Jab Bhudapa Ata Hai Toh Apna Saya Bhi Sath Chod Deta Hai

He was a beggar who had come from Meerut UP , I asked him politely why Mumbai , he answered , Mumbai people are kind hospitable and generous so he had come here to beg on the streets of Mumbai.

I did not broach any further , gave him money for food and he blessed me and left ,, and sometimes I think it is the collective blessings of the beggars that have  bought me so far.

There are so many beggars  I want to shoot because of the positive hope in their eyes , and so many beggars I shot , I never saw them ever again.

And there are heartless families that drive their parents out of the house usurping their property savings and wealth.. there are far too many stories of pain and despair.

And Uttar Pradesh has always got a raw deal whosoever they elected to power  from one vulture they fell again to another set of vultures..who ate away the heart and soil of the land of the Ganges.

And shooting beggars is showing the world the underbelly of pain and misfortune.

International Children's Day - 1 June

The World Conference for the Well-being of Children in Geneva, Switzerland, proclaimed June 1 to be International Children's Day in 1925. It is usually marked with speeches on children's rights and wellbeing, and other events involving or dedicated to children.

A similar event, Universal Children's Day, falls on 20 November. It was established by the United Nations in 1954 and aims to promote the welfare of children around the world.

today 1 st june
 they celebrate
 international
childrens day
a curse or a boon
best wishes to all
of you from the
dark side of the
moon ..muslim
beggar kids
born from a
womb of
misfortune
living hungry
hands stretched
out.for a few
coins children
held captive
in a cocoon
watching
enviously
the rich mans
child licking
an ice cream
holding a
colorful baloon

mother pays
protection money
to beg on the streets
to the cops the local
goon..misery sorrow
caught in a cosmic
vortex of pain that
wont go soon

roti kapda makan
chulu bhar pani
aur kapda dhone
ka saboon ..

The Fear Of Tomorrow

While I know myself as a creation of God, I am also obligated to realize and remember that everyone else and everything else are also God's creation.


 Maya Angelou quotes

This Muslim beggar even today sits across on the pavement opposite Eros Stores at Bandra Hill Road and the road facing her is the Bandra Police Station ,

This is the main roadway of Hill Road that leads to the shopping center ahead or if you take a U turn you go straight towards  the Bandra Station .

So she is in the right spot , she moves about within this stretch and it has been over 3 years since I shot this image .

Every beggar I am sure has a past and a story the only fear is the depths of a tomorrow to come ,, what does it hold if a  cop catches her she has to pay Rs 1200 a large sum , but mostly there is a understanding  and in some cases protection money is paid weekly hafta.

All these years that I was located here I shot the beggars , specially  the lady and her child who came on Thursdays.

When I was located at St Peter Road Bandra I shot Stanislaus School or the St Peters Church.

I was mind and soul trigger happy ..and gradually all that changed now I hardly take my camera out, mostly if I do it is to assist my grand daughters Marziya 6 and Nerjis 2 and a half to shoot the Bandra Bazar and the Muslim beggars .

Of late I try to use my Motorloa G ..and it has a different feel touch as compared to the ubiquitous DSLR .

I shoot so as to stay connected with reality and my reality is the pain that resides on the streets and in the closed eyes of a dreaming beggar child.

My eyesight due to diabetes makes it difficult and when I type with one finger I am prone to miss a word or miss a line too.

Did you see the childs tiny feet ,,comfortable at home in penury ,despite the mothers discomfort ..what is her story , if she has a child so small than obviously she has a husband , and sh has another big child I have shot him too,,
Why is she begging . where did she or her husband come to bad times ..I never ask questions getting to shoot them is tough enough , asking her her travails is beyond me ,, earlier as I am 60 I could be taken for a fatherly figure but after the Asram Bapu
rape case nobody trusts old people anymore ..and if it is Sunday this must be Bandra.

