Hardcore Possession Marriammen Feast Markandeshwar Nagar Worli 2015

My genre since the time I began people culture ritual photography has been Possession , Occult , Hazri Dua Tawiz and Exorcism..
I shot and documented this during the Sufi Urus , in Mumbai Haji Malang Ajmer , Mira Dattar and many other Shrines .
I shot possession mostly during Durga Visarjan at Juhu when the goddess enters the body and it was incredible ,,But the maximum Hazri I shot at Hussain Tekri Jaorah ..a place where I have not gone since many years ..
Here at Worli the men women even children were in a trance .. bodies moving by themselves , bodies in a state of continuous motion..and I have shot of the wildest ones where a Hijra priest at Mahim Marriammen Feast , starts speaking in the voice of the goddess , and starts conversing .. this was out of the world ,, the hijra Krishna is a hardcore devotee of Lord Iravan and The Koothandavar Temple at Koovagam.
I have not met him for sometime now ,, and the Hijra Ashok who would have his cheeks pierced at Sion Koliwada Marriammen feast with the huge gathering of Hijras in tow ..
So now you know why I would rather shoot all this Magic Of India than the Mumbai Marathon , Vintage cars , and Kala Ghoda Festival.. nothing touches my soul as these ritualistic feasts do I have promised my Tamil friends that once in my lifetime will pierce my cheeks with a 18 feet road to show my solidarity as a Muslim with their Faith and their culture .
And I hope to shoot the Marriammn Feast in Salem Tamilnadu too.

Piercing the Mouth Chest And Back and Possession

Actually when the drums start beating and people go into a possession like trance it is called the Devi entering the body and taking possession of the devotee .

And all this happened while the puja was taking place at the end of Haji Ali fisherman's jetty ,.where the Hindu Tamils had gathered to celebrate their annual Mother Marriammen feast of Markandeshwar Nagar slums Worli on Annie Besant Road .

I was invited by my dear friend Sundar a Tamil graphic artist I have known for several years now through Shanmugham of Madras Wadi near Worli Gutter close to Atria Mall.

Shanmugham was at the Nehru Nagar Marriammen feast Juhu Beach 2015 .. I have been documenting these Thaipusam type rituals over 15 years now at various Mumbai Tamil dominated locales .

Here the devotee first had hooks inserted in his back to pull a jeep or some vehicle , and hooks on his chest , including fish hooks two sets in his mouth .. the mouth hooks were incredibly painful..This time I shot a lot of videos on my Canon 60 D and my mobile phone but I shot stills and as the rituals started late the light was bad .. and this happens off Eden Hall Worli on a patch where the Kolis sell fresh fish like Boiee and Karkara and you can see the lights of the Haji Ali Shrine ,

I left early as the devotees crowd walk back after the piercings to the Markandeshwar Marriammen Temple to remove the rods and the hooks ,, I skipped this because I was tired and not in very good shape ,,There are no photographers , it is a private event on public space , and the Tamils take this feast for Mother Marraiammen very seriously.

This is my new set at Flickr as my tribute to Mother Marriammen and my Hindu Tamil friends ,,

The Face Of Hunger

I was in the cab heading home to Bandra via the back lanes of Mahim.. My cab stopped for a while when I saw this man greedily eating a batatwada , I took this shot called him towards my cab and gave him money to have lunch..he hurriedly took the money and moved away as my cab moved ahead .

I meet a lot of people , and most of the time I dont have my camera , but than I use my mobile phone ,,I try to capture faces , pleasing poor faces , and some faces that can haunt you forever .

Does hunger have a Face ,, yes with a big glaring mouth..  outside mosques , restaurants dargahs you will find so many faces waiting for food , even the regular drugaddicts bums outside Mahim eatery that take money from the passing cars to feed the poor ,, which is pure business and nothing else ,,but there are a lot of people that go to sleep on an empty stomachs ,,I am sure of that ,,,

This morning I went for my walk after a gap of two days I walked about 4 km..than met the banana seller chatted with him , I had a small glass of wheat grass from my friend Mr Chandrashekar Rao he sells the tiny cup of fresh wheat grass at Rs 30 ...He is a nice guy , and has a lot of clients who drink a glass after their walks at MET Cricket grounds Bandra Reclamation..

I take a short cut through the Bazar Beef market and see their depressed faces and no buyers for buffalo meat ..I bought some brun and spotted the Bandra Bazar Road dump finally pained garbage bins ,, The most miserly agency with no clue about Garbage management at all, no vision , no love , no dedication is the Mumbai Municipality and those whom we elected for last 20 years dont really care a bit for Mumbai..

