Monday, December 21, 2009

Crazy Bawa Makes Butter Tea

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Crazy Bawa at Ali Maulah Dargah

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This dargah is a token of tribute to Hazrat Ali..and is in a very congested Mumbai slums called Dharavi..I had come here once with late Handi Sai many years back..a liitle distance away from here is the famous chilla of Ghaus Pak much venerated by Sunni ladies.
The dhuni here is owned by Shakil Bhai I was told.

Coming here barefeet is a tough choice the tiny filthy lanes ,but it is a place of peace once you reach within.


Crazy Bawa is a nice guy , recently he used the sword on my belly at the Sandal of Fakhruddin Shah Baba as a body piercing act...he knows I can with stand pain.

Crazy Bawa makes the most exhilarating butter tea , you got to taste it to believe it, it is solemnly divine.. he speaks to me in bad American drawl, as he thinks I am a foreigner.

This is a hardcore area , you meet all kinds here good the bad and the ugly.. it comes with the territory and these are pictures shot on 9 Dec 2009..

Bawas come and bawas go, they are nomadic and hitch up with any rafaee order ..but you will meet them come what may at Ajmer Sharif at Char Yar..


Bawa world is intriguing, spell binding and makes good documentary provided you have the temperament to deal with bawas.

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Ali Maulah Dargah Dharavi Urus 2009

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Ali Maulah Dargah Dharavi Urus 2009

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This was a dargah at Dharavi where another group of the Chancawalli Rafaees sat under Amanat Baba..

I was invited to this place by Hassan Ganda..This Dargah is in a very congested area of Mumbai.

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Budhapa Ek Darauna Khab Hai

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hamari badkismati ka jawab hai
gardish mein behta hua sailaab hai


I miss my old shop with its red door , the red door taken away by the bhangar guy, , what remains only pictures and nothing else and the stink of dead fish and prawns yes Bandra Bazar Road is a curse on the Queen of the Suburbs .

Now the elections are over each one sits on a saddled horse but not a tear dop for Bandra Bazar Road that saved the sitting minister from imminent defeat, winning by 1600 votes is no achievement to write home about.

.I see this man on Bandra Hill Road and it saddens me , and do I really need a camera or a camera eye to shoot this..my picture backdrop has changed , but pain is common denominator as it touches us all in one way or another.

I was in a cab a few days back and shooting pictures of the beggar old lady of Mahim , the taxi driver asked me , what would I do with the pictures , I told him I post all this on the net, he said quite amused ..do people really have time to see all this..

Man is curious by nature , he loves challenging the maze of his mind and man is adventurous too.. and the photographer is the silhouette of man shadowing his moves and his actions provided he is not shooting insects ,mountains and flamingos in flight.

The best way of learning photography is shooting with the incandescent third eye of Shiva embedded in the camera body of a man..auto focus, in built memory card..hardly goes out of order..Marziya uses her childs vision as a camera..she sees what others who dont see.. actually they dont care to see it..

Teaching photography to a two year child who knows how to insert the memory card in the camera, or to place the camera battery in the charger , is learning from the child too...Hung on my waist as I shot the political rallies gave her a rare perspective..and I really miss her Marziya Shakir product of a God of all good things..



The title translated in English means old age is a nightmare for a man on the street

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Sunday, December 20, 2009

Hassan Ganda - Don Jaun Bawa

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Deedh Haidar Ki Ibaadat Hai Yeh Farmaan-E-Nabi
Hai Ali Rooh-E-Nabi Jism-E-Nabi Jaan-E-Nabi
Gul-E Tatheer Ali, Haq Ki Shamsheer Ali
Peeron Ke Pir Ali Ali

The guy with long locks is Hassan Ganda I baptized him Don Jaun Bawa when I posted his pictures at Buzznet six years back.


He was at the Dhuni but sat away from the Chancawalli Rafaees , and this was shot on 9 Dec I think, he was very happy to see me we have been old friends and he is one of the most artistic body piercer on the Urus circuit.

He is called Ganda as he usd to lift a 50 KG stone with his penis back home in Rajasthan close to Ajmer Sharif, he is now a head of dargah in the jungles close to the Gir forests , all his life he has lived with wild animals , and he is got a temperament of a Naga Sadhu as he has been living in their proximity.


While we were sitting having tea he asked me to come to the Dhuni at Ali Maulah Dargah at Dharavi, I accepted his offer and we rushed in a Murids car , not before Bawa gave the Murid some wild opium bit.

Hassan Ganda pierces both his eyeballs with two swords..and he is fast it is impossible to keep up his antics with the camera.

Unfortunately this year he was not in Fakhruddin Shah Babas Sandal procession..I missed him.

Hassan Ganda is not happy with the new murshad of the Chancawalli rafaees , the old Murshad Handi Sai was his guru and relative..his other chela Farukh Baba has been gifted a Pulsar bike so I was told he is moving about in the forest with it..Farukh Baba too was heavily into opium and hash..

As I dont smoke or do drugs I keep my mouth shut I shoot pictures , I try not to shoot the young kids pulling the chillum at the Dhuni as most of them come from good homes..

Most of the dons, business magnates prostitutes pimps hijras are the patron of the Bawas, depending on dua tawiz and exorcism too, removing the evil from a patrons relative or family.


I am absolutely comfortable with the Bawas I dress like them , I move barefeet , they know I am good with the sword I cut my head ..Hassan too is a Mauliee he calls himself Kalbe Ali meaning Dog Of Ali .

Tan Par Ali Ali Ho, Zabaan Par Ali Ali
Mar Jayoon To Kafan Pe Bhi Likhna Ali Ali

He is always reciting the Shia kalma though he is a Sunni adherent..actually Shia Sunni does not bother him at all..His kaul is Ali.

Baghair Hubb-E-Ali Muddaha Nahi Milta
Ibadaton Ka Bhi Hargiz Sila Nahi Milta
Khuda K Bandon Suno Ghaur Se Khuda Ki Qasam
Jise Ali Nahi Milte Khuda Nahin Milta

And I am in midst of a chaos as I have been invited to the Hardwar Kumbh by Naga Sadhu Guru Shri Vijay Giri Maharaj, I am in mourning for Moharam, but I wont wear orange , I will don a black loin cloth and barefeet become one with my cultural inheritance..luckily I dont need tripods , filters etc during the time I shot the Nasik Kumbh.. just a satchel my camera and my humility in a beggars bowl.. I will wander the streets of Hardwar begging from door to door with my Guru ..

I will go for the Shahi Snan and than return to Mumbai for Chelum or whatever itinerary my Guru plans.

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Muslim Beggar Lady at Crossroads

for a few coins
from your miserly pockets
she sits and waits
Muslim community
builds houses of gods
madrsas ..
she a demolished
house without gates
oh to see them begging
everyone hates
in silence her pain
of being a Muslim
destitute she narrates
while the jihad continues
killing of innocent people
in the name of Islam
wont abate
eunuch silence
just diatribe and debate
a suicide bomber
on the soul of humanity
has sealed his fate
virgins in paradise
as his soul mate
the mullah frowns
hesitates
a question mark
that time negates
another pawn
checkmate
hate only
more hate
creates

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