I miss  shooting the Muslim ladies of Bandra .. some I see even now but I just move ahead ..I have a tomorrow but sometimes I find it is more bleak than the beggars tomorrow.. I dont know why .. age has swept me over swamping me under a debris of lost illusions of nothingness.

The Incomplete World Of The Muslim Beggar Child

The mother of this child used to bring her every Thursday and together they begged on Bandra Hill Road .

Than one day the beggar lady disappeared , for a few month and when she returned it was a brand new baby in her arms .. she told me the older child was left behind at her hometown in Andhra..

I felt sad as this new child was her third daughter , her husband she told me once was keen on a son,, she begged because he could not make ends meet.

And it is not my job to giver her a lecture or judge her I left it at that , our society is male dominated , if there was a woman  unlike the male Mullah , she could counsel her , sadly we have no such thing..if there is I am certainly not aware of it ..
In the Christian community , a woman can go to a nun and seek help instead of the male priest...but male Christian priest have no gender confusion with the people in their parish and help everyone ..

I have not seen it our side of the fence ,
We have rich philanthropists in the Muslim society and yet no one here in Bandra has build a institution like Fr Agnel ashram where Muslim poor youth can get vocational guidance and learn a trade .

Or empower the beggar Muslim lady in an institution where she can learn some trade stitching etc and her stuff bought by the community some thing on those lines ..but I am lost for words I am merely a photographer and not a social activist but I am sure you get my gist.

An I am happy at least we dont have mad fuckers who say Western Education is Bad.. God Save Us From  That Curse..

So I dont merely shoot pictures of beggars  to garner sympathy , or gain cookie points nor do I send my pictures for Salon Competition,, I know that the myopic Camera Club Judge would give one mocking insulting look and at the back of my beggar picture in a heavy hand inscribe 3 R ..which in camera club fucked slang means rejected by all three judges .

Fuck  F Stops and  Fuck Salon Photography .

Under the Racist Tree

sits a muslim mother
a beggar her child
gone to sleep hungry
the great divide we them
created by muslim society
male dominated fatwa
spewing do not want women to
be educated or free beggars
 living of charity ..
will they ever see good days
begging from door to door
gully to gully ..at everyone's
mercy..

The Muslim Beggar Childs Pain

sitting beneath a tree
a beggar mother you
see pondering to be
or not to be on the
other hand in silence
a little baby tiny legs
born in captivity wonders
bemusedly this world
of pain torture suffering
hate sectarian strife
that they call humanity
did i make a mistake
the womb was far better
its darkness comforting
motherly .. i was being
nurtured fed ..not anymore
says she ..withered milk less
teats sucking the life out of me

Its Tough Being a Muslim Beggar Child

 I have bought this post from the past forward to my timeline ..it was shot 4 years back

She and her mother come to my workspace every Thursday, I give them money and take a few pictures , the little one like being photographed..through my picture she gets to see the world free .Whats her future , well future is shy state of ones mind , it has hidden beneath the next toadstool..

She likes me and stands outside the doors of my shop , she knows I am the only guy who takes her picture and through my picture I give her respect, respect for being so small and taking up a selfless job of begging assisting her mother diligently.

And I meet them , or beggars like them , they meet me on the crossroads of the path of my camera.,,they are my subjects I shoot their life on the streets in available light , and I show you what others are too shy to show..that pain is universal, beyond the scathing realm of religiosity.

A normal beggar does not evoke such feelings like the Muslim women beggar and her child..I dont sell my pictures so you cant accuse me of profiteering through pain..

And for once just look deep in to the beggar childs eye ..and hold your vision , you will see my culture , you will see bombs demolished mosques , you will see suicide bombers you will see not one but a million Kasab..and within her eyes you will see sectarian strife, you will see collective eunuch silence you will see the clergy with a mouth gagged ,.. you will see so much and much more provided you see as I do..and you dont need a camera too..

So this is what I saw and I share it with you ..yes a child's eyes are windows of Gods soul too..


Its tough being a Muslim beggar child and carrying the heritage of pain for over 1400 years..