Once Upon Time With Gambhir Singh At Bandra

Sometimes I ask myself instead of living the life of a vagrant a street drunk why did Gambhir Singh not go back to Khumbong .
He was not running away from the law so why did he torture his mind his body his soul living on the mean streets of Mumbai.

He was an enigma what were the dark secrets that held him captive chained rigorously to a bottle of country hooch.

I knew Gambhir Singh but I never asked him those questions I did not probe his self guilt ,,,I gave him money in good faith I gave him money for food without once questioning him if he would use this money for booze .

I was not a devils advocate ..having been an alcoholic for a long part of my life I understood Gambhir Singh better I knew he carried a heavy cross ..I had once carried it too..

There were times I thought I would take him to my house but he used to be heavily sozzled so our friendship remained on the streets of Bandra .

His mornings began walking below my house to the Bandra Bazar and he regaled people wit old songs he would ask only Rs 1 ..he was never greedy for money and all his uprightness came from his culture his humility ,, he never ever forgot even in his drunken state that he was a Manipuri ..Manipur kept his soul intact it did not allow him to perish and Gods shadow loomed over his head ..
When I think back in retrospection Gambhir Singh left his mark on the people he met people who gave him food money ,, they remember him the hawkers of Bandra Bazar the shopkeepers and they are happy that he changed his life it changed not through my viral video but through his Karma .

Through the return of this prodigal son forgiven reunited he displayed the love of the people of Manipur the way they reacted spreading a red carpet on his arrival at Imphal airport ,, their love made him a celebrity and his family took backstage holding back their tears he came back into their lives like the drops of fresh rain on their parched souls .

I could not change my life how could I change Gambhir Singhs life..I dont have a magic wand but all in all photography when used as a motivation with a holistic purpose can change peoples life ,,,

CNN BBC Der Spiegel wanted me to tell them about this phenomenon this Destinys child called Gambhir Singh of Khumbong ,,

He put Manipur on the map he Made Manipur a catchword for Love a new direction towards Hope and Humanity ..

And these are old images shot in Bandra he was comfortable drinking he did not hide the fact he drank.. he did not rob steal he begged for a living.

And whatever one can say about Mumbai ..Mumbai nurtured him kept him alive Mumbai was Gambhir Singhs safe haven it gave him the strength to survive and it was this magic of Mumbai that made Gambhir Singh an overnight celebrity and Manipurs new Rockstar .

Gambhir Singh calls me and thanks me and I thank him too I reunited Gambhir Singh with his family after 40 years and Gambhir Singh reunited me with God the Most Merciful Benevolent .

Will I meet Gambhir Singh in Khumbong one day perhaps I keep his memory alive by wearing the leirum Manipuri traditional scarf presented to me me by Officers Priyobartan Singh and Officer Amitabh Singh of Patsoi Police station on behalf of the Government and the beautiful loving people of Manipur.

GambhirStory

The Youtubers Dilemma

My uploading at YouTube has been suspended for two weeks second time my Naga Sadhu video shot in 2016 at Khamakhya was flagged and a Hijra slideshow .

So I decided to make all my Naga Sadhu Kumbh mela videos all the Kumbhs I have shot as PRIVATE .
I had age restricted them too but I do not want to show them anymore ,,

I have no other option but to upload my videos at YouTube .

I age restricted all my Shia Moharam kama matam sword matam videos.

Just to be on the safe side I age restricted all my Qadri Rafaee ratib pictures of zarb..

So now I will follow YouTube terms rules conditions shoot videos avoiding whatever hurts them below the belt.

All my videos at YouTube are marked as PhotoJournalism I have never used my videos to hurt any religion caste or community ,..I have shot over 4000 videos with 15.75 million views .

I only shoot India diverse faith culture rituals street life .

The only plus point of my life as a videographer that one video among 4000 YouTube videos saved a mans life gave him another chance this was a fluke video I had no agenda when I shot this video..of Manipuri native Gambhir Singh .

So even if YouTube deletes my channel as I have two penalty strikes I will have absolutely no regrets ,,,I will not shoot prank videos I will not shoot what others shoot ,, I will continue shooting from my heart my people my surroundings and my country ,,,

First and Last

Aziz Khan Shamsu Khan His Sons Live In America He Begs Across Juma Masjid Bandra SV Road

posted at FB

His sons are in America living out their own life while the good old father metamorphosed as a street beggar lovingly yearns for them.

