Ali Shah Bhai.. Is Now A Memory Within A Memory

This was shot in 2009 Moharam in Mumbai  and I met Ali Shah Bhai this was his Sabil close to JJ Hospital and his family house , he offered me niyaz , his hospitality was sincere from the heart and he liked me though he was low profile never liked to be photographed but I was lucky I shot his pictures and these are memories woven within memories of Moharam..and I shot sets and storyboards ..I wanted my pictures to be seen as such , and this morning I had to go to town to help a dear friend buy a camera , he needed my advice so I took him to Reliable stores and after he had bought the camera I spent sometime at my camera club PSI.
From there I headed to Imamwada to pay my respect to late Ali Shah bhais brothers and family , but I met another friend Guddu near Moghul Masjid and he said the entire family is at Yari Road at Ali Shah Bhais house ,,
And there is his Teeja Majlis  tomorrow 11 October at Moghul Masjid ,, at 3 pm I think.. one needs to confirm before going .

So I returned home disappointed..and started searching for Ali Shah Bhais pictures in my Flickr archives till I found this old memory...within my own memory .

Ali Shah The Lion Of Mumbai ,,, Remembered

I shot this in 2011 at Hussain Tekri Jaorah and I am indebted to a friend who took me along with him as I was totally broke I had gone through a very bad phase in Life .. I still am trying to come out of it , I made some professional errors and I had to pay dearly ,,
And this was Chehlum the 40 the day of the Martyrdom of Hazrat Imam Hussain commemorated passionately at Hussain Tekri .. most of the Shias from Mumbai throng this place as they get an evening to catch up with the intense Chehlum in Mumbai too.
It was pretty tough to get accommodation here and I met Ali Shah bhai , his brothers have a lodge here , he asked me to come and stay with him he has a home at Jaorah , I politely refused as I was with friends who had bought me here..and Ali Shah Bhai and I got along very well as Jalal Mamu knew my dad Mohomed Shakir Sab from Colaba Strand Cinema .. and my father was well known among the Shia migrants from Lucknow settled in Mumbai.
I am a traditionalist photographer and I used to detest videos ,I wish I knew how to shoot videos at that time .. when Ali Shah Bhai entered the Roza to do his zanjir matam, there was pin drop silence and fear , doctors had warned him that his entire back is held up by stitches ..but Ali Bhai took the blades and on the first stroke the crowd let out a shriek Ya Ali the second Stroke Ya Zehra and Ali Shahbhais back was cut open as blood flowed as tears are flowing from my eyes ,,some of his close friends his brother Ali rushed in to snatch his blades and Ali Shah let out a scream of a trapped animal ,now more people about 30 tried to hold him tell him to stop him but to no avail all he said for the Sake of Bibi dont stop me .. silently the crowd reluctantly moved back and tears blood sweat and the aroma of rose water now there was no stopping him he was faster than my camera and I just moved away I rushed to another end where Kashmiris were doing the Kama Matam I snatched a kama from a Kashmiris hand and began clubbing my head with the sharp end of the dagger ,, the crowds pulled the dagger from my hand .
Wa Waila Sad Waila Ibne Zehra Wa Waila
Yes Moharam in Mumbai will miss the cries of Ali Shah Bhai the crowds in Mumbai at JJ close to his house will remember his matam outside his sabil on Ashura ..I shot here to with my Danish friend Kim and it is impossibl to shoot Ali Bhai the crowds keep pushing you ,, after Ali Shah Bhai finished his zanjir Matam , I had no words and Kim was zapped .. I went further ahead I handed my camera to Viola Kims partner and I took a dagger and began cutting my head such is the impact of watching Alisha Bhai.
I have not shot Moharam in Mumbai since 2013 I moved away shooting Ashura Chehlum in Hyderabad Lucknow and Delhi.. I missed Moharam in Mumbai but I preferred the Azadari in Hyderabad without problems no politicizing no overtones of hate ,, and Lucknow being the city of my birth .. I was at home with the passion of the Shias of Lucknow for Azadari and Hussain.
I have shot both Ashura and Chehlum in Delhi too ,,
But all in all it wont ever be easy to ever forget Ali Shah Bhai,.
He died on a Friday and was buried on the day the Shias celebrate Eid e Mubhaila .
RIP dear friend mentor guide ,,,and now I wonder how Jalal Mamu is taking his best friends death.
I pay condolence to Ali Shah bhai family his children his brothers relatives .with head bowed I salute them ..
Now for those who wonder why I shot pictures ,, no I dont sell pictures but yes my pictures sometimes are obituaries of friends who touched and passed me by leaving a pain a void in my heart..
And I await my own journey barefeet minus the camera .. leaving everything behind .. save memories.

Nazma 3 Year Old Muslim Beggar Bandra

Perhaps she remembers my camera that shot her in her mothers lap sleeping in the hot sun , begging on Fridays on this side lane at Bandra Bazar Road that leads to the Sunni Mosque at Bandra Reclamation and on the further end to the Bandra Shia Khoja Mosque ,,and she hopes they will giver her alms ,, she still from moring till late noon , than she move towards the Bandra Shia Khoja mosque ,,more rich Muslims here goes without saying.. the business class of Mumbai.

I have recently started shooting videos of Muslim beggars let them tell their story instead of my words ,, that may be poetically exaggerated .. metaphysical or simply hyperbolic..


I was in a hurry but shot another young beggar mother and childs video.. all my videos are on You Tube ,,

Nazma 3 Year Old Muslim Beggar Bandra

Does she know me ..I have been shooting her pictures since  she was a tiny baby in her mothers lap, begging on the lane at Bandra Bazar close to where I stay ,, and she has grown into a young lady she has survived the vagaries of life as a street beggar.

