The Day In The Life Of A Beggar From Malda W Bengal.. Begging In Mumbai

A Day In The Life Of A Cobbler Bandra Bazar Road

The Hanky Seller Kurla East

He was a kid when he began selling hankies at this iconic Kurla Station and he has been selling hankies for over 60 years , and I shoot him each time I come to Kurla  Eat .. I take this foot over bridge that connects Kurla West to Kurla East ,, I was coming to Nehru Nagar after almost 3 months ,, The hanky seller was very happy to see me , inquired about my health diabetes , and it is these kind of people I like to shoot .. I am now shooting such people on video .. their humility simplicity and hospitality too.. they will offer me tea ..even the chaiwala the tea men I shot recently offered me tea ,, And this is the magical charm of India .

I am learning to talk to these guys , and there is so much  to learn..how many hankies he has to sell to get some money to take back home and he is an elderly soul.. but he told me he could never think of sitting at home he needs to work.. I try never to ask personal questions strangely I have never asked his name ,,

I think I have had enough shooting stills , I want to add the spirit of mans struggle , and speak to him.. and at the moment I am shooting videos on my mobile phone ,, easy and fast.

I have two good friends here at Nehru Nagar hub of aquarium fish ..Sajjad Bhai and his brother Asif Patel they stock imported tropical fish best quality , flowerhorns original kamfas and arowanas ,, I had come here to clear some outstanding ,,,

Than from here I took a rick home ,, showered slept and than at  6 took my 3 year old granddaughter Zinnia to join Badminton classes by Mr Pawar a dedicated coach at MET Sports ground ,, I left them there and than got busy with some other work.. my legs are still in bad shape and even this morning I walked 5 Km .. As I walk barefeet in the MET Gardens  because of the pain ..I manage to walk an average of 6 km daily .. with my friends Prakash Gadiya and Subhash..

Nerjis and Marziya are on a summer vacation with their mother , and Zinnia keeps telling me to teach her photography and she is 3 ..I kept her away from the camera ,,

The Muslim Beggars Story ,,,,

He is the guardian of blind boy I used to shoot many years back and I made a separate set at Flickr documenting this blind beggar boy , both this old man and the blind boy begged at Boran road or sometimes at the Pali Road signal..

The blind boy was operated several times but the operations failed and it has been several years I have not seen the blind beggar boy I asked this old man he is evasive and says the boy is recuperating as he is allergic to light .

This guy lives at the Bandra Reclamation transit camp near the MET Cricket grounds I called him and took this shot .

Both these beggars are from Murshidabad W Bengal .
Most of the Muslim beggar ladies are from Murshidabad W Bengal and Poriborton has not really helped them in any way ,,imagine coming all the way thousands of miles away to beg in the bye lanes of slums in Bandra .
The steady influx is seen more during Ramzan when they come to  the city of Mumbai with great hope and dreams , and most of them as they dont have identifications papers are caught by rogue cops who demand money or they are forcibly sent away as suspected Bangal Deshi to Bangla Desh there they are tortured looted by those rogue border cops ,, and it is sad .. specially if the beggar is from W Bengal..

So this is the story of Muslim beggars ,,,

And I shot him from a young age and now the old man begs alone he does not tell me where the blind beggar boy is ..