The Old Monk Plays Tennis Under Coach Surendra Pawar 2

Tennis Under Coach Surendra Pawar

Played rigorous round of tennis with all the three instructors Rohan PawarDarshan Bendal and Mangesh Dhotre. All three go out of the way to teach me my strokes and technique .

After that I took a few rounds with Mr Sudesh Dubey Shakha Pramukh ShivSena Bandra .

Finally some shopping chores for wife mince .shoulder mutton and a buffalo tongue for my cousin who is our guest she will cook and roast it Lucknowi Style and Avadhi zaika.

My breakfast is bhindi ki bhaji and rotis next I have to rush to my mentor Mr Shyam Shroff s house one of the most dapper dressers and a tremendously beautiful human being ...a lover of photography ...too .

The Day in the Life of the Buffalo Butcher Bandra Bazar Road

Though we hardly ate beef those earlier days before the Beef Ban I have been very close to the Beef Butchers I bought beef for my Alsation Dogs early 80 s and those days the butchers from the Bandra Bazar would drop the same at the company flat where I stayed at 28 th road Bandra .
I used take about 2 kilos a day good beef not leftovers I got a good discount and paid them monthly .
Now I stay close to the Bazar after the Beef Ban I began shooting their pain their struggle interviewed Intezar Bhai and his son convent educated Imran .
Sadly the Beef butchers owners Kureishis like the mutton butchers fought a lone battle as there was hardly any support coming from the others ..the Bakra Kasab jamat were in sync with them gave them moral support but the protest was singularly fought against the government by the Beef butchers .
The buffalo meat of the water buffalo has hardly any takers the main beef eaters of steak etc the Christian s I was told are not as crazy about bufffalo as they were about beef ..the hotel guys too don't much care for buffalo meat and the Dalits now buy cheap chicken that the chicken butchers sell at a hefty discount ...there are several stalls in the evening selling all this here and at JJ colony too..Most of the Beef shops in Bandra closed down ..even in the slums near Slaughter House or Shastri Nagar there are a few shops you can count them on the fingers of your hand ..
I was speaking to a buffalo butcher at Slaughter House he said they were threatened by rogue right wingers and were worried about false cases if they did not give in to the extortionists .
He was planning to move out of this trade and was asking me if there was some job in Bollywood ..he looked like a tired defeated man.
I already told you about the butcher at the Bazar who sells tea..he moves around like a zombie but he has to do something .
So this is in brief the day in the life of a beef butcher ..caught in the grind of life remorse and despair .

Ruins at St Martin's Road

This ramshackled property in the green belt of Bandra has many unforgettable memories .
Late Mr Hendriques lived here was my good friend he had once crazy obsession he wanted to mate a white rat with a squirrel as he would explain to me that both were rodents .
He was a very close friend of Mr Marquis of Marquis pets and Marquis and I were very good friends in the 80 s Marquis made my 6 feet fish tanks a huge cage in iron for my Alstaian dogs but when the tide turned and I left this 3 bedroom company flat at Linking Road Bandra I gave my fishes tanks to a doctor an ex Mayor of Virar the cage and both my Alsations Sasha and Casper to Appa Sab Mr Hitendra Thakur brother of Bhai Thakur years later I met him to inquire about my dogs but he was truthful he had no memory of them he had sent them to his farm .
After several years I again tried to keep Flowrhorns two huge tanks but I was not lucky all of them died I have given away both the tanks decided to take a break from fishes and Kurla East ...now I only take care of Marziyas white and colored Java Sparrows .
I never kept dogs again though I had a few imported Persian cats in the 90 s this too I gave it to friends ..my eldest son was allergic to hair and I let them go .
So when I pass St Martin road I stand outside this crumbling edifice and remember all my talks my curiosity with late Mr Hendriques .
So photography as I see it is not just shooting pictures but a form of holistic catharsis earlier I was a juvenile I called it blogging but now I think.it is simply adding words to an existing form as original content and let it be 're read as a street story .
I shoot I simply shoot I have no method I shoot moments as fleeting memories and it is purely impulsive .
I also shoot what a part of my cosmic brain tells me not to shoot .
Most of my street images are shot on the mobile phone ..as is where is .
I miss shooting on film I miss my favorite Ilford Delta 100 ASA I miss Velvia 50 I miss shooting on expired rolls gifted by Mr Richard Kelep of Kodak I would push them or pull them advised by late Prof BW Jatkar he was the most instrumental of all my Gurus making prints at Bhai Humne Swastik Color lab ..going to Mazda coaxing Mr Onkar Plaha and to Color Art ..slides to Alvares at Mahim .
Mahindra Patil a brilliant genius did my BW processing once a disciple of Mr Jatkar .
Satyndra a Bohri guy called Bawaji and Mr Kishore Jothady were kind enough to encourage and do the BW prints I have a huge lot of my prints negatives slides I have kept them for many years now ..beneath my bed .
A journey that began and now it has ended I thought of buying an old FM10 for my 7 year old granddaughter Marziya to show her the crispiness of film but I gave it up...if she gets hooked wife will throw me out of the house ...
So a single isolated image shot without rhyme or reason can psychologically become a time machine for pent up thoughts buried deep under the sub consciousness .
Do you also feel this way I always thought poetry and madness are the two unique gifts of photography ..
Now I get ready to go kick my ass play some tennis .
Happy Morning from ramshackle mind of memories I mean mine of memories.

