My Departed Guru Mr Anil Bhartiya Who Taught Me Without Humility Photography Is Meaningless

The Shradanjali Photos

Shardanjali To Eminent Photojournalist MrAnil Bhartiya At Mumbai Press Club

Shardanjali To Eminent Photojournalist MrAnil Bhartiya At Mumbai Press Club

Shardanjali To Eminent Photojournalist MrAnil Bhartiya At Mumbai Press Club

This evening I rushed to the Press Club of Mumbai from Bandra to attend the Shradanjali of Mr Anil Bhartiya a very tall figure both as a press representative and as a Founder of NPPA .. his erstwhile Camera Club in Mumbai.

He had passed away on 8 October after battling a brief illness .

It was at 6.30 pm and despite the heavy rush my cab driver dropped me flat in 40 minutes in time ..

Gathered were members from NPPA and PSI as Mr Anil Bhartiya was connected as a member to PSI too .. Photographic Society of India Mumbai .

Mr Raut held the memorial service , with a two minute silence and than requested a few members to talk about Mr Anil Bhartiya , I was the first to take the podium and told the gathering of Mr Bhartiya contribution as a Teacher to my photography , more than the basics of photography  he taught me the essence of photography .. that is humility arrogance has no place in capturing souls of people we shoot.. He took me to Malshej Ghats Murud Janjira for outings and I learnt a lot from him , mind you those days I had one single film camera and shot Velvia Provia and my favorite Ilford Delta 100 ASA.

After I had spoken other senior photographers like Mr Rajan Makharia, Nagesh Sakpal and Mr Prasad Pawaskar Hon Sec Of PSI spoke  about some private moments he had shared with Mr Bhartiya and their long association with PSI till Mr Bhartiya branched out to single handedly start his own club NPPA  National Pictorial Photographic Association with members from all over India and the World.

Mr Shirish Zaveri a close associate of Mr Bhartiya joined us at the lag end and we had some group shots ,,each one of us touched by Mr Bhartiya in some way or the other ..

There were other speakers too who gave a personal insight and revisited the memories of a great photography stalwart.

This is my new set at Flickr in memory of one of my Guru Mr Anil Bhartiya ,, last I had met him at  a Bollywood film Muhurat and Mr Bhartiya was a great film buff and close to a lot of actors actresses..That Muhurat was the last time we had a picture together .. 

When I received the tragic news of Mr Anil Bhartias sad demise the first person I called was Mr KG Maheshwari , he being indisposed Mrs Maheshwari talked to me , she was aware of his passing away and Mr KG Maheshwari the Yusuf Karsh of India was indeed very close to Mr Anil Bhartiya .

When I think of ages past
That have floated down the stream
Of life and love and death,
I feel how free it makes us
To pass away.
~Rabindranath Tagore

I Shoot People Who Dont Even Know I Am Shooting Them

And I shoot people who perhaps dont even know why I am shooting them,hard industrious Indian people of the street , the entire family at work eking out a living ,, very close to where I stay .

I have always shot them from a moving cab or bus many a times the softer sensitive part of me has wanted to reach out too them talk to them but I have no time ,,and than I wonder what do I talk to them , I am a street photographer and not a storyteller of words .

And they live on the streets close to the Muslim slums ghettos of upscale Bandra among ruffians drugaddicts too, and this community can be found near Mahim station too where their girls boys beg at the traffic signals to supplement the family income ,, their children are abused molested , attempts were made to kidnap them but they continue to live make cane baskets.

I dont see any other community making these baskets in the suburbs , there are some Marathi folks making these baskets in one of the bylanes close to Chor Bazar too.

Most of these weaver women come to Bandra Bazar to buy the leftovers of chicken from the chicken shops .. it is the only cheap meat for the poor ..

The women of this community are frail looking not heavy boned , but work non stop they wear a long skirt and a long sleeved blouse .. very simple attire that does not change .
The guys wear dhotis and long shirts very rustic and are cutting the bamboos the kids also peel the bamboos ,,

In a rough shod cradle hanging on a support is the new born baby unaware of its surroundings and you can see its silhouette when you pass by in a bus or a cab.

