Bandra Bandra Bandra ,,, Street Photography And More

moments slithering away in silence
essence and core Bandra the majestic
queen of the suburbs the Municipality
open garbage has made it a whore ,,
god alone knows after the civic elections
for the common man what next in store
carter road bandstand where the khans
reside serenity and more ,,but bandra of
the gaothans bandra of the slums ,,is a
tapestry of pain apathy neglect shut doors
our local representatives have no love for
bandra ..roads become flooded with a single
downpour ,,congress free bandra a siren call
progress and development was supposed
to be at the fore ..in a few years it might be
BJP free Bandra when the common man
will roar ,, Fuck we cant take it anymore ,,

The Dam Madar Malangs At Gwalior

We were all returning from Panihar Sharif the Asthana and spiritual abode of the Head Of Our Madariyya Order Syed Masoom Ali Baba.

We were invited to the Chalisva or 40 Day Memorial gathering of the mothers of Gaddi Nashin Razzak Ali Baba nephew of Syed Masoom Ali Baba .. his seat is both here at Panihar and also at Makanpur .His mother had died a month and 10 days back.

He is a very powerful scholar ,,and he is very young ,,we get along very well..

Syed Masoom Ali baba is very fond of me and my Malang brother Marc,, and he is 102 years old man who lives in austerity ,, if someone offers him fruits he will invite me to have some ,,he takes care of me ..will offer me dry fruits and I am honored by his love and hospitality .

He feeds me victuals .. and I have never seen such kindly emotions even Syed Rafik Baba will see that I am well taken care of ,, I have honestly sincerely documented their Order ,, Rafik Bhai till date has never called me by name only as Maulaiee ,, Follower of Ali.

I used to wear a 6 meter turban and Masoomi baba told me to sport a 12 meter turban.. I wanted to grow my dreads but than I got fungal boils on my head I shaved of my head became bald for a few months .

And I seamlessly fit in both with Malangs the Rifaees and the Naga Sadhus ,,though I want to go deeper into the documentation of the Aghori Sadhus ,,

I was surprised that Masoomi Baba called me to Panihar Sharif personally and also to Makanpur ,,and finally I met him again at the
Ajmer Urus ,,

However I am very close to Liaqat Baba Malang of Chomu close to Jaipur ,, he calls me almost every week inquiring about my health and my diabetes,.

Dam Madar Beda Par

The State Of The Foot Soldiers Of Modijis Swach Bharat At Bandra

One Way Street .. My Street Photography BW

The Tower Of Ill fame

The slums of Bandra
all around it as far as
the eye can see it 
arrogantly shames
politicians pride poor
mans envy its only
notoriety to fame
the super rich will
come to reclaim
allah ho akbar
the muezzins call
the rich disturbed in
their sleep will blame
the soul of bandra
incongruously forever
maimed ..a photo
study on architectural
monstrosities of bandra
a builder politician nexus
all the same ,, gone
the east indian gaothans
a frame within a frame

dedicated lovingly
to my sweet Rosetta my
Bandra ex flame
if i had married her
i would have gladly
become Firoze Fernandes
a rose by another name

she married a rich NRI
she said my doomed love
was unconditionally to blame

a beggar poet on two legs
but cosmically accidentally lame

The Kashmiri ,,,Searching For God In Mumbai

I meet beggars and it is a cosmic attachment with people and my surroundings he was trying to collect money for his sons operation..and it was on the high side ,,but he was full of hope and told me that Mumbai people have a heart..I wanted to tell him it is not the heart but the heartbeat that sensitizes the poetry of the human soul ,, I gave him what I could ,,

Mostly these street stories I shoot are stories of doom.. and I read too much Dickens Zola George Gissing ,,Balzac and I encounter those characters in my tales ,,I met Uriah Heep I met Aunt Pegotty I meet Mr Micawber the Fat Boy ,,

I meet Rastignac,,,through the corridors of my life ,, I am not much into writing but my pictures can be talkative enough ,,

And If I shot pictures to massage my soul .. to display my skill it would be terribly misguiding that is why I am not on Instagram Snapchat ,, I used to hate posting my pictures here on Facebook.. but I am now able to narrate here more than at Flickr the source of all my street stories .