Bandra Bazar Road ...A Myth I try to Decode

The garbage dump close to this beggar poets abode ...garbage that disappears and than 're appears faster than auto mode ...when the dumper and the chicken trucks come face to face this notorious infamous Bazar Road gets closed ..adding to our woes ..politicians who took our votes empty promises our friendly foes...our dreams of progress and development in deathly throes ..this garbage dump is a blessing in disguise for goats dogs cats and fucked hungry crows ...on my timeline besides garbage nothing else to show ...now for a meeting to Pali Hill dude I have to go ...

Evening With Coach Surendra Pawar

I had come to meet Mr Tushar Aphale he stays at Bandra Reclamation and heads the MNS Shakha at Bandra we have been friends for a very long time his erstwhile wife a educationist has played tennis under my Coach.

I came for some work and to inform him about the recent robbery of the tennis nets balls and other stuff from the room near the tennis courts by some unknown people ..ever since the grounds were taken over from the MET by the Municipality there is chaos as the Municipality is clueless about garden park management there are no security guards. Property is destroyed outsiders pass lewd remarks at women walkers open abuse by those who come to play football and cricket .

But the man who suffers the most is Coach Surendra Pawar on holidays ruffians enter the court break the tennis poles play football destroy the tennis ground .

I was there last evening and saw kids playing football in the next court ..Coach told me if you try to talk to them they use threatening gestures and use abusive language .

So for the safety of his instructors and tennis wards he keeps quiet ..he has spoken to Mr Sudesh Dubey Shaka Pramukh Shiv Sena and is waiting for some constructive help.

In the evenings Coach Surendra Pawar teaches kids as old as 2 and there are a few kids very talented who are poor Coach hardly charges them .
For the kids he supplies the racquets too.

So when I asked a grandparent Mr Damji to take my picture with his talented grandson Drash ...but Drash ran away as he could not recognize me with my bald head ..

There are some great kids playing tennis here and joining them on the court were some mothers too.

I am thankful to my tennis coach for giving me a new lease on life ..I was never a sports person all these 60 years never played cricket football never flew a kite no hockey no nothing.

And now I play rigorous tennis with a permanently damaged right hand ..sometimes as I cannot grip the raquet it flies off my right hand .

My granddaughters have their exams or they too came to play tennis and Coach would let them play without taking a dime from me .

Last night I slept without taking my dinner I am suffering from acute diarrhea and waiting for my stool culture report to find out what ails me most probably my new diabetic medications under Dr Shashank
Joshi I think I take them three times a day .

So with a blurred picture I give you the story of my blurred life .I was at Bandra Talao area yesterday had gone for some work but stayed away from the ear cleaners and the pigeons .

Happy Morning from Bandra .

The Tenniwalas of Coach Surendra Pawar

We are blessed to have a brilliant tennis coach and those who have been bitten by the tennis bug can be found here at the tennis courts Bandra Reclamation Municipal Grounds .

The early morning session has the hardcore veterans and seniors young Diyaan Chheda plays with the seniors .

The next batch at 7.45 am includes the incorrigible amateurs like me ..playing this end of the court is fun we get to learn every day as Coach Pawar takes over from the innstructors Darshan Bendal Rohan Pawar andMangesh Dhotre. All three leave no stone unturned to teach us .
I will be completing an year at the tennis court a year of great physical activity my life all these years was couch potato like and sedentary.

There are some great people in my batch Manoj Ailani his friends the Bhatias ...there is young Aryan Bele best player and Arnab Daryani.

Mrs Manisha Narke Amma who brings us the best Kafi..coffee .Dr Tanmay he is an ace hardhitter ..Dr Rajani his wife and two daughters .Rima she is playing very well than there is my good friend Fabian Namory he plays on both sides of the court pro and amateur .

Besides these are the ball pickers doing a great job Praful Maneesh and Michael .
Sanket Kamble helps out on the other court with Razak Khan the most dynamic prolific player along with all rounder Ahmed Khan .

But I should not miss out Vish Sawant the tennis hero of our court who teaches the kids in the evenings with Coach Surendra Pawar .

The two senior who play like young studs are Jeet Chugani and Mr Shekhar .
Deepak Chheda and Naresh Gupta and Tiger Prakash H Gadiya are the others in the early morning group with Varun who make up the excitement level at our tennis court
There is Manishas husband Amit Narke .

There are many others mind you but this post is more about our Coach our team work and our super mornings .

Incase I missed out any name forgive me .

We certainly miss Rana Jaideep Rastogi the captain of our tennis ship .
There is an actor Anand who plays Sitas father in a Tele serial.

So if any of you guys girls want to join our team don't hesitate I will connect you with Coach Surendra Pawar till you are learning he gives the racquets too his fees are the lowest but you have to pay for 3 months in advance fair enough .

So see you all on the tennis courts ..

Happy Morning Jai Maharashtra Amchi Tennis Amchi Mumbai.

If you want your kids grandkids to learn tennis there are a few batches in the evenings..

You can also contact his son Sahil Pawar a tennis dude ..cool dude .

Rajan of Happy Book Stall Bandra Hill Road

I have known Rajan the owner of Happy Book Stall since the time I stayed at Bandra at De Monte Street ..to come to Hill Road I had to come via Chinchpokli Road that is right opposite his bookshop .

Most of us Bandraites book readers lovers spent hours at his shop and he never objected ..I bought my books from him and we have known each other since the 80 s .His shop is over 70 years old he has been handling it for over 40 years ..the picture of his father watches over this iconic shop full of memories .

But Rajan is disappointed the future on books is very bleak even Danai at Khar closed down ...this place is prime property Bandra Hill Road ..I too once had my workplace down this road the rentals here are very high and while I was chatting with him not a single footfall

He is giving discounts on certain genre of books is a very good conversationalist humble polite and it saddened me to hear him speak out his pain .