Even the kids of these basket weavers beg at Bandra Reclamation signal but young Muslim kids from the slums beg here to after they return from their Municipal schools .


And Bandra sadly has not changed much in 15 years not the poor side of Bandra , more slums keep coming up on empty public spots , they soon become vote banks for the long lasting political sartraps of our area .

Change in Bandra is for those living near Joggers Park Band stand .. the poor live as they and will die as they live ..political generosity has been showered on those who help the leader , he is the head tout who gets things done and reaps the rewards in extra rooms and other such benefits ,, this is also seen where they live .

I am a Sobo person but now living in Bandra since 26 years ...and the Bandra I live in is the most neglected ugliest filthiest place abutting a disease prone market with no garbage management , open gutters , and thanks to the pictures I have shot of the many open garbage dumps and taught my grandchildren photography shooting these dumps even foreigners from Italy Australia America France come here to shoot these dumps they say it is Fine Art ,,

Our local representatives are like seasonal frogs you see them hear their voice during elections once they get win the coveted seat you get to see them hoisting our National flag on Independence day.Than they disappear and the poorest of the poor has to deal with their chamchas and white clothed henchman in white footwear  too..

I have become totally disillusioned with this democratic process of voting for most of these wrong guys like you I too got carried away by the Am Admi Party I saw a great opposition , values etc but than they were just a short time dream..less said the better ..

The only Man who connected to the poor , the shopkeeper the residents was late Mr Sunil Dutt and sadly  even God has stopped making leaders like him..is all I can say about Dutt Saabs heritage , I feel sorry his wifes name is associated with the dirtiest slum in this part of Bandra called the Nargis Dutt slums amount the other slums such as Rajiv Nagar Indra Nagar and Shastri Nagar ,,

So a picture sometimes is therapeutic it adds to the catharsis of the urban fucked soul of the common man of Bandra ,,

Muslim Man With His Wife ,,,15 Years Down The Drain

living in the ghetto
is what his life remains
his hands his future
bound in chains within
his unflinching vote
for this party he feels
the pain let down
by those he voted
to power neglected
unemployed in their
reign..rising prices
that have driven him
insane remembered
only during election
time the muslim youth
his efforts to better him
self all in vain ..driving
rickshas cabs doing
menial jobs an insult
to his indian heart
his bhartiya brain

looted booted uprooted
the muslim youth hope
throttled in a backlane

invariably held as a
suspect in any crime
the system considers
him guilty before he
is proved innocent
on his character an
irremovable stain

the system in his
case is never humane

a hand that let him down
over the years unable
to contain riots there
is so much hurt but
decorum he maintains

wherever he goes
a character certificate
he must obtain  tainted
for his ethnicity his religiosity
by insensitive cops he is
the first to be questioned
detained ..only during the
polls he becomes part of every
party's  election campaign..

dance of democracy without
remorse or  constrains

In Bandra Pizzas And Burgers Come Faster Than The Police And The Fire Brigade Bandra Times

The fire that took place last night at 7.45 at the Bandra Bazar Chips shop next to National Bakery and close to Clarence Gomes house has died down , the gutted shop is in shambles and I went ad shot pictures this morning ..I met Clarence Gomes too , he is upset that a guy on Twitter and Facebook is using his newspapers handle,, Bombay Times is registered Trade Mark..and Clarence as a social worker has done a lot for the Bandraites ..

My first Press Card was given to me by Clarence when the Bandra paper was called Bandra Samachar.. he rechristened it as Bandra Times and I was there at the launch with Fr Jude Mascrenhas of St Stanislaus.

It is with the Bandra Times Press card I shot the train bomb blasts and the bomb blast at Kabutar Khana I shot the Nasikh Kiumbh and many memorable events including Nag Panchami at Battis Shirala and the passing away of Late Mr Balasaheb Thackeray.

Bandra Times from Bandra Bazar Road has been a part of my 300000 blogs at Flickr.com.

Now I use my International Internet  Press Card