Trimbakeshwar Beckons Nasikh Kumbh Mela 2002

I shot the Nasikh Kumbh in 2002 and I was very new to photography , I had shot Ramkundh Panchvati and Tapovan but here at Trimbakeshwar .. my luck changed after meeting a Naga Sadhu .. near Sadhugram.. I wanted to take his pictures , and he obliged but after a few shots he said he had seen me at Film City ,, I told him my Bollywood connection and he told me that he lived near Film City too and I parted ..
I was shooting the Sadhus at Sadhugram and finally after an hour or so I reached a tent to find the Naga Sadhu from Film City there , he called me in and fed me asked me to rest , the next morning was Shahi Snan I asked him if I could stay overnight at their tent ,,he agreed but I could not accompany them to the Trimbakeshwar tank for security reasons ,, he hardly knew me and I was a Muslim I had a press card but I needed a Kumbh Identity card that I did not have ,, I shot the arti the ling kriya the Sadhus pulling a car with their ling in the night and early morning I parted with them in the rains ,, I managed to enter the tank after the Naga Sadhus had taken the dip trekking for over 4 hours as most of the roads leading to the tank are closed .
This was my first Kumbh 2002 and I had a great experience not only as a photographer but as a all religion respecting human being ,, I had given my visiting card to the Naga Guru ..Shri Vijay Giri Maharaj of Juna Akhada ,,

On my return to Mumbai after the Kumbh I had some work at Film City and decided to meet Shri Vijay Giri Maharaj and he blessed me and he was a teacher before becoming a Naga Sadhu so we got along very well , he visited my house and thus I earned his respect and kept in touch , he called me to Ujjain than Ardh Kumbh later but because of my work it was not possible till I finally went on his invitation to shoot the Maha Kumbh at Allahabad 2013 ,, I shot over 3500 images in three days I think till the Shahi Snan Basant Panchami..

And after 12 years I will be revisiting Trimbakeshwar ,,, I dont know whether I will go to Ramkhund shooting the Naga Sadhus is what I prefer as a photographer ,, So there will be silence on my timeline for a few days ,,

Om Namo Narayan

Even when tied in a thousand knots, the string is still but one. ~Rumi

A Cloud Man Called Magic Eye Prolifically Shoots Mumbai

in a jade garden full of roses
insulin plants that peacefully grow
clouds whistling in the skies adding
their heavenly glow oh here comes to
shoot them they all know ..in myriad
shades cotton like fluffy color of snow
they faithfully follow him wherever he goes
they day he forgets too shoot them they raise
their cursive eyebrows , frowning almost coming
to blows ..clouds sometimes angry dark showering
their might heavy rains no repose ,,but all in all
they love magic eye ,,so does that solitary crow
zooming with his wings spread wide ..away from
worldly woes ..the flight of fancy that he chose

we met for the first time in physicality at sea princess
hotel indibloggers meet the metro blogger deepak '
the beggar poet firoze .,..a memory that still lives on
as words flow ..15 august 2010 ...for a picture they posed

but we actually met in 2004 away at fotothing my coming
to flickr the first time to him i owe ,,, magic eye ki jai ho

There is a fountain inside you. Don’t walk around with an empty bucket. ~Rumi

“You were born with wings, why prefer to crawl through life?” ― Rumi

Why are you so enchanted by this world, when a mine of gold lies within you? ~Rumi

Kuch chaiwale chaiwale hi rehte hain

Some tea sellers always remain tea sellers ,,

posted at Facebook

I wanted to keep this post blank.. it has a very sad after effect of the beef ban.. when the beef ban was announced he was laid off as there were hardly any takers for buffalo meat , and most of the butchers , he is a butcher too who worked in the beef market at the Bandra Municipal market , lost their jobs , the bosses could not afford them with dwindling sales ,,

He started a tea stall near Bandra Reclamation and I would shoot his picture his turn of fate , starting again in his old age , but he looked determined , each time I talked to him he looked positive and confident , but I knew he missed the butchers knife the smell of animal blood and flesh , the whirring of the mince making machine ,,
Than he disappeared for a few weeks and now he has come back in a stall close to the beef market , making tea and the aroma of buffalo meat for a change ,,he offers me tea but I politely refuse , I drink sugarfree bland black tea or kava.

I meet him when I go for my walk in the morning today because of my corn, that has been aggravated by my rigorous walk I was limping I skipped my walk and my tennis too.

I normally dont ask people their names , if I do I forget it and I never take notes as I never carry a pen instead I will shoot a video on my HTC Desire 826.. I dont carry my DSLR anymore ,,its too bulky and obvious.
So I stayed at home limped to Bandra SV road to buy blood worms for the flowerhorns ,,and first time did not shoot the video of the garbage dump that I shoot everyday to appease the Lord of the Flies ,,and all my garbage videos are dedicated to the dynamic visionary head honcho of the BMC Mr Ajoy Mehta ,, I hope he sees them someday.. as our local representatives hardly have time to see them , they go and sweep areas that have lesser garbage than Bandra Bazar Road .