His son helps him out in the afternoon ...and whenever I pass this way I make it a point to wish him and talk to him .

He was surprised when I took his picture but I assured him people would love to see him and remember their days at his shop ..I told him I would be posting his pictures at Facebook ..

The words came later ...and even if you people have stopped reading books at least inculcate the love of books to your children your grandchildren ..books are expensive but the crispy touch of the pages and the feel of the book besides the content can add a dimension to the personality of your ward .

We are alive with the memories of the books we read ..they really made us what we are today ....the books I read Dickens Balzac Dostoevsky instilled a desire in me shooting pictures on the steets ..I shoot Dickensian characters in Mumbai I search for Mr Micawber and among the crotchety Muslim Beggars I eventually find Mr Uriah Heep ..I meet the East Indian lady unmarried waiting for her Prince Charming and I am reminded of Aunt Peggoty . And the overweight sweeper boy at Bandra bazaar reminds me of the Fat Boy from Pickwick Papers .I shoot storyboards of Balzacs Humaine Comedy on the streets I shoot the Prince I shoot the Idiot ..

This is my tribute to Rajan my dear friend caught in a time wrap at Happy Book Stall Bandra Hill Road .

The Magic of Bandra Bazar Road .

Before I came to Bazar Road I stayed in a company flat first at 28 Road Bandra but I came with my wife to shop in the Bazar ..I had Alsatians those days so I got beef from Intezar Bhai and I spent a fortune on my dogs ..I later gave away my dogs to Appa Sab brother of Mr Bhai Thakur of Virar .
From 29 Road I lived for a short while at Aradhana Linking Road Khar this too was a company flat ..
Thanks we finally bought a house in the fishing village of Danpada I began working for Prachins Of Producer Mr Nitin Manmohan ..but our house was doomed when the riots errupted in 93 we lost everything we were nomads we lived in safe houses at Chand Society Juhu thanks to my boss Nitinji from here to 11 Road Juhu next to Dannyji than to Link Road Vishaka Apts opp Lotus petrol pump ..the kids were all studying in Bandra the overhead s of their transport was high so we took a rented place at Ranwar and from Ranwar to Pali Naka and finally we came to live in our own house at De Monte Street and we became part of Bandra Bazar Road for many years
We again left this place took a house on rent next to Mehboob and came back to Bandra Bazar and reclamation cusp our present house and the Bazar is next door and I document shoot the garbage beggars wall art all in this unique peaceful locality where all communities live in peace and mutual coexistence .
I can go on shooting the Bazar I keep rediscovering it in the next frame that I will shoot and with Jesus at every corner what more could I ask for .. the caterers the fish market buffalo meat Market.
The East Indians .. their lost illusions their surviving ethos their pain I shoot the Bohra s ...all in a set at Flickr called Bandra Bazar Road .

Latin Mass Easter Sunday By Fr Jaun St Peter Church Bandra 5

Latin Mass Easter Sunday By Fr Jaun St Peter Church Bandra 4

The Church And Me

I started my schooling at Private European School near Usha Sadan and this was part of John The Baptist Methodist Church ..the Church was not as ornate as the Roman Catholic Church I was to get influenced later in life ..
The teachers who taught me were all English but never was there any reference to my being a Muslim in short there was no proselytizing ...here too I took up Bible studies for the few years I was part of this school .
Sunday's our Goan maid would dress us up and take us to St Francis Chapel opposite Miramar close to Hampton Court and my mother never objected to this at all..religion was not a hurdle at our house ....and a Shia house our Arabic teacher was a Sunni from the mosque at Colaba Bazar ..as far as I remember there were hardly any Shias at Wodehouse Road ..for our Shia feasts we had to go to Imamia at Bhendi Bazar .
After I left Private European School and joined Holy Name in 1963 it was my first Roman Catholic influence and it reached deep down into my psyche my friends my teachers were Christians and Paul my friend was an altar boy so was his father brother I got my first taste of wine too thanks to them .
My private thinking moments were spent at Holy Name Cathedral but at Jony Castle where we lived I was being bombarded brainwashed by reading Watch tower and the Bible of the Jheovahs Witness thanks to my childhood friend Keith Kangas grandma she hated all religion be it Hindu Catholics Buddhist or Parsi .
Rivers of milk and honey that is what she put in our heads ..and later while living at Keith's house during my SSC exam my parents were going through a lot of domestic problems mom ear sent to Lucknow with my other siblings Dad and one brother stayed at Mereweather Road on rent I lived with Keith Kanga it was here that I was conned taken to the sea off Badhwar Park to be baptized as a Jheovahs Witness but thanks to Allah it rained heavily and the baptism was kept for another day ...but my father took me away from Keith's house we got back our good days our mom returned and now only a memory remains .
So I was a whisker away from becoming a Christian ...if you can call the Jheovahs Witness Christian s ...as they considered every religion on earth besides their own as heretical.
So the Church has been my fascination I began shooting St Peter Church when I had my workplace at Baba Nagar .I spent most of my time here shooting Christmas Eve Mass New Year eve Mass Good Friday Easter Adoration Baptism Holy Communion births and deaths thanks to Fr Jaun Fr Lawrie I shoot the Loyola feast but the person who really connected me to Jesus and his backyard at Bandra was my dear friend Darryl Luke Loyola.
Without him I could have never shot St Peter Church and I shot St Theresa Church St Andrew Church Mount Mary St Anne Mount Carmel and Sacred Heart Khar .
Than I met Jo of the Cross began shooting Good Friday and 14 stations of the cross for many years .
Both my granddaughter s have been shooting St Peter's since they were 2 year old
St Peters Church has been my home in more ways than one poetically and cosmically .
And the Latin Mass I shoot every year ..here .