Perhaps this is the only thing she knows , stretch her tiny hands and beg.. will she go to school , will she be able to play with a doll ,will she draw paint or learn ABC Ba Ba Black Sheep  I doubt very much..not even Alif Bey Pe Te

These are the children of the Lost tribe of Allah ,, Muslim beggars born in the wilderness of remorse and despair.. I was with my wife when I shot both mother and daughter , I asked my wife to give them money and told the lady we will give her some children s clothes  later.

I feel sorry for these beggar souls in search of elusive hope , some succor , some love not just a few coins given to them in oxymoron haste ,, rushing towards the mosque ,,

The hypocrisy among Muslims is highly sanctimonious ,, they give coins and expect a mansion in paradise ,, at least a one room kitchen with attached bath.. it amazes me and this morning I met a bunch of Madrsa kids in a park.. damaging the gym equipment and I wondered what Hafiz ji was really teaching them..I  asked the few Madrsa kids what would they like to be in the future they looked at me clueless ,, they thought I was more stupid than Hafizji who was teaching them Arabic..

I am blessed my parents though poor did not send me to a Madrsa ,,,and I am blessed that my parents were not myopic and finally made me what I am they made me feel pain humanly and poetically too ,

And I am blessed that my parent did not keep brainwashing me that I was only a Muslim .. they made sure I was a Hindu Christian Parsi Buddhist too along with my friends from those communities ,,and it was friends that shared their faith beliefs with me and made me what I am...not just a Muslim but a humanbeing too..

Ali Sha Bhai ,, Farewell ,,,

This Moharam ..
a void on the streets of Mumbai
in our hearts you will dwell you kept
the covenant of Hussain alive when
you scourged you were possessed of
a titanic strength ..a magical spell
Hussain Hussain you shouted you
yelled ..breaking open a 1400 year
old pain lying buried in a shell,.
blood sweat tears the fragrance of
rose water the ambiance the smell
through the poetry of my pictures there
is so much i could tell ..i wish you well
now among the martyrs you go to dwell
against the yazids you revolted rebelled
children who saw you when they become
grandparents your story to their children
they will tell.. lanatul yazid may he rot in hell

RIP Alisha Bhai The Streets of JJ Will Never Be The Same This Moharam Or Other Moharams To Come ,, You Will Be Terribly Missed

I Am A Hardcore Fan Of Ali Shah Greatest Matamdar of Mumbai...


Ali Shah is famous all over the Shia world for his Zanjir matam ..everyone in the Shia community wants to emulate his expression of bleeding Faith...his piety his devotion his love for Ahle Bayt.

In my entire life I am 62 years old and the man who instilled in me the feelings of love piety dedication of Imam Hussain is Ali Shah Bhai .. he was the only Shia in Mumbai whose love was pure , pristine and with no restrictions .
And there are Shia kids he has inspired with his humility ,and he inspired me too I wish more Shias in Mumbai were like him but the few I met were no less than bully's racists and with no respect for a persons age or seniority ..they take Hussains name on one side and abuse people of their community on the other side and sadly for them their Moharam lasts till Moharam ..in my case Moharam will perhaps end the day I die and my body given to Medicine .. I do not wish to be buried in a Shia cemetery I want to give my body parts to those who I shot the blind the cripple and the diseased and I certainly dont want 72 vestal virgins here or in the hereafter .


Ali Shah Bhai I have not met for many years now I stopped taking part or shooting Moharam in Mumbai .completely as there is rabid lot that think they are custodians of Shiasm and representatives of Imam Hussain on earth and want to call the shots ,, I have seen a lot

..
So the only thing I really miss about Mumbai Moharam is Ali Shah Bhai and Jalal Mamu.. I remember I could not get a ticket to go to Chehlum in Hyderabad ..I had to stay back in Mumbai ,, I went up to my terrace using my dagger I began cutting my head ,..this was my Chehlum.,,, alone me and my inner self ..
I try to find out about Ali Shah Sabs health .. he has been the finest role model to all of us ..and seeing him doing Zanjir matam at Hussain Tekri I too took a Kashmiri mans dagger and cut myself..and wherever I go out of Mumbai everyone asks me about this great matamdar Ali Shah Bhai..once he begins scourging himself even 30 people cannot stop him..


Yes today we need more Ali Shahs .. than the so called Shias who are Shias only in name and terrorizing people that cannot and will not be like them..
This is my humble tribute to Ali Shah Bhai..may he live long and may he always prosper and be a role model for every Shia ..

I remember when my Danish friend Kim saw Ali Shah bhai scourging he was filled with tears ,,, and asked me do such people exist..
Moharam for us is protest against the killers of Imam Hussain .. and the progeny of Yazid is much alive call them what you want the ISIS is the product of a Yazidi seminal seed ...so we protest we bleed ..peace hope humanity is what we need ..luckily we are not part of yazids breed ,,the butcher of karbala lust and greed even in death all diseased.

Kaise Kahoon Main Tujh ko Naya Saal Mubarak.. Zainab (sa) Mana Rahi hai Chehlum Hussain (as) Ka

I am a diabetic ..earlier I was on insulin but I cut myself twice a year in memory of the Martyrdom of Imam Hussain grandson of the Holy Prophet son of Imam Ali and Princess Fatima the Prophets only daughter ..Moharam is a 1400 year old protest against the oppressors and terrorists in Islam and there are many past and present ,, this is our red badge of revolt ,,we are in mourning we wear black clothes for two month 8 days ,, all forms of entertainment are avoided completely among Shias ,.. this entire period can be summed up as Ghame Hussain