For those who have added me .. without knowing me or without glancing my profile here at Facebook.. I shoot India .. in its beauty in its ugliness but I shoot composite India through my cosmic eyes ..here while shooting the Kumbh Mela both at Trimbakeshwar and at Ramkund I certainly tried to shoot with your eyes till the time I shot this exhilarating documentary I became a Hindu ,, I had shut of my identity my own religiosity and I did it not for money not for profit or gain.. but to show you the meaning of living in peace without fences or borders etched on our minds and souls ,, perhaps I also shot it for a Marathi lady who worked at our house at Wodehouse Road for many years , she bought us up as kids while both my parents struggled to make ends meet , my mother was a asthmatic my dad had his own problems ..we called this lady Aiee ,, which means Mother ,, she never brainwashed us , she loved us like her own kid Tulsi.. she loved me a lot but as my mom gave birth to one kid after another , her love shifted from me to my kid brother Zahir Shakir ,, We were very young and she made us what we are ,,, without hate for any community or religion.. we are product of her rearing her selfless live in a Muslim household ,, My mother treated Tulsi paid for his fees and his upkeep.
So my documentary is for every Aiee every Mother and their children.. and I shot it as a Hindu would see and shoot it ,, and I am happy grateful that when ever I fell badly there was a Hindu friend who helped me all the way ,, or I would have committed suicide at a very early age as I could not get over my alcohol dependence ,, so I took up the camera after I gave up alcohol ,it became my new addiction and I shoot the same way as I used to hit 3 bottles of Old Monk in a day,, My wife kids saved me and my friends ,, without them I could have never been here ,.
I have been fascinated by Hinduism from my school days I visited the Hanuman Temple at Strand Cinema with my school friends and the humility of the Gods made of stone touched me too ,, As a photographer I began blogging about Hinduism as Hope and Hindutva a Message of Universal Peace ,, I lost everything in the 93 riots but I did not blame the Hindus I blamed the Congress Party Mr Nasimha Rao Mr Sharad Pawar Mr VP Naik who played the violin with a cigar in his mouth as our beloved Mumbai burnt who watched from far as one Indian killed another Indian unnecessarily ,,I blamed the Hindu bigots who inflamed this hatred and I blamed the accursed Babri Mosque ,, I mean if a Mosque can kill people , I would rather be a heretic.. and till date I thing this love for Babri Mosque is misplaced religious fervor for an evil agenda .. give the Hindus the birthplace of Ram and move ahead. but I am not into politics ,, and I love India as all of you do.. so at times I wonder at the age of 63 where are we heading ,,
I took the vows of a Sufi Order called Malangs my form of spiritual escapism.. but yet I shoot every religion as my own without hurting sense or sensibility ,, and I bleed when the kafila of Hussain arrives in India from Karbala to the chant of Ya Hussain Ya Hussain,,
