She Begs

She Begs, originally uploaded by firoze shakir photographerno1.

136,280 items / 1,052,847 views

to keep
he body and soul
alive
through
alms
you give
her
she survives
because
of her blessings
your children
her children
thrive

The Hijra Posterized

The Hijra Posterized, originally uploaded by firoze shakir photographerno1.

136,279 items / 1,052,788 views

before
I could click
her picture
she transformed
i realized
within a blink
of an eye
the hijra
posterized
computerized
re sized
her pain
capsized
she said
bhai
dont take
my picture
by my folks
I will be recognized
I know you
post
our pictures
on the net
I am not surprised
we are hijras
children
of a lesser god
they call us evil eyed
saying this she ran away
before my eyes
neither man
nor woman
a human form
disguised

Memories of My Grand Mother Bhabo Ammi

Memories of My Grand Mother Bhabo Ammi, originally uploaded by firoze shakir photographerno1.

136,278 items / 1,052,724 views

I shot this recently in Mumbai but while working on it and posting it here I was thrown back in time , of time spent as child at my maternal grand mothers house near Pata Nala Lucknow .

This ancestral house and several of them close to each other belonged to my late grand father Daroga Nabban Saab eminent poet and related to Mir Anis.


This place had a peculiar address it was called Imli wali Gali and it was close to Kankar Kua..and when my maternal grand father died it was my grand mother Bhabo Ammi or Nazmi Begum who bought up her children as my grand fathers first wife and her children migrated to Pakistan.

Chaudan one uncle remained behind but he too left in later life.


I was bought up by my maternal grandmother and she taught me about my Shia roots and heritage, and this was only when we visited Lucknow.


I was not aware of her death , but seeing this lady in Mumbai I was thrown back into a pond of old memories.

Now my mother is dead too, and my dad , and Lucknow of old has receded in the back ground , the ancestral house of grand parents no more exists all sold off by my mothers only brother.

So pictures conjure images that have no relation with the pictures we shoot..trigger sad painful memories of lost hopes and lost illusions.

Only the mouse clicks the pain into oblivion.

And a blog does this to me and perhaps might connect with someone living on the edge of hope and add a smile on his or her face ..and you dont have to be Dickens to write what you want to write ..simple words simple sentences simple thoughts are the heirlooms of humanity..

If the blog was not invented God would have created it , from the coccyx of Man ,,,to add to his Tale.

Haunting Memories of Moments That No More Exist

Haunting Memories of Moments That No More Exist, originally uploaded by firoze shakir photographerno1.

136,277 items / 1,052,714 views

I dont know why I shot him , it was a sudden impulse triggered by my own imminent old age , or maybe I have reached my old age but am not perceptive to it as yet.

And being around Marziya makes me feel much younger than I am as she thinks I am as old as her and honestly in her perceptions she is much older bolder and wiser than me.

Ab pachtay hot kya jab chidiya chug gayi khet

Ab pachtay hot kya jab chidiya chug gayi khet, originally uploaded by firoze shakir photographerno1.

136,276 items / 1,052,692 views

26000 crores
lutake
ham hindustani
kahlayenge
shan aur shaukat
ka jhanda lehraenge
malaria toh door ki bat
ham yoonh bhi mar jayenge

Ek Machhar Admi Ko Hijda Bana Deta Hai

Ek Machhar Admi Ko Hijda Bana Deta Hai, originally uploaded by firoze shakir photographerno1.

136,275 items / 1,052,581 views

apna ghar bhar
biwi bachhe
chodkar
apna nasib
azmane
aya tha
waqt ne kya
kya gham dikhaya tha
dum ghut ta tha
phir bhi chup chap
samya bitaya tha
lekin ab itne salon bad
phir ja rahe hai wapas
kyonki isne malaria
nahi phelaya tha
30000 logon
par isne nahi
kisi aur ne kafan
chadaya tha

26000 crore
shan aur shaukat
ke liye
ek gharib ko
bali banaya tha

The Forbidden Fruit

The Forbidden Fruit, originally uploaded by firoze shakir photographerno1.

136,274 items / 1,052,510 views

this is what i mostly shoot
deprived devoid of hope
one man at the feet
of another mans boots
pain bad times
is a common route
we all face it
one time or the other
a tree cut down
before
it could bear fruit
now all gone
a log in slumber
nothing else
to loot
back to
square root

can you
imagine
a helping hand
going up
to him asking him
who is he
from where does
he come
what happened to
bring him
on the rainy streets of
pain his pain acute
who cares a hoot
mumbai a vibrant city
is also devoid
of a human soul
each one who passes by
busy in his own pursuit
slithering away silently
also mute

so as a street
photographer
i shot this for posterity
while going to work
en route
once he was ripe
now a fallen
over ripe fruit

man
a product
of a forbidden fruit
BE HUMAN
no dispute