Empty hollow promises of the Mumbai cops they did nothing for him never even sent him an ambulance to take him for a check up at the Bhabha Municipal Hospital.
Mumbai all in all is heartless city without love or compassion for the needy poor and hopeless.

Compared to Mumbai government and it's people the Manipuri government and people are million light years ahead of the Mumbaikar.


video

My First Live Video at FB My Message To The Loving People of Manipur

This is my first live video at FB I wanted to talk share my feelings with the people of Manipur that gave me love respect for helping Gambhir Singh of Khumbong Imphal Manipur ,,,

video

The Beggar Poet

shoots stories
disseminates
on the wide 
screen of
the internet
he shoots
pictures
of people
you will
never forget
a gambhir singh
of khumbong
village Manipurs
Best Story of
Homecoming
Ghar Wapsi .
At Bandra
Jmate Jamooriya
jab we met ..
I am not Nepali
I am Manipuri
I am an Indian
my eyes got wet
for the love that
his people gave
me I shall always
be in their debt
Map Karo Malik
memorable words
that reverberate
nostalgically in
my ears bringing
tears of love
seeking an outlet

If i had not helped Gambhir Singh at Bandra
As a beggar poet street storyteller it would have
my greatest regret ..thank you Parsoi Police Station
Officer Amitabh Singh Officer Priyobartan Singh
You two mission accomplished are Manipur Police s
greatest asset ....love is chant of the hearts minaret

My Name Is Arjun My Mother is a Leper

posted at Facebook

I first met Arjun and his mother Sharda on a wheel barrow being driven by a leper and I was returning from my the tennis court at Bandra Bazar Road December 16 2015 ,,

I dont know why Arjun seemed to be drawn by me and these were new beggars in my area I walked a few steps ahead and came back to them I gave them money and asked them from where they had come ,, they were from Karnataka mother and son and the man pushing their cart she said was her brother he looked street smart and there was something about him that mystically told me he was not her brother but was using them for his own misadventures .

But she Sharda the leper mother was not the pioneer of my leper story my biggest story was of Maria the beggar lady which I will talk abou in my next post .

As time passed I saw Arjun and his mother Sharda begging at the next lane of the bazar and in real bad shape I gave her a cotton saree and some clothes for Arjun,,
She told me that her brother had abandoned them and so with a friend called Nur a friend on Facebook I began helping her ,,

Arjun became my friend buddy he would light up each time I saw him I gave him biscuits sweets cake .

Arjuns story is scattered on Flickr on my street photography photo album..so it is not that I only shoot Muslim beggars .

Arjun and his mother Sharda also begged outside St Peter Church Bandra .

Months passed and quite recently I was shocked to see Arjuns mother Sharda begging alone I inquired about Arjun she told me that she had given Arjun to an ashram in Mangalore ,

But she said she would visit him.. and so very week I gave some ration to Arjuns mother till on day she disappeared forever ,,

Cut into my meeting with Maria my ongoing leper story Maria too had disappeared for many years her daughter Mary used to give me her news Mary begs at Bandra Bazar Road and both mother and daughter had converted to Christianity from Hinduism.. but their bad days did not go the Church could not perform the miracles of Jesus Christ in their lives .

Mary began wearing a head scarf outside a Sunni Jamatkhana and was hoping to become a Muslim soon but this is not the crux of my story but it has a connection with Arjuns mother ,,

The leper man Kadappa who used to draw Arjuns mother Shardas cart and had abandoned her was now taking Maria all over Bandra in a cart that has cost Rs 5000 .

I asked Kadappa what had happened to Arjuns mother Sharda ..Maria told me that a man had fallen in love with Sharda he had got her a job and was getting her treated for leprosy ..but a part of me did no believe it as Sharda was an upright women.

As I write this I shot videos of Maria a month back and now both Kadappa and Maria have disappeared too,

The will resurface and here is the catch you can run away from begging but begging won't run away from you ,

So when I am abused by people for shooting beggars and showing our country in bad light ,,I keep silent I dont hit back with the case of Asifa or Unnao or the Surat case .

