Translated in simple language it means every crumb you get to eat has your name on it ,,but I added a corollary every crumb you eat has the name of the person who feeds you .. your host Bhagwan God Allah.
And this was shot during the Urus of Haji Abdul Rehman Shah Baba. Dongri . I had gone to meet the Rifais body piercer Sufis a sect I had been documenting for many years and this was the 100 urus ,, also Malangs had come from far .. and the gathering met at the Dhuni the Holy Fire where they smoked chillum ..
And for me as a photographer this is my genre people photography which centers around culture rituals customs ..I fit in like a glove in Sufi events as well as the Naga Kumbhs ,
I have endeared myself to these ascetics monks mystics shamans exorcists ..it took me several years , it was not easy simply as they felt in the earlier days I was trespassing on their esoteric nature ,, they had isolated themselves from society ,,I had squabbles but in the end I was seen as an harmless person but someone who respected them completely Sufis Malangs or Nagas ..so I became a Malang in 2011 ,,,
Shooting people or rituals during Urus time is a heady notion.. I prefer Ajmer any day ,, and it is here that the Rifais and the Malangs sit ,, at one place near Jalali Chowk.
But I would love to go to the annual Urus of Zinda Shah Madar Makanpur but it has not been possible ,, for last two years .. next year I will go come what may.
I have never been to Kaliar Sharif but I am very close to the Qalandari Malangs too.