I could never be a Press Photographer manipulating the poetry of Life following the same few crabs in a glass bottle ,, I gave up the regressive Camera Club which is nothing but a Madrsa of Photography in disguise.. I tell people go shoot your own pictures ,,and find a good Guru..a Guru is a must for ever photographer a Guru who will not always hold you bound as a disiple but make you a Guru too ,,

I was lucky I asked for one Guru , God in his Munificence gave me a Trinity
Father Son and Mr Malushte,, .The Father son being Mr KG Maheshwari and Prof Jatkar and I reiterate the best school of Photography is Flickr ,, what you learn there you wont ever learn anywhere else .

I never met this Kashmiri beggar again and I search for people I shot ,,but it is like searching for a fucked needle in a haystack.

But sometimes with your Tantric Kundalini you can force the moment to come back..

Street Photography ..is not letting a Moment go..

while shooting a few moments
you might come to blows bear it
but dont let the moment go ,,,
capture the soul of silence in
oxymoron haste as it flows
scripting a new story ,,street life
worldly woes ,,a moment like a
sacred tear that i froze ,, yes i
shoot with my eyes closed..
poetizing street prose ,,,what
was distantly far now comes
up close ,,Fuck F Stops
Fuck the Injured Toe ,,

Dont let the moment go..
What you saw to others you
must show ,, animated angst
as it grows ,,,a storyteller
A Malang named Firoze

Nerjis Asif Shakir Street Photographer: Nerjis Asif Shakir 5 Birthday 17 July 2016

Nerjis Asif Shakir Street Photographer: Nerjis Asif Shakir 5 Birthday 17 July 2016: ...

My Street Photography Mumbai Matters In BW

My Street Photography ,, My India

Flickr What Next ,,,

 If only dim sighted Flickr had taken the initiative of making it like Getty's image ..photographers would have earned money a lot of photographers need money to update technology etc ..but Ms Marissa Mayer saw light at the end of a dark tunnel called Tumblr and soon after the tumbling started Yahoo that was offered 44 billion by Microsoft is now bring prostituted for 4 billion ..sad ..they just did not have the vision nor the power to RE invent ..some of the best photographers the largest collection of images from all over the world on Flickr and they lost it leaving us at the mercy of Verizon...so this is the irony of big bucks and photography..a lot of photographers don't do it for money for them it is pure undiluted love passion of photography ..I talk about us a large lot of poor photographers from the East .and perhaps some from the West ..

Money never hurt anyone ,,,I have not upgraded my camera for a very long time due to shortage of funds ,,,and God above has given up Street Photography ,,,


And the picture I have posted is of Lord Ganesha  the Remover of Obstacles ,, we all need on our new Journey ..at Flickr

The Humble Ear Cleaners Of Bandra Talao..

Hijras On The Move ,,

Gay Pride Mumbai 2015 ..

Gay Pride Mumbai 2015 ..

Ganesh Visarjan Girgaum Chowpatty And Bandra Bazr 2015

Lalbagh Chya Raja Visarjan Day 2015

Lalbagh Chya Raja Visarjan Day 2015

The Spirit Of Ganesha ,, Lalbagh Chya Raj Tejukaya Bandra Ganesh Workshops

My You Tube Channel

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Subscribers 1496

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Blow Hot Blow Cold

Running nose
Very bad cold
Four boxes of
Tissues on my
Nose I upload
No respite from
My Fucked cold
Pain and Passion
Of a 65 year old
Out in the cold
A nose that bears
The brunt like a
Public commode
Now in Auto mode
On the soul of my
Sorrow a poem
Implodes ...
Pretentiously
Posturing as
An Ode ..
A poets misery
A poets abode
An injured toe
Adds injury
To the load
Empowered
By words I
Could not
Withhold
Very bad cold

