I shot her outside Kurla West station she was in a real bad state I gave her some money ,, but all the money she gets in coins or notes does not count for much..a part of me told me sit next to her video shoot her story ,, why was she begging ..at this age what happened to force her to beg..but than I let it go.. I shot 2 or 3 frames ,,there are many like her on the streets of Mumbai thrown out by their own children.. Old lady go beg or dont come home ,, it is sad , and this picture or words is not forced melodrama but the poetry of street life that I prolifically shoot as Muslim Beggars of India .
Most beggars come to Mumbai the city of Hopeful dreams during Ramzan when the Lord too comes down on earth in the guise of a beggar I doubt if God would ever come down in the guise of a Mullah..
I have shot far too many beggars but it is the Muslim beggar that I shoot and showcase to the big fat rich Muslim moneybags who turn the other way from beggars and now in a week or two when Bakra Eid or Eid Ul Adha begins the rich Muslims will be buying rich goats no bulls this time they will buy rich expensive Allah inscribed Dumbas ,, instead of a single goat some will buy a dozen goats .. will they send a couple of goats the childrens home or to the widows home ,, no ,, they will send the Skins ,, and this is the irony I shoot ,, I once used to go to shoot this spiritual Tamasha at Deonar but I stopped it completely ,, I have a lot of butcher friends and with due respect to their profession and their efforts Bakra Eid is nothing but an ostentatious show of money power among the rich Muslims ,,,
We used to slaughter the goat but last two years we give the money to a children s home and this is our personal act and has nothing to do with Qurbani..
And every year the Hijras come to our building for meat and one of them will call me aside ask for Marziya my granddaughter who shot this hijra when she was 3 years old.
This is love in its noblest form.. did the hijra get blessed by the little child I know not ..but it is this ethereal power within the cosmic soul of the camera that holds my inner restless angst..
Yes I shoot beggars as a beggar myself my camera is the beggars bowl that begs for beggar pictures and Fuck I dont sell my pictures beggars or otherwise ,
