Now Getting Ready To Leave For Makanpur .

posted at Facebok

Shall Pray For All of You ..Incase I hurt anyone of you intentionally unintentionally accidentally please forgive me ..my spirituality is more human than I am I have to walk my own spiritual path I limp but I won't use you as my crutches and I can never be as religious as you are ..my belief is cleansing myself ..perhaps I can't be as devout as you are ..I can't be a bigot I can't be anything but me I did not come to Facebook to shove my religion my faith my views up your throat ..I tried not to spam you or tag you ..The only time I did was when i cut my head and bleed that is my prayer ..But I took you to the Kumbh to your Church and to your childhood through my pictures of Bandra .
All those of you who joined me recently as a friend of Jalal Kazim please be aware I cannot be a role model I walk bare feet on quicksand ..I cannot be boxed in or pigeon holed to any religiosity but yes I am not an atheist or an agnostic ..I was born in the womb of a Shia mother and I am happy with the love of Hussain as Humanity that she bequeathed me ..
I deleted friend requests because first I don't know you ..your profile was a blank and I am not good at filling your blanks .
After adding me you are free to unfriend me here on Facebook no issue ...I am happy with Less is More .
And all my posts here on Facebook are for friends only .
Happy Morning From Bandra bazaar ..
Dam Madar Beda Par .
Picture shot by my Begum Sahiba
The only backbone in my spine ..

Held Captive To The Shores Of Mumbai

A lot of guys approached me on Saturday to come with them to Haji Malang a mountain Shrine I never missed visiting in the past during the Urus.
But I told them I won't be able to make it as I might be leaving for Urus of Zinda Shah Madar Makanpur ..I might be leaving any day once I get my train ticket ..
Than there are some last minute works I have to complete before I leave Mumbai.
The Urus of Makanpur Sharif is a place of bonding with my malang brothers and I have not been able to go there since 2013 ..even now I am not sure and it is a long hectic trip with the Jat agitations I don't know where I stand but if he wills I will be there in time for the Urus ..Malangs Qalandris Rifais from all over India come to this iconic Sufi Shrine .
There are no hotels lodge but my dear friend Liaqat Ali Baba will manage a room for me and a French friend who will reach here from Bordeaux via Delhi .
This Malang documentation is very important ..I plan to shoot more videos less stills ..mostly on my mobile phone .
So I am waiting from a sign. A divine sign of m

You Have To Search For the Rustic Soul of Bandra in its Backlanes ..

Just enter one of the many backlanes of Bandra Bazar Road or Chapel Road Waroda Road Veronica Road Ranwar the many roads near Mount Mary to name a few and my meandering walks helped me rediscover Bandra .
The Jewish cemetry the St Francis of Assisi shrine cemetery the quaint fishing village the Khandeshwari slums Bandra Fort and with a camera or even a good photo shooting mobile you can capture the mood ambiance ..The unique wall art of Bandra ..The Bandra Bazar Fish Market and if you are a connoisseur of Garbage as Art form like me Bandra Bazar will not disappoint you to make the Bandra garbage dump walk more interesting you could have a treasure hunt ..discover Bandra it's people through its quintessential garbage ...see that slimy old man take his litter in a plastic bag and place it at the door of his neighbor Carltons house .
In one of the narrow lanes of the Bazar watch Joe make soft lilting music on his trumpet ..and Joe's band is integral part invoking East Indian Goan funerals marriages you can't miss him dressed in black suit with his shining oily bald pate ..Learn about Bandra Times .
Changing times from Clarence Gomes and his witty lines ..100 Bazar Road bungalow belongs to him he was the first person to trust my camera eye my vision by giving me a Hon press card of his newspaper and charged with it round my neck I shot Moharam Kumbh Snake Festival Battis Shirala .

Now my Press Card reads Firoze Shakir International Internet Photographer it opens up doors in distant cities and towns too.

