The Bandra Street Barber Dreams Of Elusive Acche Din Like Me

As an incorrigible trespasser into peoples private life , using the excuse of being a prolific street photographer I try to capture the inner pain of people in my backyard ,,poor people , street professionals and I have a few favorite ones ,, Beggars , but I prefer to shoot the decisive pain of the Muslim community , a community that God chose for me to be born into ,,and he chose a Shia Mothers womb.. her first child my first mother.

Next I shoot homeless there are many have homes lavish living and are still homeless I shoot those that are absolutely homeless , pavement dwellers , street urchins ,,

I shoot Dabbawalas I will stop them make them get off from their cycles take a shot , I am deliriously shooting Dabbwalas and most of them know me as I shot the Dabbawalas  during Anna Hazares India Against Corruption at Azad Maidan now a failed dream ..India lives breathes corruption their is no escaping it virtually or even cosmically ..

I shoot the Whippers Hindu devotees of Ma Ambe and some know me as I have used their whip to punish myself for my pictorial transgressions .

The Hijras I dont think with humblest humility anyone has ever shot Hijra as humanly or passionately like me ,, I had hijras who wanted me to shoot them nude or in copulation I politely refused I shot them as the marginalized and victims of homophobic hate since time began and with the advent of the Hermaphrodite ..I shot their androgynous angst this documentary with rare pictures has been disabled from public view. I shot cross dressers too..

I shot barbers , and I really shot barbers from  Walkeshwar Banganga till the banks of the Ganges in Allahabad , I shot the barbers religious tonsure ,,I have not as yet shot the barber doing circumcision or Khatna . I will shoot it one day ,, if I get a male grandchild ..

I shot Sufi Monks , Malangs and Rafaees and now that I am a Malang  it has become much easier , but I have to go to Makanpur .. and I need money for  such trips as I dont sell my pictures , and photography according to my wife is a waste of time for me it is only a Hobby,

I shoot Naga Sadhus and other Sadus and for that I wait for the Kumbh at Nasik I have already shot them at the Maha Kumbh.

Now what I dont shoot is airplanes , flowers ,landscapes mountains  insects , chubby kids or politicians with some exception , celebrities with some exception,,I dont shoot porn or human genitalia .. and I block almost anyone who adds me has this in his personal collection at Flickr Ello or Facebook.

I shoot sleeping dogs , drug addicts drunks and born losers I was one myself...

I shoot Faith .. I shoot Beliefs I shoot Culture I shoot Rituals and I hope to shoot the bullockcart race once they are legalized and the Battis Shirala snake festival.

I have not shot Koovagam Eunuch festival Lord Iravan has not yet invited me so to speak.

I have my closest friends in Pushkar but I have not shot the Camel Fair ,, I shoot Ajmer during the Urus thus shoot Pushkar too.

I am a high end tailor by profession I hardly get time to leave Mumbai so I shoot the streets to save my cosmic camera from getting rusty and worn out ..

I am not a writer I type with one finger and shoot pictures with one finger too.. lol
I am not a poet per se.. but I juggle words to make them pictorially sound like a poem..

I blog with original content .. I would die if I didn't..

So in short all those I   shot and those I dont shoot are all waiting for Acche Din Good Days .. even me ,,

And I have decided and solemnly promised to keep away from American lady photographers ,,who dont know the difference between a good friend and a tourist guide .

Now I wont ever drive Miss Daisy ..even if she is Crazy

Does Anyone See Pictures Of Poor People Like Us ,, He Said To Me Politely

I meet him every morning when I finish my walk at MET Gardens ,, I normally walk down from home at Bandra Reclamation shooting pictures on my mobile phone ,, earlier I used an Android now I use a Windows phone ..my son got it as a replacement for the faulty disastrous Xiaomi Note from Flipkart for me .

I reach the MET Gardens at 7.30 am walk for about 45 minutes than some free hand at the Municipal park we call Local Gym..

I used to walk a lot about 6 km average now I do about 4 to 5 km.. brisk walk.


When I am heading home I sit and talk to this banana seller migrant from Banaras ... he is counting the days he will go home in June .

I shoot his pictures and he wonders , stupefied , that do people really have time to see pictures of poor people like him than I tell him politely  I shoot pictures for myself..I tell him he has a nice face that etched on his face are multiple  lines  of his hardships sufferings crowned by a smile that is positive and alluring ,, to me mostly .  He thinks I am merely flattering him , but I assure him I am dead serious about my estimation and than he is shocked as I ask him to come home have lunch with me one-day.. home cooked food made by my wife .. I did not tell him that I want my granddaughters Marziya and Nerjis to shoot him too ... there is a dearth of kind faces filled with warmth on the streets ,, Faces on the streets of late have become hard , hopeless and negative ,, and its not just because Acche Din good days have not come after almost an year ,,

So he is a person I end up shooting every morning and next the old Muslim gentleman reading the newspaper outside the Sunni Mosque Bandra Bazar ,I greeted him this morning we meet everyday ,, and I asked him his name , he is Abdul Ahad Bhai, he asked my name I told him ..I told him where I stay and he gave me a nice smile ,,You are also known by the house where you stay ,, I stay in a simple humble abode famous for a political celebrity.

