Without Bollywood India Could Never Exist...

Without Bollywood India Could Never Exist..., a photo by firoze shakir photographerno1 on Flickr.

For Hindustan Times Showing a Picture of a Spray Can That Was Accidentally Shoved Up a Mans Rectum is National News

For Hindustan Times Showing a Picture of a Spray Can That Was Accidentally Shoved Up a Mans Rectum is National News, a photo by firoze shakir photographerno1 on Flickr.

This is Bandra Old Time Charm.. Sadly It Will Vanish Soon..

This is Bandra Old Time Charm.. Sadly It Will Vanish Soon.., a photo by firoze shakir photographerno1 on Flickr.

Women In India Are Cattle Driven By Fucked Fate

Women In India Are Cattle Driven By Fucked Fate, a photo by firoze shakir photographerno1 on Flickr.

She Did Not Ask Me For Money ..But I Am a Beggar Poet

She Did Not Ask Me For Money ..But I Am a Beggar Poet, a photo by firoze shakir photographerno1 on Flickr.

I was rushing back to work, through this short cut, when I spotted her sitting her back towards me I thought she was a beggar I knew who sat here , I was wrong I realized it after giving her Rs 10 .. and she thanked me profusely , she was in need .. but her thanks was like a blessings hands held high in silence..

Had she asked God for some meals and God sent me there , a thought that will bring a ironic smile of the face of the skeptic but being a Malang I experience so many things that I dont narrate hold it within the glass bottle of my soul.. in fear of breaking it ..

And she is a new face , but yes she is a beggar , a more deserving beggar than me ..

I have begged too unashamedly with the Rafaees dressed like them barefeet , the rafaees are fakirs mendicants who pierce their bodies as an act of spirituality and keep body and soul alive with what they get.

I have begged with the Naga Sadhus , along with my Naga Sadhu guru Shri Vijay Giri Maharaj of Juna Akhada.. I begged with him at the Nasik Kumbh each morning dressed like them , barefeet , ate on the streets leftovers given to us by the devotees, and I still treasure those moments of self introspection..and I shared the money I got as charity with other beggar familes I met and shot..

During Ramzan I fast the entire month but the best moment is when I go to town and break my fast with beggars , they know I love them I have never shot them I never will that is my private moment of faith and my beggar friends refuse money I give them to buy Iftar they are too proud but humble too in their self respect and I am crying as I write this yes my best pictures are those I have never shot..

And I respect such moments I have lived with the Aghoris of Gomti Lucknow but never shot them, they eat dead flesh from the banks and drink but they have been kind to me and I know I will meet them at the Kumbh again..

So I call myself a beggar poet ..

This is My Prettiest Grand Daughter Zaira Saif Shakir

This is My Prettiest Grand Daughter Zaira Saif Shakir, a photo by firoze shakir photographerno1 on Flickr.

God has been very kind to me I have 3 cute intelligent smart grand daughters , they all have their unique traits , and Zaira is my youngest son Saif Shakirs daughter , she is very perceptive , the moment she hears my voice she begins smiling,she knows me and we bond, we talk in silence and she is the future of my family tree , she is a Pucca Mumbaikar , unlike Nerjis Asif Shakir and Marziya Shakir who have their maternal links with Lucknow .. their mother hails from Lucknow.

Though I must confess I spend more time with Nerjis Asif Shakir my elder son Asif Shakirs daughter , and this child like me is a born Malang , intuitive , holistic, she heals and she touches heads , she loves pulling a persons hair, she cant pull Zairas hair as Zaira is bald a thought that unnerves her gets on her goat..

However Marziya Shakir the eldest of my grand daughters is my favorite , we have traveled in time and space , we have visited distant lands of the mind and we are connected through our love for the camera..Marziya and Nerjis are born photographers and I am worried Nerjis will start shooting pictures very soon on her own..

Coming home from work either for lunch or at close of day blending with all three of them gives me a peace of mind adds to the strength of my angst..

I could ask for nothing more , they are the books I read ...they are my pastime they are the extension of the poetry of my life..

Marziya Shakir 4 Year Old Shoots Uncle Joseph on Canon 7D

Marziya Shakir 4 Year Old Shoots Uncle Joseph on Canon 7D, a photo by firoze shakir photographerno1 on Flickr.

Joseph is used to surprises but the moment Marziya Shakir 4 year old put the strap of the Canon EOS 7 D round her neck and sat on her knees to take this shot he was bemused, and Marziya needs no prompting , she was born with the camera eye , and so Marziya added Joseph Jacob erstwhile CEO of Badasaab Group brand manager to the list of the celebrities she has shot, she has shot Mr Rajesh Khanna , Mr Kishore Bajaj. whose picture is hidden from public view, she has shot Mr Yousuf Lakdawala and Master Chef Imtiyaz Qureishi..and some of the most famous Flickr photographers that have visited my house ...Dr Glenn Losack MD .. Jean Marc Gargantiel, Marc De Clercq , Kim and Viola, and many others..

She has shot the Republic Day function at St Stanislaus School Bandra this year..but all her earlier pictures were shot on Nikon D 80 but of late she has moved on , taken an upgrade she shoots now on the Canon EOS 7D..and she shoots without being intimadated by Canon optics or technology.. once a photographer always a photographer is her motto in life , though she studies at Apostolic Carmel Convent in Junior KG..