Chota Imambara And Lucknow Street Photography in BW

Dam Madar Malangs Of India

Satkhanda and Lucknow Street Photography BW ,,2014

British Residency 2014

Once Upon A Time I Tried To Kill Myself In Every Possible Way

i rushed towards
a running train
on the Bandra tracks
but the train shyly
backed away
disgusted
i tried to jump
from a tall building
but i was caught
by the watch man
half way
up the way
unnerved
i tried to drown
myself
near old
sea rock
but the tide
was low that day
i tried to drink
tik 20
but my wife
pulled
the bottle away
i thought
i would douse myself
with
kerosene
light my soul away
but due to the heavy rains
the match box got wet
my fucked up fate they say
as a last resort
i tried to cut my wrist
to emotionalize my pain
but the knife cut
the wrong artery
on earth i was
doomed to stay
without telling
anyone
i hid in a ladies
toilet and tried
to drown myself
in the toilet bowl
i almost succeeded
but the flush chain
gave away


from behind yama
manipulator of life and death
gave me a kick on my ass
saying
why the fuck you call me
you know i am busy
in india always
now go about
living
dont scare my wits away
your home loan
your credit card payment
your mobile phone bill
your shop rent
money that you took from
friends on a rainy day
your next of kin wont pay
so you have to stay
in transit
till i come again
this way
to those guys
who owe you money
in the industry
too bad
their pictures bomb
every Friday
your money
they will never pay
where there is will
the devil finds a way

once upon a time in Mumbai
when you were born was once
upon a time in Bombay
so try to
live for just another day
go on blogging
the soul of humanity
till your bad times
slog away
shooting pain
but hiding your
own pain
beneath
every word
you say

Verizon to Own Flickr via $4.8B Yahoo Acquisition

Courtesy Net


Verizon will be the new owner of Flickr. The telecom giant announced today that it will be acquiring Yahoo’s core Internet business — including Flickr and Tumblr — for $4.83 billion in cash.

Rumors of Yahoo planning a sale started circulating in late 2015, and the Internet pioneer put itself on the auction in early 2016, reportedly fielding offers from about 40 companies. It looks like Verizon’s $4.83 billion cash offer was the most attractive.

Verizon will pick up 1 billion monthly active users — including 600 million monthly mobile users — through this acquisition, making it a formidable player in the mobile media industry.

One of the notable properties in the deal is Flickr, which itself boasts over 112 million users. Flickr was originally acquired by Yahoo back in March 2005 for something in the region of $25 million, and it has had its ups and downs under Yahoo ownership.

While Flickr has seen major redesigns and a sleek mobile app, a common complaint has been the service’s lack of innovation to stay steps ahead of rising photo-sharing competitors such as 500px, Instagram, and Snapchat.

Marissa Mayer also generated controversy in 2013 for saying “there’s really no such thing as professional photographers anymore,” when explaining why Flickr was phasing out its Pro membership at the time. She quickly apologized for the statement.

Flickr drew more flack the following year by putting 50 million Creative Commons licensed photos by users up for sale through its new Wall Art service. Although it was within its rights to do based on the licensing, the move left a bad taste in photographers’ mouths, and Flickr pulled the plug on the arrangement the next month.

This Verizon acquisition also shows how far Yahoo has fallen since its glory days as one of the early gems of the Web. At its peak in January 2000, Yahoo was valued at $140 billion. In February 2008, the company rejected a $44.6 billion acquisition offer from Microsoft. Eight years later, Yahoo has now accepted an offer $39.77 billion less.

Flickr and Yahoo are set to officially become Verizon properties when the deal closes in early 2017.

Petra Pixel

The British Residency Lucknow 2014

Every time I came to Lucknow to shoot Moharam I would make it a point a photographic pilgrimage to meet the greatest historian literary authority of Lucknow late Mr PC Little ..I was introduced to him by his two sons Bhuphesh and Avinash Little .