The World Of Muslim Beggars ...

I normally never use the tripod or monopd I have both of them Manfrotto that I bought a very long time back..

But on Easter Sunday as I wanted to shoot the Latin Mass I carried the monopod with me to St Peter Church..

I had taken permission from Fr Jaun the night before and I would have shot it from the doorway as I did last year but a kind person attending the mass invited me in so I shot it from the back of the chapel.. it is above the main church..

After I finished shooting the Mass I decided to walk home via the Bandra Bazar with my monopod and thus shot the market scenes ..and I caught this beggar candidly without him being aware that I had shot him..

These beggars are known as Bawas ,,they beg for a living blessing people that give them alms ,,this Muslim beggar hardly talks I have shot him earlier too.. most dont like being shot and can get very abusive but I shoot them somebody has to tell their story.. their trials tribulations .. and nothing can change their fate ... they will most probably die begging on the streets ,,

This beggar is very different from the two senior beggars Jaffar Bhai and Khwajah bhai.. they are humble polite and both have daughters in their hometown.. it might sound strange both save money for their daughters and grandchildren.

The other beggars in my lane are migrants from Malda West Bengal..my lane on Fridays has become an abode of crippled beggars , women beggars with kids and these women I have shot for over 6 years now .. I know their kids ,,,

The old beggars are reticent beg silently.. a lot of beggars come here but disappear soon after .

All these beggar blogs are part of storyboard at Flickr Muslim Beggars of India ,, I shot them for reasons unknown to me ,, and certainly not to make money,,, photography is purely a hobby the only medium that documents life as fine art too .

As I have begged with the Rafaees and my Naga Guru.. eaten left over food I think I know what the beggar psyche goes through and I did trample my ego insanely as I stretched out my hand from door to door along with the band of Naga Sadhus at Nasikh..

I shoot a few communities ,, and beggars is one of them but it is the Muslim beggar I shoot prolifically ,, among the Muslim beggars are also beggars from the lower caste non Muslims who wear hijabs or a skull cap beg and it does not matter necessity is the mother of invention.

The most fascinating specie of Muslim beggars I found at Ajmer during the Urus and at Taragadh ,.. most of the beggars are fund near Sufi Shrines ,,,Mosques and other religious places ,,, I shot Muslim beggars during Pitru Paksha at Banganga ..
But strangely I never shot Muslim beggars at the Kumbh ,.. but yes I did shoot a Muslim boy I shoot him every year at Ajmer he is badly deformed no legs just one tiny hand he was dressed as a Hindu with vermilion on his forehead he was a good actor he pretended he did not know me and I too was dressed as a Hindu with ash on my forehead at Ramkund .. Nasik Kumbh 2015 .

Latin Mass Easter Sunday By Fr Jaun St Peter Church Bandra 3

Latin Mass Easter Sunday By Fr Jaun St Peter Church Bandra 2

Latin Mass Easter Sunday By Fr Jaun St Peter Church Bandra 1

Marziya Shakir ...Allah Ho Akbar The Muezzins Call

Every morning without fail come what may when my wife finishes her morning prayers she wakes up Marziya ..my wife is the Muezzin of my granddaughter ..
Marziya does not miss the morning namaz it's been a year now .
Nerjis and Zinnia are also learning the namaz from my wife and Marziya
They have their own prayer mats and the chadors from Karbala .
And both Nerjis and Marziya are crazy about street photography .

Tajuddin The Muslim Beggar Bandra Bazar Road .

Tajuddin the physically and mentally challenged beggar is a new entrant to the iconic band of beggars at Bazar Road my backyard .
Earlier when I went to take his shot his handler made a face but Tajuddin signalled to him to let me shoot him and he seemed to enjoy the attention and my presence I gave them money and bought him some snacks for breakfast .
While returning from Tennis I saw them Tajuddin lit up and I told him that Tajuddin Baba of Nagpur is a famous holy entity..
Here I must also thank these beggars that add to my humility and to my street stories and I complete an year at Facebook without deactivating my account ..I normally self exiled myself to de tox and de stress and returned to Facebook after a long hiatus. .I needed to get out of this rusty birds cage and 're learn to fly ..I never blogged at Facebook but I am doing it now all my new stories are posted at Facebook copied pasted from here to Flickr Blogspot and linked to Twitter .
It's easy for me to upload my street pictures from my phone to Facebook earlier my phone pictures were synced to my Flickr timeline ...
I have taken a sabbatical I see the garbage truck my conservancy friends I wave out to them without shooting any videos ..I have to yet upload the pictures and videos I shot on my DSLR of the Easter Sunday Latin Mass By Fr Jaun at St Peter's chapel above the main Church .
Shooting the Church from above has a beautiful vantage ..and perspective .
I paid a guy some money he eats Ekru and his Bhaiyya supplier gets the best stuff from Bhaucha Dhakka so this guy who lives in the transit camp will buy and keep it for me ..he has worked in the Gulf ate Hamooz here known as Ekru .
I have to ask him for the Arabic recipe for making Ekru .
For a long time since last Moharam I had stopped eating fish ..the Shia s don't eat fish for two month eight days of Moharam ..though the Bohra community starts the first day of Moharam with fish .
Fish is considered a festive dish among the Shia s and you will see it on old Lucknow arches doorways too ...
The Nahari my wife made recently for a relative who is staying at our place she is leaving for Karbala ziyrath..was buffalo meat we hardly eat it otherwise but Nahari tastes better ...and because of the beef ban it is tender buffalo meat without any fat ...no bones at all. The Kulches were from Lucknow .
Wife likes to cook and she cooks with a Lucknowi mijaz ..the masalas main ingredients are from Lucknow .
The dish loved by all my three granddaughters is Biryani ..
Mostly chicken biryani my granddaughter s don't eat fish at all.
So imagine a few frames of a Muslim Beggar are catharsis to empty the emotional pot of my restless angst . Shooting storyless pictures devoid of feelings devoid of passion or pathos according to me is certainly not photography the way I was taught by my Gurus..
A picture must make you talk even in silence evoke touch your strings within...
Photography made me a talker ...I talk but it is the picture that adds the colloquial expressions like the mystic art of the ventriloquist.
Happy Morning from Bandra Bazar .

