Navratri Khamkhya Temple Assam

Courtesy Jyoti A Deka Guwahati

The Jilted Lovers Tale

One sided love that
miserably failed .
for just a glimpse
her compound gates
he scaled ..
with her thoughts
his inner angry
restless soul
he regaled
but she was a
proud arrogant
haughty conceited
female ..
her stalked her
he followed her
the scent of her
trail..her pouted
lips her kohl laden
eyes she hid behind
a veil..her father got
her married to the son
of his business partner
another love story
derailed ..

he cut his wrist
survived this crazy
demented male

six months he spent in jail
for extortion blackmail

loves labor lost an ode to a nightingale

He was in Pain Only I Could Hear His Cry

sitting outside the lane of Mumbadevi temple
he begged silently just his piercing eyes ..
he was besieged by his humility ..he looked 
wizened wise ..he was searching for hope
but hope was stalking the other side of
the street in disguise ..

I gave him money told him to buy a meal and he thanked me .
I thanked him too he taught me a lesson.. on survival on introspection and added words of poetry to this picture ,.

Beggars In The Train

begging for alms
hands outstretched
they make you feel 
their misery their pain
held captive to a beggar
god ..enslaved inhumanly
in chains ..
yearning for every morsel
of grain..suffering in silence
they dont ever complain
the only place you wont find
beggars is in aeroplanes
brand manager sharing space
with beggar hijras our beggars
in Indian Railway Trains
they could be used during
elections visiting houses
with pamphlets of our netaji
in future campaigns ,,

first to understand the story of
Indian beggars you need to be humane

use your heart not your fucked brain

The Marathi Manoos A Day After #GudiPadwa

the new year came saffron flags all gone
he is is a poor Marathi Manoos searching for a
new dawn ..his struggles are not over ..is he a 
farmer who stayed behind after the Farmers March
let bygones be bygones says the wily politician.
another scam waiting to be spawned ..
after all its only the politician who has the magical wand
aloof and withdrawn...
his wife's jewelry his farming land like the farmer
he does not have to pawn...

farmer suicides go on and on... and on

#GudiPadwa 2018 Girgaum.. Hope And Hindutva

This is the first time as a photographer that I was shooting the Maharashtrian New Year at Girgaum the earliest iconic  stronghold of the Marathi Manoos.

I mostly shot Gudi Padwa at Murud Janjira when I went there to shoot the bullock cart races .. now the sports is banned in Maharashtra so I came here to shoot this colorful event ,,..












All photos of Gudi Padwa at  Flickr 

First Time in 13 Year I Miss the Urus at Ajmer Sharif

I first visited Ajmer Urus in 2005 along with Ajmer Urus I shot Taragadh and Pushkar ...

This year I could not make it for Chadiyan annual pilgrimage walk of the Malangs that starts from Bu Shah Qalandar Panipat and Kalliar Sharif Uttarkhand and all the malangs rafaees qalandaris meet at Dargah Bakhtiar Kaki move to Ajmer on foor over 550 km in 13 days ,,,

I was to start from Panipat along with Haji Masoom Ali Qalandari and his son my hardcore fan Mehtab.

I had taken a film staring Danny sab that has been delayed I could not move out ,,much as I tried .

I thought  I would go for a few days to shoot the Urus 2018 but than Khwajah ji wanted me to shoot the Farmers March and do Mr Pehlaj Nihalinis film and my meeting with Chichi Govinda at ND Studios Karjat was very important moment in my life .. we were meeting after more than 15 years .

And Pehlajji is family I did his  film Andhi Toofan directed by B Subhash I did Dannyjis  look and costume.

I worked with him for many films from his Chiragdeep International.

And this image was shot in 2006 when I visited the Grave of the Hijra Saint and his biological son near Taragadh I had climbed the rocky mountains barefeet.

I have learned so much from God that I can no longer call myself a Christian, a Hindu, a Muslim, a Buddhist, a Jew. The Truth has shared so much of Itself with me that I can no longer call myself a man, a woman, an angel, or even a pure Soul. Love has befriended me so completely it has turned to ash and freed me of every concept and image my mind has ever known.
Hafez