Mr PC Little was a hobbyist camera repairer and like me a lover of Keats poetry ,, and as we framed our thoughts in poetry he became my teacher guide and Mentor ,,

It  was Mr PC Little who made me a hon member of his Horizon Camera Club Lucknow it was Mr PC Little who inspired me to shoot the nuances of light and shade within the British Residency complex ,,he told me you will never get tired shooting the British Residency ,,

And it was at the St Marys Cemetery I found solace peace and poetic serenity ,,

This slideshow that I will be presenting ,,today at You Tube is dedicated to Mr PC Littles Memory


The Residency, also called as the British Residency and Residency Complex, is a group of several building in a common precinct in the city of Lucknow, India. The Residency now exists in ruins and is located in the heart of the city, in vicinity of other monuments like Shaheed Smarak, Tehri Kothi and High Court Building. It was constructed during the rule of Nawab Saadat Ali Khan II,who was the fifth Nawab of the province of Awadh (British Spelling Oudh). The construction took place between 1780 to 1800 AD and served as the residence for the British Resident General who was a representative in the court of the Nawab. In 1857 the place witnessed a prolonged battle which is also known as Siege of Lucknow; this began on 1 July and continued until 17 November.

The Residency has been maintained as it was at the time of the final relief, and the shattered walls are still scarred by cannon shot. Even since Indian Independence, little has changed. The ruined building is surrounded by lawns and flowerbeds and is a tourist attraction nowadays. The cemetery at the nearby ruined church has the graves of 2000 men, women and children, including that of Sir Henry Lawrence who died during the siege. There is a weathered epitaph near the grave of Sir Henry that reads "Here lies the son of Empire who tried to do his duty" while another nearby grave reads "Do not weep my children, for I am not dead, but am sleeping here." A light and sound show to show display the history of the Residency is also played each evening.

Lucknow Street Photography 4 Makbara Chup Tazia House 2014

Lucknow Street Photography 3 Monuments 2014

Bada Imambada Lucknow

My tryst with Bada Imambada was a very strange one ,,and people caretakers at Bada Imambada mostly Shias who knew me because I documented Moharam in Lucknow thought I was totally crazy ,, I had got obsessed with the royal bats at the Bauli and spent hours shooting them.. the stink was unbearable of their droppings but they seemed to like me ,, and ..I shot the Bara Imambara and the Ag Ka Matam here on 6 th of Moharam.


Bara Imambara (Urdu: بڑا امامباڑا‎, Hindi: बड़ा इमामबाड़ा) is an imambara complex in Lucknow, India, built by Asaf-ud-Daula, Nawab of Awadh, in 1784. It is also called the Asafi Imambara.

Bara means big, and an imambara is a shrine built by Shia Muslims for the purpose of Azadari. The Bara Imambara is among the grandest buildings of Lucknow.

Building composition[edit]

The Asfi mosque, located near the Imambara
The complex also includes the large Asfi mosque, the bhul-bhulaiya (the labyrinth), and bowli, a step well with running water. Two imposing gateways lead to the main hall.

Relief measure[edit]
Construction of Bara Imambara was started in 1785, a year of a devastating famine, and one of Asaf-ud-Daula's objectives in embarking on this grandiose project was to provide employment for people in the region for almost a decade while the famine lasted. It is said that ordinary people used to work in the day building up the edifice, while noblemen and other elite worked at night to break down anything that was raised that day. It was a project that preceded a Keynesian like intervention for employment generation. Construction of the Imambara was completed in 1791. Estimated cost of building the Imambara ranges between half a million rupees to a million rupees. Even after completion, the Nawab used to spend between four and five hundred thousand rupees on its decoration annually.[1]

Architecture[edit]

The simple grave of Asaf ud-Daula under a canopy inside the Bara Imambara; a watercolor by Seeta Ram, c. 1814–15