The Life And Times Of A Lonely Doll

abandoned
brutalized
battered
mauled
rise and fall
of bandras
sad forlorn
lonely doll
once the pride
of the neigbors
daughter .. for
help she calls
thrown out of
the doll house
deathly pall
her painful
silent cries
tormenting
the weeping
walls ..
helpless once
upon a time those
good days she recalls
hugged by the pretty
child lovely new dresses
for this barbie doll ..

as she reminisces
her sudden downfall

Appu My Friend A Story Without End

Happy Morning From Bandra ,, and a sweet memory called Appu.

I first met Appu about 20 years back those crazy days I stalked Chor Bazar for old cameras , books and other memorabilia,,and I honed my craft as a street photographer shooting reluctant Muslim faces ,, I tried to shoot candid those ealy days of Film slides and BW and I was a Nikon user when I started out , I gave up Nikon completely in 2011 when my ex boss presented me the Canon EOS 7D ,

I was abused by Appus handlers for shooting him at Chor Bazar creating a nuisance and a large crowd close to Bori Mohalla ,, the handler lashed out at me saying we photographers shoot the beggars to sell the pictures to foreign Press ,, I was shocked at her knowledge and my moderation.

Appu saw I was hurt called me over and we became friends I shot Appu for many years as he kept moving away from Chor Bazar to Musafirkhana Crawford Market to Minara Masjid and on Wednesdays at Mahim Church lane .

My granddaughter Marziya met him when she was 2 year old and she has never forgotten him.. she is 8 now and she wants to shoot Appu too so I search for him when I pass his old haunts ,,I once gave him my visiting card too.. and never treated him as a beggar ..every time I met him I gave him Rs 100.. and tried to invite him to my house at Bandra .. but he would smile this migrant from Assam ..

The Tablikis of Mumbai forced a skull cap on him and he began to grow his beard .. begging in their areas was not easy.. their spirituality had to be adhered ,,, and he begged in the rains fully drenched at the Shia cemetery during Shia Shabbarat ,, I shot him there ..

Appu was one of the reasons I began to walk barefeet ,, to feel the earth and to walk with him.. he walks as a stump..no hands no feet .. and if I had money I would have got him a wheelchair those days but he would tell me he lived on the roads and the druggaddicts had stolen his money too,,so he had a handler later his mother uncle or even his sister ,, and the goats of Chor Bazar and the flies troubled him a lot ,, but Appu was always there smiling he lit up the moment he saw me with my camera ,,I really begin my tryst with photography shooting beggars ,, I paid them and they were the best role models ,,

It has been many years now I have not met Appu .. and this is  my early morning tribute to his memory ,.

Appu is a set at my Flickr timeline ,,

Fr Jaun My Mentor Who Cosmically Connects Me With Christ

Many years back when I stayed at 21 De Monte Street Bandra I saw Fr Faun in my building he had come to bless the home of my neighbor Trevor Fuis ..
Fr Jaun knew me so I innocently asked him do priests bless only Catholic homes or do they bless other people's home ..Fr Jaun gave me a smile came to my house met my kids wife blessed my house and shared the hospitality of my wife's cup of tea
And from that day Fr Jaun and I have been connected firmly in faith and humanity .
Both my granddaughter s Marziya and Nerjis have been very close to Fr Jaun and every Easter they came to meet him at the Church ...but this year I did not bring Nerjis I was going to shoot the Easter Sunday Latin Mass using my Manfrotto monopod so I would not be able to handle her and good Fr Jaun asked me about them .
I am indebted deeply to the Christians for what I am my schooling my upbringing after my parents was their gift to me they got rid of my rough edges ..they made me understand the real meaning and essence of mutual coexistence and above all tolerance .
I met some great priest s in my childhood Late Fr Leslie Ratus and late Fr Stephan Nazareth both at Holy Name my Alma Mater .
And now 65 years of age it is Fr Jaun who has helped me groomed me into becoming a good human being .
A lady at the Latin Mass today was surprised when she came to know I was a Muslim .
I told her sincerely I was a good Muslim as my school my teachers my priests had helped me .
I did not tell her that in my early school years I opted for Catechism instead of Moral Science .
Thanks all my Christian friends all of you ..Happy Easter to all of you .

