At first when I gave Marziya my camera to shoot us she was a bit reluctant , but than I gestured it was OK.. and she took two shots ,,and she has come a long way ..now she is completely confident and the she understands the camera ,,,
From the second day of her birth at Holy Family Hospital , she was blessed by my camera and I literally forced the camera on her childs soul ..she was my first granddaughter , daughter of my eldest son Asif and when she came home from the hospital I began shooting her prolifically , I wanted to shoot her smile her yawn and I never tired , she would converse with me silently through the third eye of Shiva.. metaphorically and mystically and the Naga Sadhus have been there ,, in my life without her knowledge .
I had my workspace at 29 Road Bandra , and the day Marziya was born I was at my shop there was some complication , her neck was stuck in the umbilical cord ,,I was really worried brooding , my wife my mother in law were at the hospital ,, as I was thinking about her I had not seen her, a few Naga Sadhus walked into my shop, my shop was famous for Sadhus beggars and the hijras who came , because I gave them what I could ,,
When the Naga Sadhus looked at my sad face I was about to tell them about my granddaughter .. these are outstation Naga Sadhus ,, I was not even a Malang those days ,, He congratulated me said Shiva has put the serpent round your childs neck.. and I was shocked beyond words , they said everything will be fine ,,
When my Naga Guru Shri Vijay Giri Maharaj came home I dont think Marziya was born ..he came to my house in 2004 ,,but later he always inquired about her without having seen her ,, I mean to the sceptical this will sound pure bullshit ,, but this was the first time in Marziyas life she was meeting a Naga Sadhu ,,
In the cab she looked at me in wonderment and said Dada you have so many different types of friends ,,I told her you must respect all of them.. I never take Marziya out but this was while returning from a visit to my dear friend Mansoor Showghi Yezdi sabs Irani restaurant .
And perhaps this is the first time I have had no time to visit the Durga pandals or shoot them ,also the first time I did not take Nerjis to shoot the Durga worksops in Bandra or the Bandra Durga Pandals,, and I dont think I will be able to shoot the Durga Visarjan I am bogged with work and with my wife away in Karbala I am helpless as she helped me out in my work.
But I am happy that Marziya Shakir learnt photography the way I would have wanted her to learn photography , ordinarily not in the way kids learn photography , I taught her virtue pain through the camera I showed her the diversity of Faith she shot St Peter Church , Mount Mary , Hindu feasts and she absorbed the daily struggle of the beggars ,, and when she was 3 year old she began shooting the hijras that begged in my area ..
So in a way Marziya has come a long way ,
No she will never be part of a camera club
Her teachers are those eminent photographers that visit my house ,, and she calls Viola a Danish photographer her Guru..
I demystified the camera and the Art of Photography for my granddaughters , they are not intimidated by the Genie in the camera that I call Shivas Third Eye ,, and once you have this genie in your grasp photography is a Childs Play.
Yes Fuck F Stops