I now shoot local surroundings I shoot my morning walks and I prefer Juhu Beach more than walking at either Bandstand Carter Road or the toilet attached Bandra reclamation promenade...

But I can do my Bandra to Juhu Beach walk only once a week Sunday and returning to Bandra from Juhu to Danda is amazing scope for photography ..The Danda pier the Koli houses the scrap yards ..I shot a lot and it has taken about 5 hours to download my pictures shot on Raw JPEG .
I shoot Painted Rythm of the colors of Life ..I shoot poetic impulses in people and their surroundings

I meet interesting people too and at Juhu I am documenting the life times of Juhu tourist photographer s ..you should have one long bhada as the taxi driver or ricksha drivers say..one main subject ..The other subject is the migrant ricksha cleaners from Jharkand I shot them prolifically .I spoke to them they work from 4 am to 9 am ..they make about Rs 300 in 5 hours ..with a pail and borrowed water from a watchman from a nearby building ...they pay hafta to the cops the cops won't spare taking hafta from a dead corpse too..a posting to Mumbai tarnished the the soul of the cop is all I can say with 50 years of experience living my life here .
The early years of my childhood in a Kurla slums with my dad and mom and the much better fruitful years of my life at Wodehouse Road later Strand Cinema Colaba a few months at Breach Candy and my twilight fading years now in Bandra .

So these are my early morning musings I have a meeting with an actor at Versova so I will skip my walk today and perhaps my tennis too..my legs are not in good shape ..but I endured is what matters finally .

Happy Morning From Bandra ...The other side of Rustic Bandra ...

Bandra lies in the Eye of the Beholder .

When I first came to Bandra in the 80 s I was provided full fledged company accommodation so I spent time at Waterfield Road for sometime and than I was moved to another sprawling place at Linking Road called Aradhna close to Mr Rajesh Khannas office .

Than bought my own place at Danpada ..The riots 93 changed everything became a nomad in my own city living at various safe houses in Juhu rented houses at Pali Naka and Ranwar ...of all the places our stay at Ranwar was the best we moved out when Preity Zinta moved in ..

We finally came to stay at 21 De Monte House our first own house at Bandra and the germs of loving Bandra began to grow a d its been ten years staying in our next home at Bandra Reclamation.

And Bandra keeps growing on me the Bazar and all the bylanes of Chapel Road Waroda Road that I pass by on my walks ...I am 're discovering the beauty of Bandra and Bandra has to be felt deep inside your soul ...Bandra is an emotion fulfilling the peace within Bandra is my prayer it keeps my family blessed ...Bandra has not made me overtly Muslim simply in the way I think ..I am happy with my faith perhaps not as indomitable as yours I keep away from Mosques ..I find my God where I want to find him .
I am not come here to preach I have come here to do my time and go away ..I do not want to be you at all keep your religion your faith I can't walk your path perhaps my destination is not the Heaven where you will continue with your sexual gratifications nubile virgins are not for I will be happy to leave my heart my eyes my liver ticking away in another man's body ..yes i am a beliver of God and man I am happy in my heresy it leads me to the doors of my inner peace I could not be an atheist but I am happy of what is on my plate I think dear friend my 3 hour walk for me is a catharsis unlike your prayer .

You don't feed or clothe me you don't take care of my family we are happy and we wish your happiness too ...take care .

Happy Morning ...your words have given me the strength to walk from Bandra to Juhu to prove my point though my legs are hurting like mad
..I shall pray as I walk for over 4 hours or more .

I complete a walk of 21 Km in 7 hours from Bandra To Juhu To Versova ..back to Juhu Beach Danda and Khar ..