Happy Easter To All My Friends

But from this earth, this grave, this dust,
My God shall raise me up, I trust.
~Walter Raleigh

A Celluloid Dreamland Called Bollywood

if the picture breaks through
on friday at boxoffice jolly good
but before the public go to see
it .. written of by the paid critics
 badly misunderstood thereby
spoiling the producers directors
 actors mood to mr krk views
all are glued impartial to the
point not crass or crude ,,,

Shooting The Hijras Of India

These are traffic signal beggar hijras I have shot them for many years now and this hijra lady was new she did not recognize me seeing my camera she hid her face ,, some hijras do not take kindly to being photographed ... but I shoot them nonetheless ..
I have shot over 50 shades of gray of the hijras moods ,,,I penetrated her inner angst.. and in all humility nobody has documented the Androgyne as I have paying tribute to the dichotomy of her androgynous gender ,,,her Ying and Yang .
My documentation of the hijra barring these few blogs has been locked up from public eyes completely including my poetry on the hijras..
God does not deny me the right to shoot the passion pathos and the poetry of the Indian Hijra ,, I dont stalk them but yes they get entrapped by the third eye of Shiva .. in my camera lens ..
Ardh Nari Nraeshwar
half man half woman
all male ..sometimes
tragically on a shelf on sale
her choking cries her wail
in her androgynous body
a trapped female ,,from this
mans body out in the open
a steep wall she tries to scale
she rises she falls she fails
her face devoid of happiness
her body frail.. the hijra on a quest
of a holy grail.. so many paths
leading towards a lost trail..
the hijras sad story the hijras tale
a mask within a mask surrealistic
veil imprisoned forever ever held
captive in a jail.. a rudderless boat
without oars without sails ,,,the hijra '
is only seen as a sexual commodity
to a bleeding cross nailed .. to be
or not to be that she wants to be but
cant be a complete woman..a plan
derailed ,,,access denied a god that
failed ,,,a beta woman or an alpha male

Bollywoods Most Wanted Mr Shakti Kapoor

Sunil Sikanderlal Kapoor (born 4 July 1953) is an Indian Bollywood actor. He is known for playing villains in Bollywood movies for more than three decades. He has also been applauded for playing comic roles in several movies. Through the eighties and nineties, Kapoor teamed up with actor Kader Khan as the comical or evil duo in over 100 films.


Early life[edit]
Shakti Kapoor was born in Delhi, India to a Punjabi family. His father ran a tailor shop in Connaught Place, New Delhi. When Mahesh Sanghavi offered him the role of a villain in the movie Rocky, he thought the name 'Sunil Kapoor' was too weak for a villain, so he renamed him as 'Shakti Kapoor'.

Career[edit]
As a struggler in Bollywood, initially Shakti Kapoor did so many small inconsequential roles in movies, all the while looking out for a suitable role as a leading man. The years 1980–81 established Shakti Kapoor as an actor in Bollywood with two of his movies Qurbani and Rocky. In 1983, Kapoor had roles in Himmatwala and the Subhash Ghai directed movie Hero. Kapoor had played villain roles in both these movies. In the nineties, he often diversified to positive comic roles and performed them with equal finesse.[citation needed] He has been nominated for the Filmfare Award in the Best Comedian category and won once, for his performance as Nandu in David Dhawan's film, Raja Babu. Some of his comic roles have been as Inspector Bhinde in Insaaf, Prasad in Baap Numbri Beta Dus Numbri, Crime Master Gogo in Andaz Apna Apna, Tohfa, as Batuknath in ChaalBaaz and as Goonga in Bol Radha Bol.

Kapoor has been a reference for mimicry artistes who emulate his style and dialogues such as "Aaaooo Lolita" from the movie Tohfa, "Main Nanha sa Chotta sa Bachcha Hoon" from the movie Chaalbaaz and "Nandu sabka bandhu, samajhta nahi hai yaar" from the movie Raja Babu.[1][2] Since 2000, Kapoor is a regular fixture in Priyadarshan films like Hungama, Hulchul, Chup Chup Ke and Malamaal Weekly and most recently Malayalam remake Bhagam Bhag. He also acted in few Bengali films of Kolkata. In 2011, he was in the reality television show Bigg Boss (season 5) as one of the contestants. He has appeared in musical comedy Aasman Se Gire Khajoor Pe Atke [1],[2],[3] with his sister-in-law Padmini Kolhapure.

Personal life[edit]
Shakti Kapoor is married to Shivangi (Padmini Kolhapure's elder sister) and has two children, a son Siddhanth Kapoor and a daughter Shraddha Kapoor.

The Banana Sellers Tale ,,,,

I met him recently a year back ever since I started coming to Bandra Reclamation to play tennis under Coach Surendra Pawar .
I  liked him selling bananas and his humble disposition courteous manners endearing nature  and than when his banana cart was confiscated by the Municipality and he was forced to sell the bananas on a stool I felt sorry for him he never complained he simply said Allah ki Marzi hai Its Gods Will.

And he never understood why I made him pose to shoot his pictures ..I told him I liked the humility of his face but to keep me happy he never refused me and soon became on of my iconic street models ,,

Last June he was to go to his hometown to get his only daughter married and his dreams got marred as the man his trusted friend who kept his earnings for safekeeping ,, left Mumbai without informing him.. and he was shattered as his friends phone was out of reach,, and he looked desperate I offered to help him  with a contribution I told him he could pay me back once he got his savings back from his friend ,, but he politely refused ..

I think this was the only time I saw him really sad disillusioned though I told him he should have kept his savings in a bank.. he lives in the slums and is uneducated .. they trust friends more than banks ,,

However I found him smiling  two weeks later his friend had contacted him he had left Mumbai as his son had met with a serious accident and was returning ,, he got his money he left to get his daughter married and I missed him though his brother a bearded guy who looks like him took his place selling bananas .. he had got a new cart too.

I shot his brother too.. and waited for my good friend to return , he returned recently after a long stay ..his daughter he told me was happily married and wished me for supporting her dad .. I than told him I had a daughter too I miss her a lot as she lives in Delhi and though we dont get along as much but we do love each other ,,

Most of my tennis mates buy bananas from him and I buy him a Bisleri bottle once in a while ,, he met my granddaughters Nerjis and Marziya and was astonished when they held my camera to shoot him..

