I Shot The Pain In His Eyes

do memories
live after one dies
are there really
vestal vigins
in a muslim
paradise
the flesh was
willing the spirit
cries to free
itself from the
shackles of
mortality it
tries .life
a fruitless
sacrifice
dreams
doomed
nothing
survives
a fallacy
an idiocy
to be or
not to be
alive

We Are Muslims

invoking his name
his munificence
his omnipresence
his benevolence
we trust him begging
on the streets dark
precariously grim
a few coins hurriedly
they thrown at our feet
a charitable whim.
will our lives change
chances are slim
endangered hopes
our wings trimmed
if only muslim men
could just be like him

Aging Gracefully

so many summers
so many winter chills
those rainy days when
i fell ill watching dark
clouds threatening me
as i stood against the
window sill a voice
called out from within
the heavy laden curtains
janoo did you take your
diabetic pill .. a voice
of love a voice that
guarded me through
her prayers from every ill
silence soared as time
stood still i was reaching
out to the other shore
against my will leaving
her behind as my eyes
with tears filled the shaking
saucer of my reverie as
the sweetness of her tea
on the poetry of my memories
spilled an urban landscape of
shared solitude no mountains
no lakes just silhouettes of
molehills savoring the aroma
of her culinary skills ,,,

Garbage Follows Me Faithfully Wherever I Go .. When I Die I Wont Be Buried In Garbage Is What I Know

i have pledged my body to science
into a grave it wont be thrown..
a tailor all my body parts for humanity
my body sewn ..actually my own body
is not my own..through his humility
god has shown ..i told my family
in a shia cemetery I dont wish to
have a cornerstone ,,not for me
but for Imam Hussain you must
mourn..a beggar poet a photographer
who energetically shot Swach Bharat
as Garbage Porn..and yes as a speck
of dust in the eye of a camel i wish
to be reborn.. paying tribute to early dawn
its not children but garbage for all coming
generations that we spawn an unending story
of life as poetry that goes on and on ..

My Best Friend Sajjad Bhai ,,

He is my first contact in Hyderabad Moharam 2003 .. he is a relative of my friend Halu Bhai of Bandra .. Halu bhai gave me his contact when I decided to shoot Moharam in Hyderabad Ashura 2003..and Sajjad Bhai and his brother Kazim helped me with the same .
Through them I met  Akthar bhai of Choti Bargah , Lutfi brothers , Abid Painter Naqi bhai and everyone else .

Those days I carried a heavy camera bag and to shoot the Bibi Ka  Alam, Sajjad bhai would carry me on hos shoulders to take the shots , he also carried my camera bag as I flagellated on the streets of Hyderabad on Ashura day.

He took me to Moulah Ali all the Ashukhanas , he bought me to shoot the 8 Moharam at Hussaini Koti , and 8 Moharam at Badi Bargah.. and he was humility , he spent his money on me not allowing me to spend my own as he said he was my host I was the guest of Imam Hussain.. honestly where do you find people like this .

This Ashura he bought me and my American friend at the last moment to Bibi Ka Alawa to shoot the beginning of the Alams procession , I was barefeet , my feet were burning , he got me a pair of slippers , his relative chaperoned Boaz as Sajjad Bhai and his young son took me to Charminar , to shoot the Bibi Ka Alam there , he carried my bag and than we rushed to Irani  Gully to shoot the most hardcore sword matam of Hyderabad , in the melee I lost both of them and my dagger was in my bag with Sajjad Bhai,, I was filled with junoon seeing Ashu Bhai cutting himself I requested a guy to give me his dagger and with two camera round my neck I leapt in the air cutting my head the second time on Ashura Day, I had cut it in the morning at Badi Bargah on the Noha Aye Shere Nayastane Hyder Abbas .. I cut myself deply I lost comnsciousness , I was told the guys carried me on their shoulders to an Ambulance to give me First Aid and Sajjad Bhai was searching for me as here the area is totally crowded.. I found him after half an hour I had lost my slippers that he had bought for me I got both my cameras intact..

He bought me and Boaz snacks as all hotels are closed on Ashura , yes this is the humility love of Hyderabadi Shia for another Shia ,,

And Sajjad Bhai and I meet only during Moharam in Hyderabad ,, we were meeting after two years , and all my Bibi Ka Alam pictures could not been possible without him and his little son..

And this entire Moharam in Hyderabad Shia documentary is my tribute to  people like him and others who helped me and both my friends Boaz and Francois.

The Nawabs of Hussaini Kothi , Akthar Bhai his sons relatives of Choti Bargah ,Hyder Bhai Imran  Bhai of Badi Bargah , Naqi Bhai and Akthar bhai for giving me a place to stay and  everyone I met on this trip.. Abid Painter Lutfi brothers I owe them all this big Thanks .. from the Beggar Poet Of Mumbai

Sabir Bhai of Masumeen and his boys of the Anjuman last but not the least and Parwane Shabeer for reciting Sachey BHais Aye Shere E Nayastane Haider on this Noha I have cut my head twice in Ashura at Hyderabad ,,

Yes Moharam Ashura in Hyderabad is a Lifetime Experience .

I Reach Mumbai From Hyderabad This Morning

I arrived in Hyderabad on 31 October , and thanks to Naqi Bhai I stayed at Daru Shifa at Akthar BhaiKarbalies office , he had a spare room above Sajjad Sweets..

This is the first time I shot 7 Moharam at Choti Bargah , an event known as Hazrat Imam Hassans Mehndi , my friends Boaz and Francois shot it too and we shot 8 Moharam Choti Bargah and Badi Bargah at Diwan Deodi..

We also shot the Hussain Koti Juloos on 8 Moharam day time

We shot a lot of street and on 10 Moharam we shot Badi Bargah kama blade matam, I did my kama matam at Badi Bargah on Aye Sher E Nayastane Haidar my favorite noha of Sacchey Bhai.

From here Boaz we rushed out among flying blades and managed to shoot the Bibi Ka Alam coming out of the Alwa.. all this part of our documentation was thanks to my dear friend Sajjad Bhai without him it would have been just impossible  ..Boaz and I parted fro here as I wanted to catch the Bibi Ka Alam at Charminar and  with my bleeding head reached in time to real hardcore matam  at Irani Gulli by Ashu Bhai at his Ashurkhana .. I gave my bag to Sajjad Bjai and shot with 2 cameras , as i saw the kama matam I too requested a guy to give me his Kama dagger and cut my head again , I lost consciousness the guys carried me on their shoulders to the Ambulance where they cleaned my deep wounds and wobbly on my legs I continued shooting the Bibi ka Ala at various spots Kadme Rasool, Zehra Nagar and last I caught the Alam at Ashurkhana e Zehra , I did not go to Chaddar Ghat I was tired and in bad shape but I shot the street matams of the La Baik Anjuman.. and finally hopped on Sabir Bhai the Head of Masumeen Anjuman truck and shot from there too, I shot the Iranis of Darbare Hussaini doing blade matam..

I got up early morning on 5 November again shot the Charminar and the streets and my friends Naqi Bhai And Akhtar got me biryani for my train journey and the journey was good I met some Irani family in the train and they too shared their dinner with me ,,

At home one entire tank of large size Black ghost and huge upside down cat fishes   were all dead  so there was some sadness on my return the Flowerhorns were fine the Java birds were fine , and my wife too is away on a pilgrimage to the Holy City or things would have not turned worse ,,,

Finally I Am back in Mumbai..

India Is More Beautiful Than a Dream