Marziya and Senior Inspector Prakash George Bandra

Marziya and Senior Inspector Prakash George Bandra, originally uploaded by firoze shakir photographerno1.

Marziya loves policeman a fact all the policemen of Bandra Police Station know , and Uncle Prakash George Senior Inspector of Bandra Police Station is very special..she knows that very well as he sends his orderly to get Marziya a big bar of chocolate.

Marziya wishes all the policemen as she walks to school or on her return..and the cops who are fathers grand fathers too wave out to her with mutual respect and good will.

Bandra The Undisputed Uncrowned Queen of Garbage

Bandra The Undisputed Uncrowned Queen of Garbage, originally uploaded by firoze shakir photographerno1.

on the soul
of society
a war they wage
Bandra The Undisputed
Uncrowned Queen of Garbage
going from bad to verse
at every stage
a syndrome
of apathy
neglect
as our children
age
bandra
the queen
of open gutters
stinking sewage
now that he has
got his ministerial seat
he has gone backstage
everything in bandra
but this scene stealer
of sorrows and misery
wont see any
newspapers
front page
the dirge of a blogger
dying in a cage

She Begs With Her Eyes

She Begs With Her Eyes, originally uploaded by firoze shakir photographerno1.

caught in
the vicious grip
of fate
caught in a
painful vice
dressed in
the winding sheet
of pain
she begs
with her eyes
shamed womanhood
as time flies
far away
in her shanty
her child cries
another
will be born
if the first one dies
reality of her state
her soul in disguise
pushed into
early marriage
she pays a price
makes me wonder
beneath the feet
of motherhood
lies paradise
the Muslims
see this everyday
at the Friday prayers
at the market
at the crossroad
giving her
a few coins will suffice
building new spiritual
structures madrsas
on the soul
of the down trodden
to be precise
once bitten
twice
shy
silence
on the soul
of humanity
the best advice

Moharam in Mumbai 2009

Moharam in Mumbai 2009, originally uploaded by firoze shakir photographerno1.

113,202 items / 731,866 views

This completes the series Moharam in Mumbai 2009 at my Flickr photostream, 271 pictures given to me by Munna Kama of Kaisar Bagh to add to my Flickr photostream.


Though he has not told me who shot the pictures I thank the photographer too, he has documented the angst of the Shia community of Mumbai.

If I had not gone to Hyderabad I would have shot this segment that begins on eve of 7 Moharam at Kaisar Bagh and finally ends with Sham e Ghariba at Rehmatabad Shia cemetery recited by Maulana Athar Saab of Lucknow.

And thanks to You Broadcast , that was earlier You Telecom that was prior to that Iqara , my net crashed , due to a fiber cut, at 7.30 pm last night and was resumed this morning.

This is a regular feature of You Broadband, and they dont compensate you for the time lost, or add extra time to your plan for such an exigency.

And sending messages to them or talking about the same to You Customer care is water on a ducks ass..

So I gave my computer rest , and rested too..I woke up several times though as my soul is hooked to Flickr and Facebook but it was dead completely...

And now to the guy cutting head a ritual known as Kamazani, watch his grip, I would have slept on the floor to capture the glint of fearlessness in his eyes..and Moharam is incomplete without blood letting and gore.It comes with the territory..and I love shooting blood and gore..so does my American friend Dr Glenn Losack MD.

However I like shooting the streets , it is bursting forth with pictorial gemstones..I like to be abused , threatened for shooting street pictures , I am doing nothing illegal, and people with illegal minds hate the camera more than their nagging wives ..

The camera seeks truth out however hard you try to bury it under layers and layers of deceit.

Munna Kama of Kaisar Bagh

Munna Kama of Kaisar Bagh, originally uploaded by firoze shakir photographerno1.

112,998 items / 730,926 views

A checkered scarf round his neck , he places the dagger in the boys hand and with cries of Ya Ali Ya Ali along with the crowds urges the boy to cut his head without fear or pain.

Spiritual Blood Bath Kaisar Bagh Dongri

Spiritual Blood Bath Kaisar Bagh Dongri, originally uploaded by firoze shakir photographerno1.

112,981 items / 730,917 views

When the short majlis gets over at Kaisar Bagh Dongri, the people that were seated hurriedly get up and form a circle , the space within is now replaced and dominated by the men and boys who will do zanjir matam, sword matam and kama zani.

Around the hall the procession of Alams and Taboots moves on and this is now at close quarters , the alams come from various Anjumans of Imamwada and other areas in the vicinity.

Munna kama my friends voice can be heard along with others shouting Ya Ali Ya Ali as they urge the guys holding the daggers to cut their heads , the first aid guys quickly wash the bleeding wounds and bandage the same efficiently and quickly.

Now beyond the hall in the courtyard outside little kids do the zanjir zani and there is a medical aid stall.. everything is hand for an emergency including a waiting ambulance.

Even the top guys and trustees give in a hand , so you will see Safdar Karmali or Moeb Nasser helping the mourners and the matamdars.

Kaisar Bagh is verily a Shia Khoja Gadh of Faith..

Every Shia khoja kid has run with alams, cut his head here first..and the older folks now aged , with all this wet wet eyes and nostalgia.

And here I am blogging text on pictures not shot by me.. I am giving a voice to the silence of a visual soul..shot by someone with a greater passion for the documentation of his faith..

You dont need to be a great photographer to shoot pain.. you must feel it to make others feel it to..a 1400 year pain , a protest against injustice and oppression and nothing else..Hussain is Humanity...

Har Kaum Pukaregi Hamare Hain Hussain...

A Moment of No Return

A Moment of No Return, originally uploaded by firoze shakir photographerno1.

You have to be physically present at Kaisar Bagh to capture a child or a teenagers tryst with faith via the dagger , a point of no return.

Kids waiting for their turn , some annoyed as the dagger was pulled away from their hand before they could cut themselves satisfactorily .. frayed tempers , some guys who snarl at you with open fangs for taking their pictures makes me throw up.. humility where art thou at Kaisar Bagh when I need you most.

But Munna and his volunteers know the purpose of my pictures , and they know I do this as a passion and not for an commercial purpose, and I know the one person who must have genuinely missed me this Moharam at Kaisar Bagh is Munna Kama.

I was in Hyderabad shooting Ashura there.. over 3000 pictures shot in three days.

In Mumbai I only shot the eve of 7 Moharam I left for Hyderabad the next morning.

And I on my part missed Moharam in Mumbai, but I wanted a Moharam backdrop change and Hyderabad was a perfect change with the Bargah Bibi ka Alam and Hussaini Koti.