I am human I shoot humanity ,,I did not give Gambhir Singh from Kumbong village a second chance I was an alcoholic for the large part of my life God pulled me out I was Prometheus bound to a devil in the booze bottle I broke the shackles ,.

It is the prayers of Gambhir Singhs family that touched God and using me as an instrument of his divine Mercy he saved Gambhir and bought cheer on the faces of all Manipuris.

He performed a miracle it took 40 years and put Manipur on a world map as a harbinger of hope love and peace.

This was the best story in such painful hard times of Kathua Unnao and Surat.

It gave hope Gambhir Singh has become a global hero every political party would want to endorse him as their winning candidate

I am not a mystic but mark my words.

I gave up drinking 20 years back I dont have the urge to drink..

But Gambhir Singh and the people of Manipur changed me with their love for an old man living in Bandra and I am shocked as I am not a Saint what I did even you would have done if you were in my place ,,

As a photographer who shoots people I put my camera to good use I dont have the money to go shoot Kashmir or nature trails I save every pnny to buy an air ticket to Khamakhya yes I am a Muslim but also a disciple of Goddess Khamakhya she calls me and I go to shoot the Ambubachi fair the Naga Sadhus Hijra Shaman and Aghoris ... I might take Diksha as an Aghori I dont know ,,,without changing my basic inner ethos .
I will do it to shoot the Aghoris I am documenting for last two years .

First year at Khamkhaya I did not enter her Shrine being a diabetic I cannot stand in the line for 36 hours ,,
But in 2017 she connected me to Niku Sarma scion of a Panda family they gave me a room to stay food and took care of me without taking a single dime from me through Niku and his brother Abhijeet she called me into the Shrine .the moment I entered in I went into a trance and fainted ..Nikus friend bodily lifted me out of the Shrine ,,, now you can interpret this they way you want for me Khamakhya is not my religion but my cultural inheritance and so I hardly add Muslims to my timeline as they would never understand this feature of my life ,,,I dont want to shock them as most Muslims dont come to terms with my head cutting during Moharam or my whirling emotions as a Sufi Malang.
Perhaps I dont know this part of my Sufism might hurt the sentiments of conservative Shias I am after all a Shia born Muslim .

But it is the love of Manipur people I opened the floodgates of my Facebook personal space ,,
If you feel shocked by my views if it antagonizes you feel free to leave ..once the Gambhir story dies down you will not find any meaning in your attachment to me.

Come 2019 I will leave to live among my Naga Sadhu friends on the banks of the Ganges Ardh Kumbh Allahabad .

Come Moharam I will be bleeding on the streets of Hyderabad to the chant of Ya Hussain Ya Hussain.

I am Nothing ..you your love people of Imphal Manipur added something to my Nothingness ..with your holitic love I was blessed ...a Sufi man in a Lamas dress .

Your task is not to seek for love, but merely to seek and find all the barriers within yourself that you have built against it. Rumi

God Found Gambhir Singh And The Manipuris Found Me Coincidentally

posted at FB

I have been approached by BBC CNN all Indian media friends well-wishers from all over the world but not a single media person from Manipur called me to find our my end of the story.. Gambhir Singh story is the story of Bandra Bazar Road.
Gambhir Singh s story is the story of Mumbai the commercial hub of India.
Mumbai kept Gambhir Singh alive.. I wish much before I met Gambhir Singh some NGO could have found him saved him from falling into the depths of depravity.
I regret I came into the picture to late.

I wish my video could have been found much earlier but they saw it a week back.

I shot the video last October.

And fame is a bad attribute it has made me famous for the wrong reasons.

This morning I got a call from a international photo agency they wanted the viral video of my tryst with Gambhir Singh I said yes than they said I had to agree and give consent on a message they would send me.

I got the message it was for distributing my video of Gambhir Singh to their clients.
I refused I told them to give me money and I would give the entire amount to Gambhir Singhs poor family.
They did not expect this line they thanked me and ended the dialogue.

I must mention I am not a rich man but when Manipuri police led by Officer Amitabh Singh came to felicitate me at my house in Bandra I handed him an envelope with money for Gambhir Singh..
He told me to hand it over to him at the hotel where he was staying with the police.
I did this it was not charity but my sincere love for a man who has now become the other side of the coin my of life. like Ying and Yang.