Mumbai is a duck that is kept only for laying golden eggs and they wont feed it all ,,let the rains begin and you will see for yourself and the Mumbaikar too has lost his passion to live , his soul has lost its humanity and has made him a robot , mechanical and he loves to be taken for a ride ,, with rhetoric's hyperbole and political empty hollow oratory.. Sadly those that rule Mumbai hail from other hick towns so far them it has been Nanded Nasik Latur Baramati and other towns for progress and development but never Mumbai.. Mumbai is the sacrificial lamb to be used for making generating their own personal wealth .. I dont know how to put it more succinctly

Why Is The Poor Muslim Man..Depressed

in any crime
taken for granted
as the first suspect
the muslim man
perplexed robbed
of his right to eat
to work as a butcher
he now seeks another
profession muslim man
oppressed ..his future
bleak his children
uneducated .his problems
his so called leaders wont
address .he is hounded by
a anti muslim paid press
forced pushed against the
wall brainwashed by muslim
political parties for his vote
he is forgotten you know
the rest ..there are criminals
in every community but the
muslim man is held first
under every pretext ,,hands
bound mouth gagged what
next..politicians of all color hue
use him as a vote bank he lives
in ghettos dirty filthy surroundings
his body soul his fate annexed
by cruel time ,,,in every context

the rich muslim has it better ..
good homes good education
for his kid his own business
he was fortuitously blessed
why must he bother for the
poor muslim in a mess ..
the muslim clergy busy
with fatwas ..repressively
take him back to the dark ages
no development no progress
through a picture the apathy neglect
of the poor muslim i express .. please
only read my words as pictures my
picture as text ..one day surely
muslims hindus all communities
will feel for each other ,, the only
path of our indianess ,,the only
path to collective success ..humanity
humility ..through qualities we possess


I shot him from a cab near Nargis Dutt Nagar on 26 May ,, and I added  words to what I felt living in Mumbai last 60 years a product of the Kurla slums when I was a year old ,, good times happy times came as my father mother pushed their way out of the slums to relocate and live at Wodehouse road thanks to the family of Late Nawab Kashmiri  they helped us my fathers  hard work and a lot of luckchanged our lives - this migrant family from Old  Lucknow ..

 I never forgot the slums ,, my life there as a child running naked in the slums a shanty my mother would describe with tears in her eyes . on the fringe of a Hindu crematorium..it was called bakhar..my mother was merely 15 year old .. she did not know to stitch , cook or manage a shanty with a leaking tin roof .. though she came from an impeccable ancestry daughter of Daroga Nabban Sab of Pata Nala Lucknow descendant of Poet Mir Anis.Nor  did she ever tell her Mother Nazmi Begim what she was undergoing.. her father was already dead

Marriammen Feast Markandeshwar Nagar Worli 2015

As I was completing my backlog of street pictures shot on my Canon 60 D.. I posted an update at Facebook without a picture , I mostly blog with pictures ,,

Posted On 26 May 2015 ..

This evening I left home took the Worli Sea Link had some stuff to deliver to a client , and than took the same cab to Markandeshwar Nagar near Worli Gutter and opp Atria Mall .I was invited by my Tamil friend Sundar a graphic artist , they were celebrating their annual Marriammen Feast and it was the first time I was going to shoot it ,, and I had decided I would shoot a lot of videos on Canon 6O D and my mobile phone , and at the same time I was in bad shape as I have not fully recovered from my ailment .. but God is Great and I took my chances .

The cheek piercings hook insertions on the devotees backs began late after a puja at Haji Ali sea face opposite Eden Hall ,, the puja that has hypnotic drumming and it increases with crescendo , and powerful energy all around and men women kids under trance like state and possession.. this continued , people trying to control those that were falling on the grounds ,, I mean it was scary and  weird .. totally hypnotic ..

Than I shot the piercings , and almost every Tamil knows me here as they have seen me around at Nehru Nagar Juhu , Worli and Mahim Macchimar Colony Sion Koliwada Marriammen Festivals ,

It was getting dark and I decided to leave the removal of the rods at the Markandeshwar Marriammen Temple .. I jumped into a bus and finally reached home a few hours back..I will upload the stuff tomorrow as I have street backlog.. My grandkids are back from Lucknow .. so I am now feeling much better .

Wife has gone to the wedding of her best friends daughter with the rest of the Shakir clan.. I avoid weddings and Shia social gatherings in Mumbai...I feel out of place ,,,and my health is in bad shape ..so I dont want to add my sick face to someones happiness ..

So this is my new set and in the picture is my Tamil friend wellwisher Sundar he stays at Markandeshwar Nagar where the story starts and once they reach Haji Ali end near Eden Hall puja and piercings and than removal of the rods hooks at the Marriammen Tmple I did not shoot I was tired unwell and in bad shape ,, I left , but I had shot a lot of videos this time ,,

This set is also part of my Hope And Hindutva collection at Flickr.com

The Street Illusionist

posted at facebook

I sincerely thank all of you who Like my pictures , viewing my timeline with your precious comments I type with a single finger of a permanently damaged hand , and hopefully wish there was a Tweet button at Facebook or a Favorite button as at Flickr ,, I on my part have a deadly hate for the Like button I have never used it , not even accidentally or impulsively , I realized it was habit forming and addictive . I also request those who are new on Facebook , to remove me from their feed , thereby you wont see my posts ..it can be a nuisance to anyone ,,
I have very few people on my feed because of this one finger commenting problem.. and I hate being tagged on your religious posts , keep them among your young vibrant friend circle ..I dont respond to your pokes , your game requests ,which I think auto tags us without you realizing it ,,I add people if we have friends in common.. I try to delete requests from people with no profile and shitty pictures ,, Sorry ..Whatever your religion, even if it is same like mine ,.. even if it is not same ,,just read me as a street poet and a street photographer only ,,thank you ..