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I dedicate it to the beggars of Bandra I know each one of them, I dont know them by name but I know these territorial creatures , as they stand with hands open and every coin makes a marked difference to their impoverished lives.
Some of the beggars comer to Bandra for change and fresh air, Bandra is like a hill station for beggars from Mumbra Kalwa and beyond.. they come with their kids beg a bit and go back to their far distant suburban homes..shot by a barefeet blogger of Mumbai.
I know of the Albino family that begs at the foothills of Haji Malang that comes to beg at Bandra close to JJ Colony.
JJ Colony is an abbreviated form for Jamat e Jamuriya..that a few years back was clustered slums , now bought down and clustered buildings with shops have come in their place, I pass through this housing colony of predominantly Muslim people cutting through the butcher shops and the famous beggar lane after I pay my Broad Band bill at the MTNL office off Bandra Reclamation .
I know most of the beggars here my favorite is a kid who has lost control of body muscles but is always smiling on the face of his sufferings, actually he is not aware of his surroundings or his sufferings.
Once I come out from JJ Colony to the market area where Muslim women buy foodstuffs , you find the blind beggars and a few ladies in burkha begging with kids on their waist, or the lady with the child on a wheel chair.
All this is away from Bandra Bazar Road ...
The guy I really miss is a young boy with a glorious smile blind who was operated , begged for some time post the operation by some good Samaritans from the mosque but soon disappeared.His pictures are on my Flickr photostream in a set.
Than there is the regular ladies who sit outside the Shia Khoja Mosque in the Bazar, their stregth increases on Friday namaz time with more who come in with their kids...
You already know Maria te leper lady I have not seen her for some time now.. they go to their hometowns too...
Appu the limbless no hands no legs a stout human stump sits at Mahim Chuch I have not connected with him but if I know he is in town I wish to take Marziya along and shoot his pictures.
There is a beggar season and it is beggars here beggars there beggars everywhere that comes during Ramzan time the glorious month of the Muslim calendar, the best time to shoot beggars.
Outside Mumbai which is the most sought after place for beggars is Ajmer Sharif.
Beggars of every size shape every possible human deformity and you find them at the doorsteps of the Holy Saint Khwajah Gharib Nawaz...
Now because I shoot beggars their color pain has rubbed of on me , so when I am barefeet with a camera as my beggar bowl shooting pictures of this community I feel and behave like a beggar too because I poetize their pain the imagery of their life time mockingly calls me a beggar poet of Mumbai.
I dont sell my pictures I could become a rich man I am preposterously predictably quintessentially broke..all times if I shot Hijra nudes , but than it is not my way of creating wealth , I am not into corruption or scams .. I ask God every morning to change my life he does...he gives me another fucked day to live.
The internet changed my life instead I am globally known as Photographerno1 ..street photographer barefeet blogger that's about it...and we all one time or the other want to deactivate our online accounts , some do successfully..like my good friend Kowalski and so many others who left unobtrusively without forwarding addresses , but I have kept some of them alive through my blog posts.
And than there are those you meet online who become family dear friends you cant do without, they are part of your good mornings and good nights at Facebook and Flickr..more at Facebook which is for a lot of people a home within a home.. and than one day you find out that the guy who shoots fabulous pictures is on his death bed minutes away from life on earth hanging by a silken thread...
Anthony Posey March 17 at 9:04pm Report
our friend Jeff Lamb is ill and possibly leaving our earth soon
Anthony Posey March 17 at 9:17pm Report
i think cancer my friend . not 100% sure just been reading his wifes responses on his account, i know it is painful but if we all hold them in our prayers, heart or thoughts at least warmth will be theirs
than the final message from Posey
Jeff has died
Der Randy March 21 at 4:16pm Report
i just got the bad news i thank you for bringing us together
Der Randy March 22 at 5:20am Report
i want to be strong like him, over the past few months he didn't bother me with his problems , we would chat about facebook issues watermarking, music and big heads manipulations..never once did he mention he was passing. i want to be strong like him.
Fred M. Miller Thanks Firoze for leading me to this man !
the same message from Randy too..
So blogging is a winding path taking you through the bylanes of other peoples mind...through their pictures you enter their hearts and souls they pass away and you are left with a memory...
When someone you love becomes a memory, the memory becomes a treasure.
RIP Jeff Lamb thank you Roland W Luthi for leading me to him.