I also shoot an old frail cobbler who sits in a box like cubicle ,, a Dalit cobbler and a Muslim banana seller ,,,both protagonists of my street stories both fodder for my camera and my street thoughts.. and all under the ambit of my down to earth street photography , my prolific Bandra Blogs ,

I taught the banana seller how to tie his scarf on his head to save him from the hot sun.. so now wears it this way ..adding more to his face and character .

Not everybody is as congenial cordial like him.. I mean the Muslim lobanwala beggar who abuses people could learn a thing or two from this kind banana seller of Bandra REclamation.

Happy morning from Bandra ,,I am too tired out to go for a walk and tennis courts are closed for us on Sundays .

A Mindless Thought ,, I Accidentally Caught When I Took This Shot

more than her
i was hot heat
humidity my
mind tied in
knots ..i dont
take pot ,,
a moment
that i bought
from my camera
on the dot ,,
a cosmic plot
my camera eye
reluctantly with
my beggars vision
fought ,,in the end
poetically this is
what i got ,,,

a posterior
in a parking lot
that unabashedly
told me dickhead
forget me not

I WONT BE POSTING ANYTHING HERE AT BLOGSPOT ,,,,ANYMORE

YOU CAN CHECK OUT MY NEW STUFF AT

 FLICKR

They Also Serve Who Only Stand And Stare

her eyes embers
of burning coal
to steal her soul 
in midflight was
my ultimate goal
first a little bit a
part than whole

than a voice
whispered
is it only her
soul you stole
or her pain of
unliving untold
as it pierced my
camera vision
a story unfolds

i was in her power
in her hold ,, shivering
cold fragile and old

Urus Zinda Shah Madar Dhamal 2

Urus Of Zinda Shah Madar Dhamal

Urus of Zinda Shah Madar 2016 Makanpur

Dear Mr Narendra Modiji ,,.. Your Swach Bharat Has Completely Failed At ...

A Sincere Message To Our MLA Advocate Ashish Shelar from Bandra Bazar Road

Searching For God On Fridays

Every Friday they sit down below my house in a lane begging .
I have been shooting them with their children for several years now .
I mean Friday for others is the Namaz but for these unfortunate women Friday is a day of Hope ..means to earn money ..an act sanctified as charity .
The Children were toddlers when I first shot them huddled in the folds of their mothers hijabs now they have grown older ..yet their lives remain unchanged the cycle of begging on Friday ...The day the miyas sanctimoniously proclaim on Facebook with GIFS as Juma Mubarak is a day of hard work for these Muslim mothers and their children .
I shoot Muslim Beggars I can never cosmically ever escape them and I shoot them with a divine passion penetrating the inner angst of their miserable souls ..I know them deeply and in a way they know me too...I try in my humble way to poeticize their pain of living ..their poetry of Life ...
And once a beggar thinking I was a monk asked me curiously whether he would have to beg once he died and he was not sure if there was a heaven of beggars ...he was living here in perpetual he'll he told me .
I had an urge to shoot their videos ..but I let it go ...some other place some other time .
These are stories etched...pencil sketches and all my stories are original content .
As long as I have a mobile phone or a camera they will be coming alive touching me and through me touching you all.

The Curve of Life ..

Both these women are known to me simply as mothers of children who beg ..and perhaps I have been shooting them since the time I came to live here at Bandra reclamation .
My grandchildren Marziya and Nerjis have shot them too....and shooting pictures is shooting pain emotions feelings even for a child .
My grandkids learnt to read the textbook of Life through the camera in a way I forced the camera on the innocence of my grandchildren to save them from future shocks .
They hardly shoot now but yes if I give them my camera they shoot with sheer passion and even Zinnia is very good without being trained like Marziya or Nerjis ..she is the youngest one .
I don't search for pictures at all but yes pictures do find me here in Bandra .
I shot all this while returning from my visit to Dr Shaskank R Joshi at Lilavati Hospital ..I was visiting him after almost 3 months to show him my new blood sugar report which his assistant told me was a good sign from 250 I had bought my blood sugar to fasting 92 and 122 PP.
By playing tennis strenous walking and control over my diet and blessings of all you friends and most of all blessings of these beggars too .
I miss my beggars bowl ..I ate food on it I begged with it but I gave it to a physically challenged beggar at Dhai Djinn Ka Jhopda Ajmer .
Yes I too am a beggar in more ways than one

I am Mad he said

Eyes burning orbs deep red
A crown of silver was his head
The hard pillow of the pavement
Fuck who needs a bed ..she who was the cause of his insanity the
Birch with his best friend had fled
It's true he drank brutally but she
Bit the hand that fed ..she tricked him used him abused him leaving him for dead he walks the streets of Dadar searching her in every nook and corner ..his thoughts his anger I cosmically read I had walked the same path of morbid drunkenness hallucinations that my mind and body had spread ..
Though I loved her my warrior queen of the mountains it was another man she wed ...leaving behind sad memories instead .
Crooked shadows haunt me follow me on her footprints I tread ..

I can only shoot what I was cosmically destined to shoot

The third eye of Shiva eloquently mute to the Ardh Nari Nareshwar pays humble tribute ..neither man nor complete woman held in ancestral gender dispute
Misplaced womanhood dancing bells on the feet ..
The power of Krishnas flute oh Lord Iravan wise and astute ...widowed the night after the nuptials broken bangles tears streaming down the cheeks one day at Koothandavar I shall go and shoot ...moments will give testimony androgynous souls I will rob and loot ...
Withered branches dying roots ..unable to bear fruits ...