After I move away , I walk through the once Beef Market now Buffalo Meat Market via the Bazar and than I spot the garbage truck I immediately start shooting a video.. I have to shoot the pathetic condition of work of the Bandra Municipal Conservancy staff the bad state of the garbage bins , no wheels, and as  drug addicts drunkards sit her at this garbage dump it is a real eyesore .

There are people who cant bear the stench , these guys light a fire in the bins ,so one of the bins is totally burnt out ,,and Bandra Municipality cant afford good aesthetic bins colorfully painted , or safety shoes masks gloves for their conservancy staff,,I must be the only crazy guy in Bandra shooting them ..so every garbage truck that sees me waves out to me ,, they watch my videos on You Tube . I hope the Bada Saabs of Bandra Municipality watch it too..

So this is a typically Happy Morning for me ...in Bandra .

I miss my grandkids all three on vacation...

Why I Am Thankful To Omkar Shelar And Khushi Pathak

I have seen Omkar Shelar son of erstwhile Advocate Ashish Shelar , grow in front of my eyes ..from a little kid now a teenager with tremendous energy ..he would teach Marziya and Nerjis cricket and my grandkids looked up at him as their hero..

Omkar is both his mother , he has her beautiful smile that heals people and his fathers humility..dignity and decorum... And Omkars Labrador Lucky has been part of Marziya and Nerjis s childhood ,,Lucky is still in awe of them , gets up the moment he sees them and will never jump or try to lick them. like a wise old human he wags his tail and I still wonder who is his favorite Marziya or Nerjis.

Nerjis and Marziya both have been shooting Advocate Ashish Shelars Ganpati pandal ,, thus promoting the thread of my pictorial existence Hope And Hindutva as a Message of Peace Hope and Humanity .

Here I made Omkar my model , made him wear a turban and my stick in his hand ,,and he obliged obediently ,, he is a great model lol ..
However before I digress the core of this blog ,, and essence of the title of my blog ,, one day Omkar along with his classmates from Podar  a young guy and this pretty witty Khushi Pathak , dropped in my house to interview me on Swach Bharat , while Omkar shot my video Khushi  interrogated me like a professional ,, and I felt like a debutante ,,but I talked and I can talk a lot on Swach Bharat as I have been shooting garbage dumps much before Modijis Swach Bharat mantra was born,, socially or politically .

The documentary was for a school project they told me , and Khushi Pathak this exuberant young lady added me on Twitter ..and I follow her .. she was to got to Paris and I gave her my dear friend Laurent G s details , Laurent is a master of Photography and a hardcore Indophile , he madly loves India as much as Indians love him madly including me .

Well to cut a long story short , after the interview I too got hooked to video , I had never used this medium I preferred traditional photography ..I began shooting the common people gradually , ear cleaners , garbage sites and all inspired by Omkar and Khushi ,, my mobile phone became my video camera , and I am learning to shoot on my Cannon DSLRS through You Tube tutorials ..I shoot bhajiwalas , beggars chaiwalas , barbers and yes I will soon interview Omkar and Khushi,,, who gave this old man of 61..some hope of making this world reachable through videos ,,

And this is my early morning blog ,,I have shot over 200 videos on You Tube  ,, I make it a point to shoot 3 or 4 videos as I go for my walks every morning ,,both my granddaughters are vacationing with their mother but Marziya 7 year old too wants to shoot videos like me .. photography and video are mediums that add zest to life ,,I started out very late in my  40s , Nerjis and Marziya began their tryst with photography when they were 18 month old ,,and as poet photographer humanitarian I think photography changed my life ,,now along with my 337,166 Photos at my Flickr stream I have 200 videos shot as is where is without editing at ,,I have decided to learn film making and editing too..to be able to tell street stories there are millions of street stories waiting to be shot ,,

Thank you parents of Omkar and Khushi ,, you are gifted with very bright ingenious kids ..

And we are all talented but we need inspiration it can come from kids too..

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

The Panwala Of Bandra Bazar Road

The Hapus Seller Bhaiyyas Of Bandra

The Kick Boxer Kids From Bandra Slums

A Message To Mr Narendra Modiji From Bandra Bazar Road

Hon sir
We voted for Progress Development
Sab Ka Sath Sab Ka Vikas
Congress Free Bandra
Acche Din
Swach Bharat
Swach Bharat fails terribly in Bandra Bazar Road thanks to a blind eye by everyone concerned including the Bandra Municipality

Thank You
Beggar Poet
video follows


www.youtube.com/watch?v=AHIgIwoIgNI&feature=youtu.be