Rumi Darwaza, gateway to Husainabad Imambara in Lucknow in India, around 1860
The architecture of the complex reflects the maturation of ornamented Mughal design, namely the Badshahi Mosque - it is one of the last major projects not incorporating any European elements or the use of iron. The main imambara consists of a large vaulted central chamber containing the tomb of Asaf-ud-Daula. At 50 by 16 meters and over 15 meters tall, it has no beams supporting the ceiling and is one of the largest such arched constructions in the world. There are eight surrounding chambers built to different roof heights, permitting the space above these to be reconstructed as a three-dimensional labyrinth with passages interconnecting with each other through 489 identical doorways. This part of the building, and often the whole complex, may be referred to as the Bhulbhulaya. Known as a popular attraction, it is possibly the only existing maze in India and came about unintentionally to support the weight of the building which is constructed on marshy land. Asaf-ud-Daula also erected the 18 meter (59 foot) high Rumi Darwaza, just outside. This portal, embellished with lavish decorations, was the Imambara's west facing entrance.[2]

The design of the Imambara was obtained through a competitive process. The winner was a Delhi architect Kifayatullah,[1] who also lies buried in the main hall of the Imambara. It is another unique aspect of the building that the sponsor and the architect lie buried beside each other.The roof of Imambara is made up from the rice husk which make this Imambara a unique building

Legend[edit]
There is also a blocked (tunnel) passageway which, according to legends, leads through a mile-long underground passage to a location near the Gomti river. Other passages are rumoured to lead to Faizabad (the former seat of power of the Nawabs), Allahabad and even to Delhi. They exist but have been sealed after a period of long disuse as well as fears over the disappearance of people who had reportedly gone missing, while exploring.

Lucknow Street Photography 2 BW 2014

Lucknow Street Photography ,,,BW 2014

Lucknow Street Photography ,,,BW 2014

Burmese Chicken-Coconut Soup (Ohn No Kyawswe)

I was invited for lunch at Pali ,, a friend I was meeting for the first time after being connected to him on Flickr for several years ,, he is Pune based and was at his sisters place ,

The lunch was Burmese fare as my hosts sister in law is from Burma and has taught the cook of this house all Burmes dishes ..

The soup filled me up but my host insisted I have another bowl served meticulously by their cook Najma ,,

She added the right ingredients , the right amount of Coconut gravy,.. it was delicious to say the least .

We chatted a lot and after after spending two hours I returned home via the Bandra Bazar.

Recipe from net

1/2 onion, chopped 1 (1 inch) piece fresh ginger root, peeled and chopped 2 cloves garlic, chopped 1/4 cup water 1 (16 ounce) package rice noodles 1 quart lukewarm water, or as needed to cover 1 pound boneless, skinless chicken thighs, cut into 1/2 inch cubes salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste 3 cups chicken broth, divided 2 tablespoons chickpea flour 2 tablespoons vegetable oil 1 1/2 onions, halved and thinly sliced 1/2 teaspoon ground turmeric 2 teaspoons paprika 1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper 1 cup coconut milk For Garnish: 1 lemon, cut into wedges 4 green onions, sliced on the bias, green and white parts 2 hard-cooked eggs, sliced 1 cup chopped fresh cilantro 1 dash fish sauce, or to taste (optional) 1 cup crispy fried rice noodles (optional) 1 pinch curry powder, or to taste (optional) Add all ingredients to list

Place 1/2 chopped onion, ginger, garlic, and 1/4 cup water into a blender and puree until smooth. Soak rice noodles in a bowl of lukewarm water for about 30 minutes.
Season chicken thigh meat lightly with salt and black pepper in a bowl and set aside. In a separate small bowl, whisk 1 cup of chicken broth into the chickpea flour. Reserve remaining 2 cups chicken broth for a later step.
Heat vegetable oil in a skillet over medium-high heat. Stir in chicken pieces and cook, stirring frequently, until lightly browned. Remove the chicken pieces with a slotted spoon and set aside. Reduce heat to medium and add 1 1/2 sliced onions to the pan. Cook and stir until onion has softened and turned translucent, about 5 minutes. Reduce heat to medium-low and continue cooking and stirring until the onion is very tender and dark brown, 15 to 20 minutes more. Stir in the turmeric, paprika, and cayenne pepper.
In a medium stockpot, combine cooked chicken and any juices that have accumulated, browned onions, onion and ginger puree, and remaining 2 cups of chicken broth. Carefully add chickpea flour and broth mixture, stirring quickly so that the flour doesn't clump.
Bring the pot to a boil; reduce the heat to low and simmer, uncovered, for 15 minutes.
Stir in the coconut milk and cook just until heated through. Divide the soaked rice noodles among 5 large soup bowls. Ladle the soup over the rice noodles in the bowls and garnish each bowl with lemon wedges, green onions, hard-cooked eggs, cilantro, fish sauce, fried noodles, and curry powder.

