We Were The Only Two Strange Aliens At The Kamatipura Flea Market

There is an open ground , that the Vagri community uses as a meeting place , to sell the goods they have collected from homes , all kinds of items from old Parsi homes , from old bungalows  ..and rare paintings antiques books old jewelry old time teak furniture , cradles beds bookshelves and even rocking chairs .at Kamatipura close to 12 th Road,

And both Vinod Om a Yoga teacher and I were hooked to this market , Vinod bought old books etc that he gave to poor kids including old clothes .

I bought stuff for my film work, mainly accessories , boks and I was fucked neck deep into old cameras , I came here by cab every morning and from this early morning flea market I walked barefeet to Chor Bazar .

I came home by cab and carried a lot of junk with me that freaked my old lady , stuff she would never touch with a bargepole , I did not buy items for resale mainly for my collection .. And in the end when I got hit by space crunch , and bad times I gave away 275 old cameras for Rs 17000 to a dealer .

I gave away some rare books I still have some old books about 75 years old or more with me ..and mostly poetry and classics .

I bought some rare silver stuff , a Muscat dagger that I wear on my arm, weird silver studded belts ..  old shawls and everything that I liked and impulsively bought ,

I have stopped going to both these markets its been over  5 years or more .. but I would like to revisit the place for kicks . , maybe tomorrow I dont know catch up with old friends ..

I know so many of them and shoot pictures portraits etc

But I promised myself I wont buy anything  No I wont ,,

He Is A Hindu And I Am A Muslim Does It Matter

Street Portraiture ,,, Should Be Human Not Caricature ..

within the soul
of your shooting
lens you capture
his humility his
humanity his
spiritual stature
his inner angst
his dreams his
love for nature
as you shoot
as your learn
unlearn as you
mature ..

photography is a healing medium
against the disease of boredom
the only cure ,, you may die but
your images endure . for sure

beyond the circle of confusion
you etched on time and space
your signature .. of a thought
pristine and pure .. with hope
cinematic allure ..

You created a world full of Charlies ..now what next ,,

A Few Sanctimonious Muslims get angry upset , when they see Shia men kids cutting their heads , so they file a case against our 1400 year old rituals our blood that we use as a protest instead of text .

We do not ask you to beat your chest , or cut your children s head ..it is no part of your ideology or your temperament we know it is not our rituals but it is us that you detest....you know the rest ..

What beats me as a man who respects all religion culture is that you keep silent when kids are gunned down in Peshawar or 200  girls kidnapped by Boko Haram, the genocide of the Yezdis Shias by the ISIS ,,you are certainly not vocal enough ..or is it not part of your human interest .

You watch innocent people killed , beheaded , but you shut your conscience your motormouth..you instead blame Israel US and the West.. but the Taliban murderers misplaced Jehadi martyrs ,,suicide bombers you place on a pedestal..you try to silence the
freedom of the press ..

You created a world full of Charlies ..now what next ,,

i was caught in the net of her deceit

she took me for a ride
fraudulent machinations
cosmic circle of evil
she was a cockteaser
a cheat she robbed me
of my feelings my emotions
my love i encountered my
first romantic defeat
my love on the internet
a complete disaster
a complete failure
a grand kick of her
high heels on my
humble backseat
it was her sweet
angelic face her
beaming heaving
bosom bursting at
the seams that
conned entrapped
me a beggar poet
barefeet ..her posterior
her hourglass shape
those pendulous
movements those
shapely feet
oh friend alex
now you know
why i dont shoot
legs ..memories
that bludgeon me
a poet incomplete
dehydrated dreams
 i tried to
erase delete ,,
this polygamous
philandering got
the better of me
when i realized one
in the hand is better
than the entire bush
my languishing libido
over pumped adrenalin
yes canine like it was
me not her on heat
i saved my poetic
ass .. at least ,,

The Dhuni Of The Rafaees At Makhdhoom Shah Babas Dargah Mahim

During the Urus of Holy Saint Makhdhoom Shah Baba at Mahim,which is celebrated with great pomp splendor , inaugurated by a grand procession by the Mahim police and the police pay tribute to him by placing a Chaddar and sandal paste at His Holy Shrine , with this ceremony the Urus commences for 10 days , and there is a huge fair at the seafront .

Huge crowds come to the Holy Shrine , from all over Mumbai and many part of India such is his following known as Kutba e Konkan and the pride of Mumbai .. promoter of peace tolerance and coexistence Hindus Muslims all communities come to the Dargah for holistic healing offer prayers take his Blessings .

Now hidden away from the crowds , hidden away from the Main Dargah , at the back of the Holy Shrine is the seat of the Rifai Silsila  , that can be accessed from the back via the police lane too.. or via the Dargah.


The Rafaees or Rifais are followers of a Sufi Saint Ahmed Rifai from Iraq and descendant of the Holy Prophets lineage .

The Rifais are Sufi mendicants , last vestige of the fakirs of yore , they perform body piercing acts , and entertain the crowds that pays them generously ..there are several Rafaee orders Qadri Jalali  etc .

The Rifaisat Mahim hail from the Shancawalli Dargah So I began calling the Chancawalli Rafaees .. I began documenting  them from Mahim under the patronage of late Sikandar Wali Baba , after his sad demise Handi Sai in the picture took over the seat of the Murshad , but than he too passed away at Kota Rajastan, several other replacements .. and the grooup self splintered each one going his way.

But I meet them all at Jalali Chowk at Ajmer Urus .. and I sit with them talk of old times , I dont smoke hash or chillum , but always share tea with them.

A lot of my rafaee friends died , one of the main Rafaee connected also to the Dam Madar Malang order is Mehboob Ali Bawa .. I met him at Urus Of Zinda Shah Madar in Makanpur .

I was shooting he Rafaees following them during the Urus circuit , in a way they were the ones that showed me Haji Malang Shrine and Ajmer too.

This years I could not meet them at Mahim Urus I was in Lucknow for Chehlum. and now with my bronchial attacks a serious diabetic leg wound I am not sure if I will be able to climb the Malangad Mountains for the Urus of Haji Malang Baba .

The Rafaees are simple folks but they can get hyper , and maybe because they smoke a lot of dope they tend to get volatile and bad tempered but cool down after some time.

The are recluse ascetic and loners .. so they have a lot of riff raff hangar ons as followers or Murids , these Murids do the domestic chores of the Rifais , and are kept satisfied with getting to smoke and free food.


The Rafaees also do Dua Taweez spiritual healing exorcisms etc ..and these are some 40 old frames I am re blogging as monochromes of Rifai life at the Mahim Dhuni.

After I became a Malang of the Dam Madar Malang order I began documenting them and my interaction with the Rifais became negligible.

The Umbrella Lady Of Bandra Reclamation Died Unsung

I documented the life of this homeless lady who sat her life under an umbrella , protecting her from the harsh rays of the sun or the heavy monsoons  she survived most of the seasons , and strangely her entire life I never saw her stand or walk... she just sat . I caught her bathing one day ,  sitting washing her self with her skirt raised to her chest.

Would she have survived this winter 13 C I dont know , but she died silently , the tea stall lady where she sat told me the municipal hearse took her corpse away ,, now there is a soundless void where she sat.

My grandkids gave her the money they saved for her in their piggy banks and my grandkids shot her too, she touched them with hope she touched them with compassion.

And such are stories woven as images by the cosmic camera ..I do miss shooting her .. and this is a very old picture of hers .. I never heard her talk her entire life was speechless remorse .. but she lived died on her own terms .. without being a burden on anyone else .