The Iconic Street Barbers Of Bandra

Perhaps in Bandra I dont think there is any street barber that does not know me ..I dont know their names but I shoot them prolifically ,,poetically ..and than add their pictorial to my set at Flickr called Barbers Barberism and Religious Tonsure..barring circumcision I have shot most of the rituals involving barbers .

I have shot them in Mumbai at the Maha Kumbh Allahabad and the at Banganga Walkeshwar during Pitru Paksha ,,barbers and bald heads ..I shot mundan at Haji Malang and other holy shrines ..a strand is offered to the Holy Saint ,, and jaggery equivalent to the weight of the child known as Tolabar .

Many a barber I shoot at Bandra finally end up shaving heads at Banganga ,, and most of the barbers at Bandra are Muslims ,,

The most iconic are the Barbers Of Bandra Reclamation a few from UP and a few from Bihar happily cutting hair shaving the migrant rickshawalas of Lal Mitti.

They are cheap and best most of them cut hair on credit ,,as they get paid at the end of the month from the salaried workers of this area.

The Muslim Mundan is called Akika ..

My East Indian Friend Rudi Pereira Some Stray Thoughts

Today he thanked me for posting his pictures on the Net , as his son in New Zealand liked them very much,...
Rudi is a social activist he was connected to Agni too.. I stayed in the same lane after the riots ,,21 De Monte Street above late Wendell Gomes house ,, a repair permission structure ,, we left De Monte street but De Monte Street has not left us ,,we have some great memories of this iconic journey of our Life in the suburbs,, We are basically from Strand Cinema Mohini Mansions .
Now we stay off Bandra Reclamation caught in a cusp with Bandra Bazar Garbage Road ,,And from here I walked towards Jamat E Jamooriya JJ Colony and shot the illegal structures demolished by the BMC ,,
What makes me laugh hilariously is this hogwash called BMC Demolitions because whatever illegal structures they demolish the next morning they are up again ,.. so what is the agenda ,,just to appease a few local representatives to add to their Twitter cookie points beats me,..

This Morning I Played Tennis In The Rains

The Cosco racket is a gift from my sister Farzana , absolutely light and comfortable  and fits well in my right hand that is permanently damaged ,,it has a good grip.

I am learning tennis under Coach Surendra Pawar and he has deputed Rohan Pawar his main instructor to take care of me , normally I enter the MET Tennis courts after I have walked 4 km  but this time I entered after a km walk and began playing tennis straightaway ,, for about 30 minutes ..Rohan takes a lot of pains for me because of my age lack of stamina .

Along with me is Dr Rahul Tambe we both started tennis at the same time ,after we completed our session doc and I walked around the grounds chatting ,, I walked about 2.50 km..the park shuts at 9am .

If I dont have work I walk about 5 to 6 km in the evening .. I have lost lot of weight my waistline was 40.5 inches now it is 37 ..I was 68 kg I am now 66 I think.. my bloodsugar was 325 earlier my last reading it is 179 and 200 ,, fasting and post prandial.

I never thought I would be playing tennis ,, thank you Coach Surendra Pawar Sir ,,

video,

Unlearning Photography

The most important thing in modern photojournalism the hackneyed attitude of photo editors must change ,,,the attitude changes if you have editors in the mold and caliber of Pablo Bartholomew I was lucky to imbibe something from him much before the desire of becoming a street photographer was born in my restless soul..I knew nothing about photography at all working as a fashion coordinator in the 80 s at Mudra Communications Court House Dhobi Talao ..watching him and others like Suresh Sheth , Suresh Cordo, Adrian Stevens , Chin Win Lee, Mr Oberoi of Daulat building Colaba , Nadish Naoroji Mr Shantanu Sheory, at work..helped me in more ways than one..
The earliest photographer 1955 was a guy called Dayal who came on a cycle , he stayed near Defense Cinema RC Church , he shot family pictures and did photo shoots for veteran actor Chandrashekar sab,,
Than in the 70s when I worked for the Burlington group at Oberoi Sheraton it was great old man Mr Ken Lynn society photographer ,,
Later when I joined Prachins a fashion store belonging to Mr Nitin Manmohan I met the famous Bollywood masters Rakesh Shrestha Harish Daftary and many others I had no interest at all in photography .. it came several years later to get rid of my alcohol dependence the mind doctor wanted me to get hooked to something more intoxicating I took up the camera very late in life ..the rest is all in my archives at Flickr ,, thanks to my camera club PSI my gurus Mr KG Maheshwari Prof Jatkar and Shreekant Malushte sir .
And the process of unlearning photography continues through my photographer friends mentor guides at Flickr ,, and I am inspired by young amateur photographers young new lot of photo journalists ,,this is the breath of fresh air we all need and I must reiterate it was the newspapers that pushed the envelop a step further to learn photography ..

God Save You From The Muslim Guys Who Play Cricket At MET Bandra Reclamation In the Evenings

Dressed in Miya attire they come to play cricket here on Sundays from the nearby localities and use filthy bad words , abusive language and I spoke to them but it is in their blood and this is how they represent Islam and their culture , this is what they learnt at home , this is perhaps what their Arabic teachers taught them . there are senior citizens , Muslim  women taking their walks but it does not matter to them.. I wish I could avoid this place on Sunday evenings but it is close to my house , even the watchmen are scared of them and their ruffian behavior ..I thought cricket was a gentleman's game even if Muslims played  it .. and there were educated guys among them one of the bearded skull cap guy had the cheek to tell me it happens sometimes ,, I wish it could happen in front of his elders his mother and his sisters ,, the common word they use is Ma ke Laude loudly shrieking  other offensive words that is an insult when it falls on our ears ..

Sare Jahan Se Acche Bandra Hamara Har Gali Main Kachra Yeh Gulistan Hamara

Khokla Pada Hai Yeh Swach Bharat Ka Nara .. BMC ne Kar Liya Kinara ..

Happy Birthday Benn Bell My Best Friend

a friendship with a buzznet beginning 

but no end on his auspicious birthday 

loads of blessings positive energy 

prayers well wishes to my friend i 

send he is an american i am an indian 

but on the soul of humanity we amicably 

blend he gets angry hates injustice a 

thorough gentleman benn my friend 

none like him on either end humanity 

at all costs he defends to the bell 

family love hope peace harmony 

i extend ..benn if you do visit india 

remember i will dress you up like me 

drive you all over mumbai round the bend