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Painted Walls of Bandra Nagrana Lane

Thanks to the various wall artists some very famous celebrity in their own rights some faceless and some nameless have etched their inner angst emotions on the eponymous soul of Bandra .

And you need not be an artist to understand the introspective metaphor of their work..be it Anarkali Dada Phalke Rajesh Khanna Dev Anand all bought to life by a great connoisseur of Wall Art Ranjit Dahiya and I am not tagging him as this wall is not done by him ...but inspired by him ..he has inspired college kids to paint the walls at Bandra Hill Road ..

The walls that were once silent mute now talk voraciously and colloquially too ..Art is like Beauty in the eyes of the Beholder .

I am not an artist I paint with light I paint the silhouette of sordid silence but I have walked from Dadar till Mahim Mori road shooting the walls ..that are now a backdrop for the new migrants ..and what a contrast ..a painting incongruously holding the poor in its magical grasp .

I made my grandchildren both work with water colors ..to shoot Maya the graffiti artist from Switzerland who did the huge wall at Friends Society building.

A lot of people I spoke to don't like her work ..we Indians need vibrant bold colors bold themes I think but Marziya and Nerjis shot Maya at work holding to dear life on a power crane .

Bandra has been aptly poetized by Art on the wall that soothes the monotony of the human soul.

One day people will come to see Wall art ..and Bandra will be the first port of call ..and all this thanks to those great masters and pioneers of Bollywood Art Project .

So if you let your mind force it on a image on a wall you let open a dam of words ..surging across adding hope to a denuded script of Life .

Unlearning Photography Shooting Garbage As Fine Art

posted first at Facebook

Tell Me Honestly The Day Our Esteemed Prime Minister Modiji comes to Visit Advocate Ashish Shelar who lives a two blocks away from this garbage dump like me .. wont this garbage not disappear .
All the Kings Horses All The Kings Bhakts will be cheerfully removing it after all the Civic seat presently held by Congress has to be snatched to make a BJP hat trick at the hustings .
I know this is a Municipal market garbage dump but can it not be covered from mortal eyes ,, the stink here in the morning when children go to school is unbearable ,
And those holy saints who clean Carter Road Bandra Staion will never come to this place with sacrosanct garbage ,, Guess Why..
Because this is real garbage all the brooms of the Am Admi Party wont clear it .
Each morning the Municipal Conservancy staff tll me they clear a ton and half ,, and in a few minutes it gets filled up again
I feel sorry for them they have no safety shoes , no masks and they used plastic bags as gloves .
The Congress Corporator is merely a rubber stamp he has never come here at all.. and much of th blame for this goes to the the Ex corporators of this area and the Congress party.
At our Bandra Bazar Road market the hawkers the shopkeepers grumble nobody comes here ,, the local papers lick politician asses they will never highlight this never ,,
So I began shooting this as fine art I taught my grandchildren photography shooting this garbage dump.. and I told them earnestly if you cam shoot this you cam shoot anything in the world ..
Many foreign photographers are intrigued by our inhouse garbage a lot of them from France Amsterdam Australia Italy America UK have come and shot this dogpile ,,and thanked me profusely ,,this was the only genre missing in their pictorial repertoire .
Now believe the only photographers that will die before they shoot this are the grandmasters of defunct decadent camera clubs .. they are still limping on 3 legs shooting the old fucked masters ..the same fucked light the same fucked situations ,, and cameraclubs killed photography ,, much before vision could be born.
I made sure my grandchildren would never enter the portals of a camera club and be tarnished forever ,, I too am a product of the camera club.. but I flew over the fucked cuckoos nest ,,
I hardly call myself a blogger or a photographer ,,
I am a storyteller all I need is an image to tell my story..
My stories are all online ..I first posted them on Flickr but now that I have all of you as my good friends I first narrate it here at Facebook than copy paste to Flickr ,, pimping it back on Twitter till it rebounds on Facebook again..

