Documenting Hope And Hindutva On The Banks of Banganga Pitru Paksha 2017

I have been shooting Pitru Paksha at Banganga Walkeshwar for many years the Hindu Brahmins North Indians paying homage to their departed ancestors here .

This morning I was in two minds about shooting this iconic Hindu festival a day before Navratri..it has rained very heavily and I have no contacts with anyone at Banganga I had a contact of Praesh Gurav who lives near the Banganga tank but I lost his number

However I dressed up in my Sadhu Fakir attire barefeet I set out by train to Grant Road a share cab to Banganga,

First I shot the religious tonsure to add to my set Barbers of India ..I am doing a documentary on street barbers ..it was raining so it was tough handling the camera and the umbrella.

After that I entered the Banganga and was saddened by the absence of a Sadhu who I shot since I began documenting Pitru Paksha his son told me h had expired .

I shot the rituals on the tank almost everyone knows me but hardly any of the Pandits there know that I am a Muslim..so this Pitru Paksha through the eyes of a Muslim fakir or Malang .

I shot for about 2 hours the light was beautiful but I know when to stop.. I shot 3 videos and than exited the tank..I am accident prone I slipped hurt my leg again ..walked up the steps shot the beggars again the barbers and finally took a share a cab to Grant road a train back to Bandra ...

Photography is not just hanging a camera around your neck and going out to shoot pictures it is much more it is a solemn monent when you and the camera become one through the Third Eye of Shiva.

This is the feeling that enters my soul when I am shooting the Kumbhs Khamakhya or other Hindu feast..

Photography while shooting Shiasm or Sufism it is the power of Imam Ali..

Ali imam-e-manasto manam ghulaam-e-Ali , Hazaar jaan-e-giraami fidaa-e-naam-e-Ali.

Haidariam qalandaram mastam, banda-e-Murtaza Ali hastam.

Peshwa-e-tamaam rindaaram , Kay sag-e-koo-e-sher-e-yezdaanam.

Kabhi deewar hilti hai kabhi dar kaamp jaata hai, Ali ka naam sun kar ab bhi Khaibar kaamp jaata hai.

Shaah-e-mardaan Ali, Ali Ali Ali, Ali Maula Ali.

Ps These are my cell photos my Camera photos at Flickr

A Tired Mother Begs On The Street

no hope
no shoes
simply
barefeet
a bottle
of water
nothing to
eat ..
her husband
has gone to
scrounge for
food in some
garbage bin
on some other
street ..
a cosmic fate
of migrants
that come to
mumbai to
eke a living
dreams in their
eyes a helpless
god they entreat
a few coins thrown
at their scarred feet
by the rich elite
little baby out of
a claustrophobic
mothers cramped
womb ..would love
to retreat from this
ungodly world devoid
of compassion .
poor maltreat
memories of unliving
bitter and sweet
each of them hopelessly
wonder about their future
a file time will swiftly delete
a newspaper a torn tattered rag
as their winding sheet ..