The Ear Cleaner Nabi Bandra Talao

In the  afternoon today I had some urgent work at Carter Road and from there i took a ricksha completed some work in the Bandra Slaughter house slums I had taken my camera with my 250 mm lens and thought of shooting the streets ..

From the slums I came to Sweet Home Aquarium picked up bloodworms for my Flowerhorns .. I lost most of the earlier ones to popeye and fungal disease ,,

From here I came to Bandra Talao sat on the floor shot a video on my mobile phone and a video on my Canon 60 D ,, this was my first camera video,, I took it as a test..

Than I shot several frames of Nabi the earcleaner , he is going to his hometown to work on his fields he is a farmer who came to Mumbai 40 years back and began cleaning ears ..at this iconic talao..

Once this Bandra Talao in the night used to be a place for masseurs and for picking guys ,, all that has changed ..

Nabi the earcleaner  stays at Bharat Nagar Bandra East cleans ears from morning till about  7 pm...than he takes a 215 back home .And I m documenting their life struggle and their fight , against Fate as soon as the Bandra Talao is renovated the Municipal authorities I am told want them evicted from here including the boy who sells pigeon feed and the pigeons too will have to go..

Even now as the work continues there is no security , guys drinking country hooch openly , druggaddicts too will be found here and it is sad ..I mean it drunks and the addicts that should be evicted from here first ,,

And these earcleaners inspired me to shoot their videos and let the world know about their oldest profession ,and there are 3 of them.. 2 Muslims 1 Hindu but work as a family each one having their own clientele .

Hey Hindustan Times I Still Have Not Got My Coupons .. Your Subscription Dept Sucks

Dispatch details of your HT Coupon Subscription ( Coupon Number : 40901062 ) message received on 6 April 2015

Dear Mr. Firoze,

This is with reference to your below email regarding your HT Subscription coupons bearing coupon Number : 40901062 .



We  would like to inform you that the coupons have been dispatched via  India Post, airway bill number : EA733097584IN from our end on 01-APR-15.  As per the current status, the shipment is In Transit. Please be assured that the coupons will be delivered at the earliest.

​

Regret for all the inconvenience caused.


Best Regards,

Hajra

Team Hindustan Times

I sent a message today

Hi this is to inform you that today is 10 April and I have not received my coupons ,, I would suggest you send me a new lot or cancel my subscription.. I cant take it anymore

Thanks
Firoze Shakir

Its Only In India That Indians Dont Care For Indians

The Muslim Beggars Pain Through My Camera Lens

begging morning to night
on the streets makes no sense
this was not the future that she
inherited from her poor parents
got her married to a jobless lout
adding to her lifes suspense
the path ahead dark and dense
cosmically to a life of a beggar
by the almighty she was sentenced
her inner angst restlessness she tries
to cleanse muslim society treats its
women as second class citizen
giving priority only to Muslim Men
ashes to ashes dust to dust Amen

Swach Bharat Bandra

This is a famous garbage bin in Bandra opposite Galaxy Apts , and it is close to Indraji Nagar slums ..and it is a iconic dump , I shot it many time when I took a short cut through the slums ..
Now I hardly come this way.. and there are many garbage sites that make Bandra famous as the Garbage Queen of the Suburbs ,, also know as Garbage Porn Queen.


The Congress that have their civic representative . the only one who survived the Congress Free Bandra is not bothered about all this and in order to see him go we have to wait till 2017 till someone who loves Bandra replaces him beyond part ylines .. someone who feels for Bandra and someone who does not play caste politics , does not appease only the slums to gain cookie points .

And Muslim areas are always dirty filthy because neither the residents nor the Bandra Municipality is interested in cleaning these areas ..

And the Congress party does not have those kind of leaders like Mr Arvind Kejriwal who went to the public of Delhi with folded hands and in humility sought forgiveness and despite Modijis Armada won seats ,, but the Congress does not have humble leaders they are arrogant even in defeat ,,I mean not a single Congress leader in Bandra has ever come to Bandra to find out why they were voted out of Bandra .

And even our BJP leaders who were once seen in Bandra are hardly seen , the only person with some conscience and who even replies to your tweets is Advocate Ashish Shelar . I have nothing against Madam Poonamji but she treats the voters of Bandra like a piece of shit , not a single tweet showing the garbage in our area has ever been answered by her and if BJP had not parachuted her from Worli this would not have been the case ..as a senior citizen without any party affiliations I feel sad ,,,sadly our vote for progress and development for Modiji and not any personality has been totally wasted .

I spoke to Advocate Ashish Shelar he said by 10 April he will look into the Bandra Bazar Dump that is an insult to injury ,, it is disease prone and an eyesore .

So now you know why I shoot Garbage .. it is to see Bandra Green And Clean..

Mount Mary Bandra

Mount Mary Church, Bandra Wikipedia


The Basilica of Our Lady of the Mount more commonly known as Mount Mary is a Roman Catholic church in the city of Mumbai, India. The church is one of the most visited churches in the city located in the suburb of Bandra. Every September, the feast of Mount Mary is celebrated on the Sunday following the September 8 which is the birthday of Mary the Mother of Jesus.. This is a week long celebration known as the Bandra Fair and is visited by thousands of people.

The church stands on a hillock about 80 metres above sea level overlooking the Arabian Sea. It draws lakhs of devotees and pilgrims annually. Many faithful attest to the miraculous powers of the Mount. During the Bandra Fair, tens of thousands visit the shrine. The shrine attracts people from all faiths who pray to the statue for thanksgiving or requesting of favours.

During the Bandra Fair, the entire area is decorated with festoons and buntings. Many pitch up stalls selling religious objects, roasted grams and sweet items which is a must buy for most people visiting. Stalls sell sticky Goan sweets and wax idols of the Virgin along with an assortment of candles shaped like hands, feet and various other parts of the body. The sick and suffering choose one that corresponds to their ailment and light it in Church, with the pious hope that Mother Mary will consider their appeals for help.

Although the current church edifice is just 100 years old, the history behind the current statue of Our Lady goes back to the 16th century when Jesuit priests from Portugal brought the statue to the current location and constructed a chapel. In 1700 Arab pirates interested in the gilt-lined object held in the hand disfigured the statue by cutting off the right hand.

In 1760, the church was rebuilt and the statue was substituted with a statue of Our Lady of Navigators in St. Andrew's church nearby. This statue has an interesting legend. It goes that a Koli fisherman dreamt that he would find a statue in the sea. The statue was found floating in the sea somewhere between 1700—1760. A Jesuit Annual Letter dated to 1669 and published in the book St. Andrew's Church, Bandra (1616-1966) supports this claim.

In 1761 the original statue was re-adorned with a child in her arms and has been in use ever since.

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mount_Mary_Church,_Bandra


video

Supoose You Had A Camera And Had Nothing To Shoot But Garbage

no rivers
no mountains
no streams
swach bharat
a set of stolen
dreams ..making
you feel like kids
with melted
icecreams
the spirit was
willing the fetid
flesh screams
oratory skills
delusional
lost moments
sometimes
seem..highly
extreme
every friday
like a bollywood
film opening
at a theater
a new ban
a new theme
will the messiah
come and redeem
the common man
sulkily as he
daydreams