the Bandra Talao earcleaners , my most viewed videos on You Tube ,, than I earnestly began shooting Garbage and the hapless Municipal Conservancy staff foot soldiers of Modijis Swach Bharat without gloves masks or safety shoes ,, I gradually began shooting stories the flavor of beggary I shot videos at Ajmer Urus .. and today I have over 375 videos over 200000 views ,
I wish I had shot the hijras I documented ,, I wish I had shot the videos of the Bomb blasts that I shot , I wish I had shot my Guru KG Maheshwariji on video.. and so many unfulfilled wishes and I wish I had shot videos of Mr Rajesh Khanna at home , when he played like a grandfather with Marziya and Nerjis ,, he could not do without them .. Bala would call me please bring Marziya ..and both my grandkids have not forgotten Uncle Rajesh Khanna,,I did not take his video when I made his last tuxedo for Balkis Havel fan ad .. I shot his stills when he was trying out his clothes ,, I did not shoot a video of Lal Bagh Chya Raja I shot for years ,, and his march towards the seas ..
I wish I had shot videos of the various possession Hazris , exorcism by the Malangs I visited I wish I had asked someone to shoot my initiation into the Malang fold in 2011 with my Belgian friend ,,
And I am blogging this impromptu at Facebook I will copy and paste to Flickr ,, Now every morning I shoot a garbage video.. I will shoot it till I die standing on my feet ,, near the garbage dump at Bandra Bazar Road I would not mind being buried there near the site of the ladies toilet .. the Bhumi Pujan was done 3 months back by Advocate Ashish Shelar my friendly MLA .. but than it wont be possible as I have decided to gift all the spares in my body to the beggars I shoot I want some beggar kid to see with my eyes , feel the pain of Hussain with my heart .. my brain its fragmented splintered genius ,, lol ..I wish most of all if I could give him my tears ,, the only precious liquid in my armory of this flesh.'
And this is nothing but a tribute to both my friends Boaz who shot the slums , the dhobhi ghat , Moharam in Mumbai .. and we got along pretty well and to Francois I could not accompany him to shoot the Bibi Ka Alm a thought that kills me a million times with guilt ,,
Yes I am shooting amateur videos ...so you can feel what I feel.. and partly see what I could not see..
In your light I learn how to love. In your beauty, how to make poems. You dance inside my chest, where no one sees you, but sometimes I do, and that light becomes this art. ~Rumi,
