Restless Ritu On The Prowl, originally uploaded by firoze shakir photographerno1.

Ritu had recently come to my house with Nishi hot Babe a cross dresser , they wanted to see their pictures and meet my family, my wife and my daughter Samiya.
Ritu was dressed as a male but could still excite the human senses..I have been shooting Ritu for quite some time she was a bar dancer till the government banned this trade in Maharashtra , this really hit them in the guts as families depended on their earnings.. things went from bad to worse some made it others died on the way..

Ritu kept her head and this poem is my tribute to her grit her determination and to make it in life ..And now you should sometimes read the text unwritten beneath my pictures of the Hijras, yes I shoot hijras with a divine poetic passion , I have been approached by people for Hijra coffee books I am not interested..I do this without profit or gain, I show you Hijras in a way nobody will ever show , with scars , with wounds all hidden behind their gaudy make up of pain..this is for Facebook readers..I am a heterosexual happily married male.. hijra is the poison .. I drink as a photographer..

serenity
silently serenading
surreptitiously lets out a growl
restless ritu on the prowl
her mind as wise as the owl
once a bar dancing hijra
time befouled
gang raped by politics
as she howled

My Name is Mona Darling, originally uploaded by firoze shakir photographerno1.

my name is mona darling
unforgettable my sting
a man a woman
on a swing
a knave a queen and king
joys of another kind
i bring
like a leech sucking
your sexuality
i cling
once i have used you
out of the window
your love i will fling
a memory you wont forget
above all things
humiliating
the sanctity
of your so called
wedding ring

Mona’s Mystique, originally uploaded by firoze shakir photographerno1.

mona a hijra
in waiting
so to speak
monalicious
carnivorous
but gentle and meek
she has what you seek
monas love monas mystique
holding the best of you
cheek to cheek

The Buxom Beauty of Mumbai – Hijra Outlook, originally uploaded by firoze shakir photographerno1.

born
in the husk of a male body
dont judge the cover
of this book
the buxom beauty of mumbai
hijra outlook
a splendorous dish
that god did not cook
for a moment
he too was confused
a woman he mistook
reflecting his shortcomings
as an androgynous face
in the brook
he is what she is
by stealth by hook or by crook
a diva a prima donna
within the pages of style book

Drummer Boy of Peela House, originally uploaded by firoze shakir photographerno1.

These are the quintessential drummer boys of Peela House , thy live in this area but they earn during the various urus in the city and the city outskirts , most of them are very good looking and are adopted by the hijra whores as toy boys..they have a great equation with the hijra samaj and can earn a princely sum in a single day..shooting this area dressed as I am has its heart aches too, I am barefeet, but thanks to Heena hijra Ihave been saved from being beaten up by the whores and the pimps..

Young teenagers from various parts of India come here to become a vibrant part of the story of the hijras..a story does the rounds here , many years back a Sikh child was kidnapped and bought here , she was a hermaphrodite , and became the reigning queen of this area , her pictures hang on the walls of these houses , but she disappeared one fine day..

Every hijra room has the story of the ancestors on the walls, they are rememebered each year or during the All India hijra Sammelans.

But the most intriguing and spiritually defying is the HIjra Bawa , who has renounced theworld of decaying flesh and does dua tawiz,,the hijra bawas are found at Char Yar Ajmer..

I dnt know why God chose me as a Sutradar to tell the story of the hijra..I dont run after the hijras but they are shown to me ..like a divine light..

I have this month not seen a hijra and one day they will come out from the creaking walls of my mind ///

Because of my work, I hardly have to time to go and shoot the hijras , I have not gone to the red light area either..but I will meet them we are androgynouly locked in eacjh others destiny..There are hijras at Lal Mitti Bandra , at Navpada and at Behrampada..the most famous hijra of Lal Mitti began life as Asif and gradually became a Hijra known as Reshma..his toy boy is a good kid , looks like Sallubhai..

This post was text less till I voluptuously added words to the flesh of my thoughts..

Shooting The Hijra Ethos, originally uploaded by firoze shakir photographerno1.

100,743 items / 628,303 views

a rebel
without a cause
a rolling stone
gathering moss
shooting
a treacherous terrain
hijra ethos
murdered masculinity
pretensions of a candyfloss
a poetic petulance and a pause
demystifying delusions
gender chaos
passion and pathos
a eunuch carrying
his androgynous cross
what goes down
must come across
two parallel lines
gone crisscross
testicular tragedy
gone for a toss

Mona The Child Eunuch, originally uploaded by firoze shakir photographerno1.

