Sunday, July 17, 2016

Seva Mandals Lord GSB .. The Lord Of All Good Things




posted at Facebook


To my very dear cherished friends from the erstwhile GSB community a community well known for its social service and its contribution to human society beyond color caste or creed ,,
In some time I will be presenting you a small gift of my humility for the love you have shown me year after year at the GSB Lord Ganesha festival.
From Dr Pai the good doctor who introduced me to Lord GSB ..to his family to my dear departed friend Mr Dinesh Pai his thought even now brings tears to my eyes he loved me immensely and I am crying now ,, I only hope and pray this love between a Hindu and a Muslim could reach the hearts of people in Dadri and Muzzafarnagar life would be worth living ,,
As a Muslim I dont carry my religion as a badge on my chest ,, my religion of peace brotherhood tolerance lies deep inside and bequeathed to me by my Shia mother ,,,I am my mother ,, and that is why I shoot my cultural inheritance God gave me a camera eye ,, I use it for promoting Hindu Muslim amity in trying times ,, and Media will never mention this boundless love ,, they only show sparks.
I have spent 16 days in bed ,, but I used this time of restlessness to good work.. I went through my archives of my old images that I shoot as a story board at Flickr .. I compiled them as slide shows at my You Tube Channel.
So I bought out my old memories of the various Kumbhs my Sufi order Dam Madar Malangs .
And in sometime I will be posting the entire story board of my tryst with Lord GSB 2015 at You Tube ,,automatically linked to Facebook and Twitter .
Those early years I was not adept at video shooting I was a puritanical film photographer I shot only slides and BW than with the advent of the digital I became a blogger .. but since last year I shoot more videos I have no knowledge of editing but I am learning trial and error .
My You Tube channel thanks to all your love is inching towards 17 million views ,,do subscribe to it ,, it is nothing but the beauty and diversity of India and my love for all ethnicity beggars hijras and others.
And there is an overwhelming sadness too both my grandchildren Marziya and Nerjis with their mother will be relocating to Lucknow ,, this has hit me the hardest ,, but than I cant change the workings of Fate ,, I hope for the best and will see them during their annual holidays ,,
I am a Hindu I am a Muslim and I am a Christian should be read deeper than the metaphor ,, but I am you ,,I am lucky to have all of you as friends .
And I type with one finger of a damaged hand so I have only a few on my feed and it was because of this I pruned my friends list from 3000 to 1900 ,, so I dont add anymore friends unless they love photography and are like minded ,,
Dont add me because of my religion or lack of it ,,
My thoughts flow seamlessly fluidly at Facebook.. but I am not a blogger anymore I tell stories ,,metamorphosing the soul of my images , I could never write this holding auto correct in check all the time without a image ,, now I wish to tell stories with moving pictures it should move you as much as it moves me when I shot it ,, cosmically and poetically ,,
Jai Shree Omkhara

Pablo Bartholomew 60/60 Inauguration Sakshi Art Gallery Colaba

Documenting The Irresistible Charm And Mysticism Of The Hijras At Ajmer





I have been shooting the hijra ethnicity for many years now I shoot them for myself ,,and I have a great bond with most of them ,.but it remains ephemeral and transitional..
Once I return from Ajmer the moments are lost forever I never call them I have their numbers ..I only shoot ,,,demystify their captured souls like women genies in a thick glass bottle .
But this documentary shot upclose necessitated the faith trust of the hijras in me not only as a photographer but as a person too..
Sadly I locked up this documentation one of its kind at Flickr from public view ,,,
Now I am posting videos and images some of them as slide shows ..
The hijra pictures did not come easy I sometimes had to invoke the generosity of the Gurus but once I became a Malang it became much easier as most of them know Syed Masoom Ali Baba ,,the head of my order of the Dam Madar Malangs ,
I have shot boys pretty boys who got initiated as hijras ,,,I have also shot the initiation of a hijra at the defunct Hijra Gully no 1.
But all in all I prefer shooting the beggar hijra s , I meet them in all walks of life even here in Bandra .
What I really miss is the dance performing hijras who are invited at Muslim Nikahs ,,, wedding receptions in the slums ,,,but a Salafi mindset has stopped dancing and qawalis...
We hardly have Badhai and no hijra cam to my house when my grandkids were born...
I dont think anyone has shot the angst of the hijra as poetically as I have shot them..
It was never to create a coffee table book...it was only for awareness of their human rights to live as women and they already have the double edged sword of Article 377 hanging over their heads ,
I always moderated my vision when I was shooting them many wanted me to shoot them in thr raw as an art form I politely refused,,
I shot them in the redlight areas chatting with them on bed bug ridden mattresses and the creaky metal beds the foul smell of urine .. and the muskiness of despair ,,, thanks to a hijra friend and a commercial worker and her Guru,
I have not gone there since a very long time ,,
This is my genre as a people photographer and hijras in relevance with Dargahs , Yoni temples , possession exorcism and black magic and the relation of hijras with tantrics and Aghoris who treat them like goddesses felicitating them with gifts money at the cremation grounds ,,after midnight havan sessions .


hijras 

Facebook Update ,, My Fucked Cosmic Fate




posted at facebook

I dont poke people at all
I dont ever post shit on other
peoples wall I dont fuckin tag
people i find this a personal assault
I dont add people to groups lol
I respect the sanctity of your timeline
your privacy ,,i always read your messages
return your calls ,,,No I dont add any more friends
on Facebook.. less is more easy to handle
all in all.. I post original content I dont post porn.
I stay away from Barbie dolls ,, no I dont want to
be honey trapped ,,a languishing libido says it all.

Now call me by any name but I wont hold it against you at all
I am a Hindu a Muslim a Sunni A Shia A Christian A Parsi
A Dalit ,,a Buddhist .Om Mani Padme Hoon...but a hardcore
Indian..my profile says it all...

Says Rumi God gave you Wings why the Fuck do you want to Crawl .

Hijras At Ajmer Qawali And Sandal 2016

I am on Flickr Instagram You Tube