Forget The Common Man Even The Sadhus Are Waiting For Acche Din

The Beggar Lady At The Kumbh,,,, Will Her Life Ever Change

a batata wada pao is what she gets
from the rich the affluent she is forever
in their debt ..she turned away from me
as i read her thoughts when we met
a chapter of her life she tried but could
never forget ,, her story her good days
her bad days like a fish caught in a net
a memory of pain poetic pathos posted
in my nasikh kumbh mela set my only
online exhibition of dead humanity on
the face of the internet is what you get

The World of Sadhus Nasikh Kumbh Mela 2015

The World of Sadhus Nasikh Kumbh Mela 2015

The World of Sadhus Nasikh Kumbh Mela 2015

Mujhe garv hai ki main ek Hindu hoon....

Jai Jai Siya Ram

The Vaishnav Sadhus Nasikh Kumbh Mela Ramkund

If I had more time I would have gone on shooting the intense faces of the Sadhus but I had to move on to Tapovan a huge sprawling estate of Vaishnav sadhu Akharas .. and I had to rush back to Trimbakeshwar before the roads closed for 29 Shahi Snan..and I was tired hungry and limping due to a leg injury ,,

I hardly ever use my 55 -250 lens but here I used it  generously and as I was dressed in Sadhu garbs I did not have any problem as such ,,I poetically shot Sadhu faces ,,

I did not see such faces at the Sadhugram Trimbakeshwar  where I stayed , there were more young faced Maharashtrian Naga sadhus ,, here at Ramkund and Tapovan there were weathered faces old faces and if you are into portraiture this is the ideal places .
I dont know anyone at Ramkund Nasikh where I could stay overnight ,,so I shot all this in a few hours ,,I do not like staying in hotels ,, for more reasons than one , the rates during the Kumbh are steep.. and I cannot afford it ,,,

I Did Not Shoot The Kumbh,,, My Pictures Are Optical Illusions

i had to leave the kumbh
come back to my urban
collective chaos ..my fate
was  a slave hidden within
the captivity of four walls
neither profit nor loss í was
simply what i was limping
my way to my destination
remotely out of course
held by a spectral force
shooting pain despondency
forced labored remorse '
a donkey within the ,,
the silhouette of a horse

The Mind Reading Sadhu

he penetrated the
beggar poets soul
with the molten fire
in orbs posturing
as eyes he knew i
was a muslim in
my sadhu garbs
my disguise ,,he
took my press card
read it twice ,, i was
scared he would get
angry but he was nice
hope and hindutva
a message of universal
peace i promoted he
mystically realized ,
a smile that broke
the ice , go in peace
malang baba  hari om
dam madar beda par
he was solemnly wise
we were two sides of
a coin perhaps guru bhais

I Shoot What You Dont See

the cosmic eye  of shiva
embedded in my camera
lens sets moments free
optical illusions of life
breaking the chains as
they flee ..hands holding
the soul of humanity
batata wada pao.. for
the rich to give to the
poor and the sadhus
 as misplaced charity ...

some pictures give birth accidentally to street poetry

Fuck Your Ban

naa to kaarwaan ki talaash hai,
naa to hamsafar ki talaash hai

Bam Bam Bhole Nath..Har Dam Par Tumhara Sath

Charity Thy Name Is Batata Wada Pao At The Kumbh

The rich affluent after the dip do charity , they take batatawada  and a single loaf of bread and feed the poor that sit across the Kund at Nasikh Panchvati.
Even the poor Sadhus sit along with the beggars and each beggar is given one set ,,and I was fascinated with this Sadhu ... what was he thinking about the batawada and the bread in his hand ,,I tried poetically perhaps even mystically to penetrate his mind ,, but I failed both as a poet and as mystic of sorts ,, the man who was giving the bata wada and loaf came near me seeing me barefeet but was confused by my camera and walked away without uttering a word ,, I never refuse food but I would have given it to some beggar child down the road .

I gave money to some poor Sadhus and asked them to eat at a hotel near the Kund they thanked me I gave them bottles of water and made my way to the ricksha stand I was planning to go to  Tapovan Sadhugram.

At Tapovan I saw and shot the Akhara people feeding the poor and the Sadhus ,,hundreds of them were being fed ,,it was amazing so many different looking Sadhus under the canopy of true Indian hospitality ,, the chant of Sitaram Sitaram Radhe Sham Radhe Sham flowed freely I began to shoot a video and chant it too and some more minstrels joined me chanting along with me ,, I was no more a photographer I had become one with the Sadhus and the beggars I shot .


If you shoot the Kumbh the way I shoot it you wont even need the camera in your hands ,, myriads of faces and eyes shot me ,, they knew heart to heart I was one of them we were one in body soul and spirit living out a role into eternity ..

The Kumbh is an unseen passion holding your inner soul in a bind ,, I have perhaps not come out of it ,, my wife was coming back from Lucknow a few days back and the entire coach was packed with Sadhus going to Nasikh and when she reached Mumbai she told me that on seeing the Sadhus she was searching for me among them mentally ,,,,

And mind you these are after thoughts of the Kumbh ,, Ramkund and Tapovan are vast huge far flung and you need several days to real shoot them on your soul.. this is what I shot in a few hours ,,a sadhu humbly holding a batatwada a loaf of bread ,,, and this is the story of  our life too.. the eating items were given to him as charity ,,, by the rich.. the amazing cycle of cosmic give and take ,,,

I will now wrap myself in the silence of my picture ,, soak in it for some more time ,,,