As I watch the visuals of his homecoming his songs his pain is all gone I am proud of the Manipuri public and I say once for the last time it was not my video it was not my video it was not my video it was the love of the Manipuri for another Manipuri that found him.

Manipur humanity Manipur culture Manipur humility should be applauded not me..

I was just another brick in the wall.

Thank you all my new Manipuri friends Atom Bimol. Samrendra Singh and Amitabh Singh all of you that have added me here at Facebook..

Without love nothing exists
In the story of Man once in
His life comes a twist..
He changes the world
Teaches us how to connect
Co exist give generously open
Your fist like this..
Peace hope harmony bliss

Live like a Man die like a Saint
my own personal wish.


GambhirStory

I Died The Day I Was Born..

posted at Facebook

I too wanted to Raise my Hands to God 
But Alas Both my hands were gone ..
No I will never play gully cricket kabaddi 
all my hopes had gone ..
I was the fading light of a receding dawn 
I was a rose I was a thorn..
On the soul of Humanity 
I was merely a pawn..

I cursed this photographer for shooting me 
Stealing my fragile soul...on the sol of his 
street photography for my dreams I mourn.

I am a Muslim so one good thing I wont be reborn

I killed the Man within him I shamed his camera 
With just one look piercing the poetry of his life 

He stepped back withdrawn ..

He will never forget me I will never forget him..
As life a piece of paper floating in murky waters 
as it goes on
Happy Morning From Bandra Lets Bygones Br Bygone .

I move away from the world of Gambhir Singh I am happy for him Love in the hearts of his brother sisters in Manipur found him..He deserved another chance and God used me as medium of his divine intervention .

Ever since I came back to Facebook I have a love and intense hate with this platform..it is recently that I made my posts public otherwise all my posts were marked friends I did it as to reach out to help a man find his way home ,, I did it for Gambhir Singh of Kumbong Village Imphal Manipur ,

I dont add friends on Facebook when I started off I had 2500 plus friends but there were many that reported my head bleeding photos of my kama matam I am a Shia Muslim so I pruned my friends list and was happy with 1500 friends .

Than Gambhir Singh happened I was shocked by the wave after wave of friend requests from Manipur and of Manipuris from other parts of India and the world I surrendered my soul opened the doors of my private space on Facebook... let everyone in I deleted just two requests from Manipur one of a person whose spirituality was totally against my own Shiasm Sufism and another that was using Asifa as a tool to hurt all HIndus of India .

I am not into politics I have friends cutting across party lines ,,my best friends are In BJP Shivsena MNS Swabhiman ..yes I have very few friends in the Congress and here I will be damned if I keep my shut I voted for a Congress Free Bandra as the laid back leaders did nothing for the poor or the common man in their white Armani attire Gucci shoes they came to hoist our national flag disappeared 

God made sure they disappeared to completely from Bandra ,,,though I have reservations against the silence of the ruling party I have decided to use NOTA in the next elections sadly in this political graveyard full of zombies I see no alternative to individually take on Modiji.

I voted for Advocate Ashish Shelar President of BJP ge is a good man and lives in our building,,,if I need help when I am helping people anywhere in India he takes my call does the needful,,he is a Hindu I am a Muslim but he has always been there for me ,, 

I dont talk politics this post is for those who added me recently I am not a product of the Madrsa I will never wear a skull cap ..I am not the typical Miya I am educated my schooling was Christian based ..Covent education..

I believe in Interfaith my core religiosity is Humanity made in India .

I simply shoot India .. India is my Perfumed garden.

If you feel differently about my views please unfriend block me .

I dont add Pakistani Muslims even if they are Sufis or Shias because my Islam is traditional Indian in its views and my ancestry I do not want to hurt their sentiments as perhaps I am a Hindu too through my cultural inheritance .

My Guru was a human loving Muslim loving Naga Sadhu had the most beautiful relationship with him perhaps I was the only Muslim in his fold he gave me an opportunity to smoothen my rough edges .

I have a Jesuit priest as my spiritual mentor ,,,I have an Aghori Guru he will be waiting for me at the crematorium at Khamakya .

This is me ,,with malice to none I am a beggar poet ,,

And some pictures like this boy I shot at Ajmer 8 years back make me talkative ,, I never saw him again I searched for him..but I wish those rich pompous Muslims that buy huge expensive Goats Camels Dumba could have bought him prosthetics .