I left my house at 5.30 am walked from Bandra Bazar to Linking Road Santa Cruz ,, from Santa Cruz I entered Juhu beach from the Wasaba end was shocked to see the Kali Temple on the beach here that I had shot during Visarjan has been completely destroyed ,, I walked till the end of Juhu met my friend Raju Thapar walked beyond Mora fishing village ,,I crossed the creek that separates Versova from Juhu ,, reached the other end through ankle deep waters .. shot the methi farms and Versova beach is nothing but a open air toilet I shot videos too,, I reached the Beach Classic end ,,,walked out of this horrendous beach that has a huge mass of illegal structures next to the Versova slums also on the beach..

I asked somebody to shoot me near my dear friend Aalim Hakim s salon at Versova and walked from here till Lokhandwala Circle I again returned to Juhu Beach through Ruia Road Godrej Bunglow ,

I shot some more videos ,, I was not tired I had eaten on this long walk two packets of Monaco biscuits 2 apples and drunk 3 small bottles of water ..from here I walked back till Danda crossed the bridge that connects Juhu to Danda ,,.. I pushed myself from Danda and reached Ambedkar Road Khar I was tired now my legs were hurting badly ,, from here I took a riickshah back home ,, I had burnt over 1300 calories,,,,

Yacht Restaurant Was The Boozers Noahs Ark .

Inside in a dungeon of sorrow
Drinking away the pain the poet
Caught in his misery woefully stark
Among his fellow drinkers bilious
In a deserted park ..puffy faces bloodshot eyes hollow cheeks that the angel of Death had marked cheap smell of Charms ..a guy smoked a reefer ....spectral light
Entered the crevices shadow play
In the dark....The empty chakna plate ...of the Municipal clerk ..
In another corner whirling away his time Bruno giving Lester a holistic talk...his crutches watching sadly a few shots without the same crutches miraculously he could walk ...faces hollow masks painted in deathly chalk .

Painted Walls of Bandra

Bandra is beautiful in spite of the overspilling garbage ..but I now see it positively as Fine Art ..I promote Swach Bharat as Fine Art ..I don't live in Simla Srinagar or Kumaon I have in my 65 years never seen or touched snow not even in Vancouver when I was there for a film shoot at Stanley Park.
I used to call myself a blogger but I refuse to be one anymore I can't fuck your mind trumpeting hackneyed blog phrases ..nor do I want to be associated with blog forums or blog railway like platforms .
I shoot the poetry of life and resurrection of dreams in a man's life ..I show you what you see in life everyday but sadly it does not register as an emotion or as poetry on your deadpan inner consciousness...
I love food but I stay a million miles away from the world of food bloggers ..their love for food is merely contagious as pictorial representation only .
The only food blogger with a caustic acidic tongue I like is my son like Assad Dadan. ..he makes you feel food..in a real good way.
Well I am digressing I shoot painted walls of Bandra that have no ears only eyes they see you penetratingly deeper than you see them ..than there are friends who love to cock tease you with delightful food pictures but never once invite you home ..and when they do than you realize you are suffering from water oozing diarrhea ...just my frickin fucked bad luck.
I get a bad dose of shut the fuck of from my wife ...for many reasons on my relationship with beggars I give them too much money and importance she says ..I spend too much time walking and so on and on ...and why do I shoot the same feasts places same people over and over again..I shut the fuck up so now I conveniently shoot on my mobile phone till date over 8000 images on my HTC desire 826 bought in June .
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This is Nagrana lane a tiny walking lane that connects Hill Road to Waroda Road of Rustic Bandra ..and I like this beggar lady she does not ask me for Money but I always give her substantially. ..and I have never talked to her or tried to find out what bought her here begging for a living ..and these are not street pictures or street art but street stories ...I will video shoot her one day .
Share her story with all of you .
I do not read books or watch movies I shoot the story of life ..this is what interests me real life and no make believe world for me .
I refuse to sit in a movie hall for 3 hours ...and I hope I am in good shape to walk from Bandra to Juhu and back tomorrow ..I will carry my DSLR ..for a change to get a larger picture of Life as it touched me through the Quintessential Third Eye Of Shiva .