I complete 116,006 photo blogs at Flickr in 32 months 755,478 views

I complete 116,006 photo blogs at Flickr in 32 months 755,478 views, originally uploaded by firoze shakir photographerno1.

My Kama Matam Chehlum Mumbai 2010

My Kama Matam Chehlum Mumbai 2010, originally uploaded by firoze shakir photographerno1.

Tandav on The Soul of Shimr Dance of Death

Tandav on The Soul of Shimr Dance of Death, originally uploaded by firoze shakir photographerno1.

My Kama Matam Chehlum Mumbai 2010

My Kama Matam Chehlum Mumbai 2010, originally uploaded by firoze shakir photographerno1.

115,343 items / 752,483 views

All the pictures in this set were shot today on my camera by Habib Nasser , the founder of the Iraqi Kama Matam in Mumbai .

I had come to document the Chehlum events at Moghul Masjid and the juloos started from Imamwada lane close to JJ Hospital.

I did my kama matam near Noor Baugh..Tandav on the Soul of Shimr.. This time I leapt into the air and cut my head fiercely..I bled a lot , and later got myself first aid just a wash with water and bandage .

Once the Juloos reached Rehmatabad Shia cemetery ,and once the matam began I removed the bandage and cut myself up again with my camera dangling round my neck..my white coffin cloth that I wore was totally bloodied ..once the hardcore matam ended with Habib cutting his back with a sword I walked to a first aid center organized by the Prince Ali Khan Hospital and got myself bandaged again only water ..I threw away the coffin cloth as I did not want to shock my two year old grand daughter Marziya..

On reaching home ans seeing my bandaged head, she kept inquiring what had happened and I took a picture with her holding my kama..on her head..picture was taken by her dad Asif..

I have one regret most of my Rehmatabad cemetery pictures are washed out as blood entered my camera through the viewfinder and my lens too were soaked in blood..

And I shall now keep all my other stuff on hold .

This is a 7 GB card shot in a few hours.

Gods Home is In A Childs Eyes

Gods Home is In A Childs Eyes, originally uploaded by firoze shakir photographerno1.

beyond spirituality
beyond fire and brimstone
beyond heaven and hell
beyond earth and skies
gods home in a childs eyes
beneath the mothers feet
lies paradise
truth that bigotry
loves to disguise
wisely foolish
foolishly wise
using the
power of hate
on the soul of humanity
as a blasting device
politicians and religious
leaders fight
the unborn child
pays the price
universal peace
was the message
of the mahatma
also the message
of jesus christ

She is a girl child who lives among the hijras of Gopal Haji and Babita at Haji Malang..

Ma Madhurima Hijra Gurus House

Ma Madhurima Hijra Gurus House, originally uploaded by firoze shakir photographerno1.

The Preparation of the Niyaz for the Hijras

The Preparation of the Niyaz for the Hijras, originally uploaded by firoze shakir photographerno1.

Niyaz at Haji Malang

Niyaz at Haji Malang, originally uploaded by firoze shakir photographerno1.

115,160 items / 751,089 views

This was a Niyaz being cooked by the Hijras belonging to the fold of Ma Madhurima Guru who was held up in Hyderabad so Heena Hijra and her guru Lakshmi from Peela House was calling the shots.

I shared my meals with them and shot Heena after a very long time.

The cook who makes the nyaz has a flourishing business , as there is Niyaz happening everywhere , and the food is given to the poor too…

At Haji Malang you can hardly go hungry.

My Tryst With The Hijras

My Tryst With The Hijras, originally uploaded by firoze shakir photographerno1.

She is a very senior most Hijra Guru, and I have shot her when I came to Haji Malang for the first time, I was not into hjra photography at all, even the pictures I shot that time perhaps in 2004- 2005 I did not post .

My genre was photo journalism as an analogue photographer pictures I shot and along with my two Gurus late Prof BW Jatkar and Mr KG Maheshwari sent to the various salons national international.

Once I became a blogger the rules of my photography changed , I changed too, pictures gave birth to words words that got baptized as poems of my pedestrian pathos.

I came to Haji Malang to give pictures of Late Sikandar Wali Baba head of the Chancawali Rafaees , that I had shot in Mumbai, I walked the mountains but I wore slippers and my feet were burnt having walked on fire a day before I made this trek – the fire matam , my back was badly bruised as I had scourged myself it was during Moharam.

I came to the Dhuni , Ahmed Ghadiali Chowk owned by Shabbo Bhai of Chor Bazar and his family.

It was here that Laxmi Narayan Triipathi my friend since 11 years , we had lost touch, spotted me and hugged me .. thus began my tryst with Hijra photography as a blogger ..

And than last year Laxmi took me under her wings as her disciple , to ease and save me from hijras who hate photographers dressed like me , they think I am a Shaman and will steal their androgynous souls.

So when I look back in retrospection I have come a very long way …the first hijras I shot and made stories about were the hijras of Matunga and Mori Road , I would shoot these hijra prostitutes hidden from their view in my car, and my wife thought I was plumb crazy , she sat on the back seat.. watching my pictorial natak.

Now the slums that they lived in have been totally destroyed the hijras and the slum residents relocated to Mankhurd I am told.

Than when Laxmi Narayan Tripathi and Shaheen Raksha came to my house to meet my wife and daughter Samiya , my family understood the angst the life of the hijra.

My wife and Laxmi get along very well , the only person in my family who has not met Laxmi is Marziya my 2 year old grand daughter .

But Marziya has seen the hijras , Reshma of Lal Mitti, and now when she sees me posting their pictures she sees them and than tells me cool as a cucumber ..Dada yeh Hijra hai…so this is my story and Marziyas too..

And I have decided to post the Hijra stuff shot at Haji Malang , after Chehlum..

Dargah of Sultan Shah Baba Haji Malang

Dargah of Sultan Shah Baba Haji Malang, originally uploaded by firoze shakir photographerno1.

115,107 items / 750,522 views

Because of Moharam, these Qawwals were reciting mournful Qawwali , narrating the Martyrdom of Imam Hussain and cursing Yazid too in their kalam, I was in tears listening to their message of lyrical peace through Hussain.

And when they started Bhar De Jholi I could not hold myself back, I just broke all the chains of convention and went into a trance , my feet as light as butterfly floated in the air, yes I had wings as my soul rotated round the husk of my flesh, I was neither here nor there , I was whispering in the winds and whirling round and round and round I finally collapsed on the floor..

This was the first whirling trance I experienced and there was no restriction of space, no crowds just me the Qawwals and the Holy Saint Sultan Shah Baba in attendance to a frozen moment that was melting into my consciousness..