I celebrate Bakra Eid but since 10 years I donate our Goat blood mony to pay the fees of children in the slums .

How good or bad Muslim I am ...God is surely aware of that I am ready rto be caned burnt in Hell for my shortcomings ..

I am changing evolving falling getting up and one reason why I felt for Gambhir Singh I was a hardcore alcoholic I robbed destroyed my children's childhood I drank like a fish in a half empty aquarium..I lost love but my Lucknow based hardcore Shia wife held to me though I was a broken brick of the edifice that was my home .

I changed I stopped drinking on the day of Gauri Visarjan years back so a Hindu goddess was also part of my reformation I have neer touched a drop of booze since 20 years or more .

Lsst I about 25 years back I began documenting Sufism tried to spread its sweetness through my pictorial narrative ,

I became a Malang I was appointed as Khalifa of the oldest Sufi order Madarriya Silsila and my Mentor is Syed Masoom Ali Baba Asqan Mafari.

I will be given the Khilaftnama of Qadri Rafaee Silsila by another mentor Nasir Bhai Rafaee.

Years back in Ladakh I helped some Tibetan refugees His Holiness Dalai Lama Sab gifted me his Autobiograpy those days in Ladakh I wore the Lama dress I still wear it today my latest one was presented by Mr Danny Denzongpas family on my birthday .

It is people who made me what I am..I have many flaws I still have sharp edges wild temper but I am trying to control it ..

I will oneday visit Manipur to bless my friend soulmate Gambhir Singh of Kumbomg Village Imphal.

Now in some time I go to play tennis and meet a horse that waits for me ..I dont know if its the carrot or me that he likes but does not matter 

I would die before I sent anyone of you a Fucked Whats Up Good Morning Post ,, my good mornings are pictures words all sacred I only shoot Original Content ,,
God gave me agift I use it to save pople and save myself from my ego the most demonic part of a mans being .

Nobody destroys Man more than his Ego his sanctimonious self esteem..

See You All later 

Old Monk

Find Gambhir ,,Music to the Ears

posted at FB

Social media the power of a single video
bridged a gap of 40 years from the cheeks
of his family washed away every drop of tear
it was not me but God who heard Gambhirs
family's prayers he drew them near ..
please dont sent me accolades I was just
an instrument it was one Manipuris love for
another Manipuri..to a love that God added
cheer ....instead of Mumbais fetid country hooch
he can now have Kubongs home made beer
essence of humanity help the poor be sincere
an ex army man of Manipur Rifles old memories
glorious career ..life gives him a second chance
back home a ghar wapsi.. from a void he appears

hugging him they tell him uncle we are here ..

dedicated to all Manipuris ,,,my humble tribute
miracles can happen any time of the year ,,


video 

Gambhir Singh Lost at Manipur Found In Bandra On My Tube Channel after 40 years

I began shooting Gambhir Singh more as a case study than anything else ..children tease him on the streets calling him Nepali and he would abuse them and shout out that he was a Manipuri an  Indian not a Nepali ,,
I got to know him as each morning he would come to Bandra Bazar where I stay he would visit the hooch joint there he would regal the people on the streets with old Hindi songs ,, I would buy him snacks or give him money he took a liking to me as I shot his pictures ..
He was never sober always incoherent he once told me he was in the Army he left the army when his father died he came to his hometown to till his farms than there was some misunderstanding with his brothers he left Manipur and was working in Mumbai ..something happened he said without giving me details that he began drinking gradually became a hardcore alcoholic,

This is his story and I am adding this narrration as I got messages from his relaives on Facebook Messenger that he was missing for last 40 years and they discovered him through my video,

I told them to file a missing persons complaint online with Bandra Police I am sure they will trace him out he is in bad company of drunkards ..
When I meet him he is sozzled and he misses me he says as I always have a good word form him.. as I too was addicted to booze in my early years and gave up the bottle since last 20 years .
So I understand Gambhir Singh Manipuris broken dreams loneliness and delusions ,,
And only a sensitive understanding family can cure a loved one of this evil called Alcohol.

I wish his family gets reunited with him..
He begs late evenings at Bandra Hill Road .

GambhirSingh