In the eyes of the beholder I am a Hindu too

my cultural inheritance
on the soul of my poetry
grew ..my religion is my
personal fiefdom from
your congregational
collusion's i withdrew
but hey i am what i am
i d be fucked crazy to
be like you ,, no my
feet wont fit into your
shoes ..

how i pray
why i pray
i dont need
your excuse
i am a malang
on the loose ,
held to eternity
by a noose
lost illusions
lost memories
no more drugs
 'no booze
no more substance
abuse ..innocent
guilty yet accused

The Quintessential Street Barbers of Bandra

There are a few professional communities I shoot with a divine passion ..and barbers dabbawalas transgender beggars fakirs street performers are some of them the list is endless ..

I shoot street barbers close to my house at Lal Mitti Bandra reclamation and they are north Indians from Bihar and Jharkhand .
They sit close to the bus stop so I meet them if I am going to town or Dadar ...they give me a smile inquire about my health ..they look at me quizzically as I now wear slippers earlier I walked free bare feet .

The other Bandra barbers are all my friends they hunt for customers on the streets but most have regular clientele ..The barbers undertake religious Tonsure and male circumcision ..

Now the barbers in this video sit across
Baba Nagar St Peter Road and after I had shot the Hill Road demolitions I took a detour to my house through this lane and began shooting their video.
He wanted to order tea I politely refused ..and St Peter Road is my earliest humble beginnings I had my first workspace here ..for a few years and it was the time I was incorrigiblly attached to my camera and shot the St Peter Church ..Thanks to Fr Lawrie who encouraged me I shot to learn ..I shot Jesus I shot the Holy Ghost the clergy and the parioshners and the silence of the sacristy I shot the golden glow of the Tabernacle .

I missed nothing I shot a few friends Christian weddings out of sartorial curiosity .I shot deaths holy communion Adoration Good Friday Lent Xmas New Year and feast of St Ignatius Loyola .
And all this helped me get the hang of the camera I shot kids Stanislites playing hockey football.

And outside the Church walls I passionately shot the street barbers ..I shot this lanes muted pain as everybody threw garbage ..they still do ..

I shot a lot of images of Baba Nagar and I have a huge collection of slides negative s classic BW prints all stored beneath my bed and my wife wants me to get rid of it.
But I can't destroy what I passionately created ...

This is a blog for those who swear by the blog and sadly most bloggers are caught in a vortex of inner confusion ..I moved away from analog photography camera clubs from blogging platform s I am no more a blogger I renounced blogging both as a means or and end ..
I now call myself a storyteller I demistify time and space in a nutshell as I try to bring you into the web of my fleeting thoughts shot as pictures ..that are stories of my inner angst my sporadic spiritual reminiscences ..in short every frame a poetry of Life .

I shoot impulsively there is no method to my madness ..I shoot to 're discover the loneliness of a man's life on the streets with a scissors in his hand ..The furtive glance of the street barber ...

I guess this love for haircutting inherently came from my childhood friend Cory Walia he used my head my hair to experiment new styles at his house above Rasna at Churchgate .
When he moved to Khar my head moved too..ready to be teased and tortured mostly Cory made me look like his nephew Rahul Roy .

I was very close to Micky Contractor those early 80 s we both worked for Akbar Khan he did the make up I did the clothes .
I was close to Pandri Dada as he did the make up for Mr Kabir Bed I did both the summer winter designs for the Vimal suiting campaign.

My earliest contact with hairdressing was in 1975 when I worked at Burlington s Taj and late Mr Hakim Sab would join us for lunch at Burlington s we got along very well as Madame Ponpadour watched us our laughter our mirth..Hakim sab never charged us a dime ...The Taj was a treasure trove of sweet memories .
DRD Madame Surmount JRD got their clothes done by our crazy Master Bulbule .

Than came Rashid at the Taj Salon he stayed near my mother's house

When I shifted to Bandra it was Anand from Centaur Salon .

I lost track....and now as my tribute to my hairraising memories I shoot street barbers eloquently ...cosmically poetically .

Happy Morning From Bandra Bazar

The Snake Dancers Of Makanpur

Shot In The Train From Jaipur To Bandra Terminus 4

Shot In The Train From Jaipur To Bandra Terminus 3

The Hijras Seking Hope And Humanity At Makanpur

Urus of Zinda Shah Madar Makanpur 2016 E

Urus of Zinda Shah Madar Makanpur 2016 D

Urus of Zinda Shah Madar Makanpur 2016 C

Urus of Zinda Shah Madar Makanpur 2016 B

Sufism In India

Urus of Zinda Shah Madar Makanpur 2016 A

Dam Madar Malangs Urus Of Zinda Shah Madar 2016

Dam Madar Malangs Urus Of Zinda Shah Madar 2016

The World Of Chaiwalas at Makanpur ,, Urus Of Zinda Shah Madar

Urus Of Zinda Shah Madar 2016,, Dam Madar Malangs

Urus Of Zinda Shah Madar 2016,, Dam Madar Malangs

Urus Of Zinda Shah Madar 2016,, Dam Madar Malangs

Urus Of Zinda Shah Madar 2016 Makanpur

Urus Of Zinda Shah Madar 2016 Makanpur,,,,

Urus Of Zinda Shah Madar 2016 Makanpur Dhamal

The Desi Viagra Seller Of Makanpur

599 Urus Of Zinda Shah Madar Makanpur 2016

The Barber of Makanpur 1

The Quintessential Barber of Makanpur And The Malang

The Barbers Of Makanpur 2