Lucknow Street Photography 2 Black And White 2015

Lucknow in Black and White Street Photography 2015

Documenting Lucknow Street Photography As A Video On You Tube

Every time I came to Lucknow during Moharam.. Ashura Chehlum or Athvi.. I shot Old Lucknow ..streets bylanes and specially the cobbled lanes where my Mother spent her short childhood days ,,at Pata Nala ,, near Kankar Kua ,, and her father Daroga Nabban Sab poet was a descendant of th eminent poet Mir Anis ,,

But after his death the children of the first wife of my grandfather migrated to Pakistan.. my grandmother Nazmi Bgum refused to leave Lucknow and India ,

She lived in penury and got my mother married to my dad at the age of 14,..my dad was a Lucknow born settled in Mumbai and had witnessed the ship bomb blast ,, at the docks when he worked at old Fort with a English boss from the tailoring fraternity .

My fathers family were hardcore Sunnis from Subatiya Bagh .vinegar merchants .. his father Bashir Hussain married a Shia lady Khurshed baji and accepted Shiasm surrendering his rights wealth everything to his relatives as he was the only male heir ,, so my dad too became a Shia ..and married my mom a Syed .

So I try to shoot those old lanes of Vazir Ganj where my paternal grandmother lived with her friend Chanda Baji..

I shot all the bylanes ,,and would let my imagination soar ,, my mothers friends in the adjoining lanes near Kankar Kua Bholi Juhi and others,, all dead I think..

My mother was very close to Nawab Durani ,,,he was related to her through his mother who was close relative of Daroga Nabban Sab,,

Sadly the old stories my mother told us when we were growing in Mumbai have all disappeared ,,

My mother started her tryst with my dad living in the slums of Kurla close to a Hindu crematorium.. I was born in Lucknow came to Mumbai as a year old .

Fro Kurla my dad bought her to Wodehouse road where we stayed in the palatial servants quarters of Late Nawab Kashmiris family ,, after living at Wodehouse road my dad got temporary accommodations at Neelam Breach Candy and finally settled with a huge brood at 3 Mohini Mansions ,,Strand Cinema Colaba .

Both my parents opted for Mumbai and are buried side by side at Rehmatabad Shia cemetery...

So when I come to Lucknow I try to wander to the birth place of my parents ,, try to capture it for posterity ,,

My in laws the Qazilbash are from Lucknow ,, the only house where my mother lived in Lucknow was sold off by my uncle ,, so all the memories have vanished so to speak.

And this is the introduction of my new video that is being uploaded at You Tube in BW ,,

British Residency Lucknow 2015

Tennis In The Rains Under Coach Surendra Pawar

My dynamic but humble coach Mr Surendra Pawar ..has kept me fit .
Gave Me a Reason to live when I was 
Down in the pits my life was totally 
Bullshit ..he presented me on my 
Birthday a tennis kit ..
Made me a 65 year old tennis player
Every bit ...a ball I can hit ..


After almost a month I go back to play tennis under my Coach Surendra Pawar ..on my injured leg .
Over 15 days in Khamakhya and 22 days in bed was driving me crazy so I wore a kid and slipper on my injured leg walk to the courts at Bandra Reclamation.
I played for 45 minutes and am feeling refreshed and better but the swelling on my toe is taking time .
I thank my coach and his instructors .
Rohan Pawar Darshan Bendal Mangesh Dhotre and Praful Tambe and Sanket Kamble and Maneesh for their support and patience .
Pictures shot by Rohan and Sanke