Moharam in Hyderabad - Hussain Kothi 2004

For the Shia Hyderabadis people of Hyderabad, nothing is greater than Azadari e Hussain.

These people rich , poor underpriviliged the Nawab and the beggar have one important ingredient Tehzeeb..call it culture.

Adab or respect.. both these qualities are also a common factor with a twin city of Shiasm called Lucknow.

 

The Nizam of Hyderabad will never be forgotten, he has built some of the finest Shia monuments , same with the Nawabs of Avadh or Lucknow .

 

Though Hyderabad has a different dialect which differs linguistically from the sweetness of Lucknow Urdu.. both are exemplary in the devotion of Imam Hussain a unique quintessential quality called Ghame Hussain.

 

I had literally coaxed my wife a staunch Lucknowi to visit Hyderabad for Chehlum in 2004 Chehlum is the 40 th day of the Martyrdom of Imam Hussain, she loved the people the city of Hyderabad, but opted for a Lucknowi bride for my son Asif Shakir.

 

I dont blame her but for me Hyderabad is something special.

 

I love the people their humility and their life during Moharam, the sea of black clothes , the Bargah the Choti Bargah and a Shia policeman called Sajjad Hussain.

 

However I must digress though my simple hearted wife was very keen on a wife for my younger son Saif Shakir, she hunted Lucknow, inumerable trips finlly to my hearts solace found him a match in Amchi Mumbai.

 

So I wont be surprised its true Marriages take place in Heaven ..and its either one or the other in the menagerie that make it a Hell on Earth.. Divorce Sucks but necessity is the mother of Convention.

 

This event is the 8 Moharam procession at the seat of the noble Nawabs of Hyderabad, blue blood , royal ancestry and all..

Times have changed at Hussain Kothi , much has been lost to time and tide yet the progeny of the Nawabs keep the Chirag of Ahle Bayt alive with their devotion..both the kids and the older folks leave no stone unturned to make Moharam each year an unforgettable one..

But mind you there are crotchety conservative photography hating Nawabs too..there was this one who picked up my bag to throw it out during a Chehlum procession though I had taken permission from his son..luckily he was not from Nawab Kothi.

Well this is the flip side of Nawabi.. nothing personal.

There was one educated person who said photographs show Shias in a bad light, and the person knew I was all in black and a Shia.. yes I almost threw up.. my morning breakfast.

 

I dont need to scan old negatives at 6400 dpi, negatives that are badly gone but come alive as memories, thanks to this present of the Epson Scanner V 500 from an American Jew Dr Glenn Losack MD ..who came and shot Chehlum in Mumbai.. drenched in blood barefeet..

 

I had to literally stop him from using my sword to cut his forehead .

 

 

Yes this is an American quality they go berserk and sometimes to do the right thing..

This has got nothing to do with the choice of Vice President by Mr Mc Cain.

Dr Glenn Losack MD is an eminent psychiatrist from Manhattan New York but loves India immensely, he shot Moharam for the first time , he is very keen on shooting Moharam in Hyderabad, Lucknow and Hussain Tekri too.

 

He is the godfather figure of my 9 month old grand daughter Marziya Shakir.

 

His first present to her was the Powershot G9 a brilliant camera.. and Marziya was only 4 month old.

I use this camera till she grows up to to shoot with it too.

 

This was a textless picture but I elaborated it for a Flickr member Plasma Theory..

To show him my world beneath the emulsion as a Photo Blog..

 

I hope Rene from Indi Blogger has read this too..

 

 

Done