100,722 items / 625,600 views

The night she was born
her fucked fate
she could not duck
tears on the soul
of mona the child eunuch
handed over to
the hijra community
be her biological parents
androgynously
forever stuck
neither boy nor girl
neither this nor that
a counterfeit currency
pass the buck..
stuck between
two parallel lines
accursed life of bad luck
like a lotus trapped in muck
on her dainty feet
enchained to trinkets
moonstruck
dancing the dance of death
at the mercy
of her stomach
awestruck society
hardly cares two fucks
the other side of midnight
a flower waiting to be plucked

The Bar Dancer Hijra On The Run, originally uploaded by firoze shakir photographerno1.

100,721 items / 625,551 views

to safeguard the city
from terrorists
the bar dancers
were booted out
never to ever return
the bar dancer hijra on the run
her curse the ministers
life did upturn
26/11
while the city burnt
a lesson hardly learnt
he deserved what he earned
the hijra dancer spurned
a macabre conspiracy
of hate by those
who govern
sodomizing their lives
turn by turn
a deaf and mute society
unconcerned
case is adjourned

REKHA, 23, used to dance at Thane’s Valentina Bar before the authorities closed down dance bars and put her out of business.

But a new Bollywood film has raised hopes for her and others from Mumbai’s famous dance bars, of a possible career in cinema for which several have been cast.

In August, authorities of Maharashtra state, of which Mumbai is the capital, closed down the dance bars, saying they corrupt young men and breed crime and prostitution in India’s financial and entertainment hub.

PROSTITUTION

After the ban, many dancers went away to other states to find work while many more reportedly became prostitutes and thousands of others were left jobless.

‘The state’s decision has hit us hard,’ Rekha told the Indian Express. ‘Even those of us who were not into prostitution earlier have got into it – we just don’t have a choice.’

Rekha’s take-home pay is now a mere 200 rupees ($7.40) a day – a far cry form the 2,000 to 5,000 rupees she used to earn as a bar dancer.

But as a first step into the magic world of cinema, she doesn’t feel she’s done too badly.

Dozens like her have found work in the film Deepa Ki Tarannum, or Deepa’s Music, that tells the story of a bar dancer’s brush with crime, money and misery.

‘We decided to take in some 30 bar dancers because we thought they could best portray their lives,’ said Mr Ranjeet Sharma, the film’s producer.

The lead role in the film, scheduled for a May release, is being played by Preeti Jain, a Bollywood newcomer who hit the headlines last year for allegedly hiring a hitman to kill a filmmaker.

‘I’m excited (about the role) and I find it challenging,’ Preeti said. The male lead is played by Hyder Khan, the younger brother of Bollywood heartthrob Aamir Khan.

Bar dancers said they think the film could open a new employment avenue for them.

‘Since the ban, bar dancers have looked at Bollywood for work as junior artists. Looks like that option is opening up,’ said Ms Varsha Kale, spokesman of the Bar Girls’ Association.

‘More filmmakers are also hiring bar dancers for roles in their films. This is because bar dancers are ready performers.’

Mr Sharma, from 3’s Company, told the Indian Express he’s planning another film with former bar dancers getting parts to play.

‘I just approached these girls who were in distress and thought it would be better to take them into my story rather than do any research,’ he said.

‘They’ll be able to reflect their life better on celluloid than any actress.’

- (Reuters)

www.despardes.com/lifestyle/2006/20060112-bar-dancers.htm

dedicated to akbar simonese
monsoon lover aka sudip da

Monalicious, originally uploaded by firoze shakir photographerno1.

monalicious
strikingly cruel
very vicious
an uncooked dish
very delicious
its in the deep
end of life’s river
she fishes
for a good
husband
love peace hope harmony
to an unspeakable god
she wishes
sometimes a man
sometimes a woman
her dual identity she switches
in a competitive world of the hijra
her worldly assets she pitches
when he holds her
tenderly in her hands
its worth all the riches
but cruel fate
he picks up another
in the gutter her favors
he ditches
a hijra frailty
among hijra bitches.
a garden of doom
a cauldron of witches

Will The Hijra Ever Be Free ?, originally uploaded by firoze shakir photographerno1.

100,719 items / 621,953 views

gagged forever
bound to a
hate filled
discriminating
gender biased
society
will the hijra
ever be free ?
stigmatized
cursed
forever
by her
androgynous
ancestry
to be or not to be
a man with a soul
of a woman
a woman he cannot be
neither this nor that
his karmic destiny
an optical illusion of fate
he is not what you see
a mystical apparition
human and ghostly
enslaved
manacled
broken winged creature
from the burning fame
he cannot flee
a dance of doomed death
choreographing pain
involuntarily