The Beggars From W Bengal
posted at FB
Maybe I am naieve but this beggar from Malda could have gone and begged at Kolkatta much nearer to his home than coming miles away to beg on a street below my house at Bandra.
What made him come to Bandra maybe the other beggars from his home town told him about their experience at Bandra.
And mind you this Bandra where I live is not the pedigree Bandra of the rich and famous.
But it as famous it is Hope for the migrant beggars.
The hospitality of Bandra is the main criteria that they come here to beg.. Let me clarify these beggars don't live in Bandra but some distant slums of Mumbai.
But they reach here by 6 am yesterday my lane saw more beggars so this man left his space and was begging outside Rolex hair cutting salon.
He always greets me with a congenial smile he is not out of the woods but he is happy.
Most of these beggars from W Bengal carry a mobile phone after business hours you can see them in a corner talking animatedly to their loved ones.
And there will be a deluge hordes of beggars come to Bandra before the Ramzan Moon.
Ramzan is the beggars Urus it is the beggars month of Hope and God appeases them through his Muslim followers.
What endears God to beggars during Ramzan he likes their humility their compassionate nature and that unlike the lazy Muslim who searches for an excuse not to fast the beggars fast to invoke God's mercy.
For me shooting beggars is my way of honing my thoughts and the poetry of my life.
I mean with malice to none I would rather shoot beggars and garbage than run around celebrities.. I will not shoot frivolous silhouettes sunsets nature trails.. I might shoot urban landscape urban chaos misery but that is it.
Both me and my camera think alike I have humanized the soul of my camera it bleeds during Moharam it gets excited by the chants of Har Har Mahadev.
It gets nostalgic at St Peters Church listening to the melody of the Latin Mass by Fr Jaun my Jesuit godfather and Guru.
Fr Juan takes credit in opening eyes and hearts of both my photo shooting granddaughters with Ave Maria and Jesus.
So shooting a beggar cleanses my soul of pride ego and arrogance.
Being Human is certainly not being Salman Khan bring human is surrendering to the Will of God.
I know my audience has moved I had no choice I am not crazy flaunting my humility as a photographer with 5000 Facebook friends. For me less is more.
I thank all of you for following me I get a bit more creative here at Facebook than at Twitter or Flickr.
But I will fly the coop I get claustrophobic at Facebook I get asthmatic at Facebook it has always been this way.
Happy Morning from Bandra.
Later in the day I have the dentist appointment a reminder that even Rs 100 paya at Pehalvi Irani restaurant Bandra Bazar road can cost Rs 15000 asymmetrically .
I have just come back all wet in sweat after playing tennis and all the Municipal water department people are surrounding our building it has had no water since yesterday water came in late night for a few minutes only.
And my building is home of our local MLA esteemed Advocate Ashish Shelar also President of Mumbai BJP.
One tweet on Twitter about our buildings Ester problem and tagging our MLA can bring some action.
What happens to the poor who don't have a local MLA living in their building and those who have no knowledge of using twitter.
The Beggars From W Bengal
posted at FB
Maybe I am naieve but this beggar from Malda could have gone and begged at Kolkatta much nearer to his home than coming miles away to beg on a street below my house at Bandra.
What made him come to Bandra maybe the other beggars from his home town told him about their experience at Bandra.
And mind you this Bandra where I live is not the pedigree Bandra of the rich and famous.
But it as famous it is Hope for the migrant beggars.
The hospitality of Bandra is the main criteria that they come here to beg.. Let me clarify these beggars don't live in Bandra but some distant slums of Mumbai.
But they reach here by 6 am yesterday my lane saw more beggars so this man left his space and was begging outside Rolex hair cutting salon.
He always greets me with a congenial smile he is not out of the woods but he is happy.
Most of these beggars from W Bengal carry a mobile phone after business hours you can see them in a corner talking animatedly to their loved ones.
And there will be a deluge hordes of beggars come to Bandra before the Ramzan Moon.
Ramzan is the beggars Urus it is the beggars month of Hope and God appeases them through his Muslim followers.
What endears God to beggars during Ramzan he likes their humility their compassionate nature and that unlike the lazy Muslim who searches for an excuse not to fast the beggars fast to invoke God's mercy.
For me shooting beggars is my way of honing my thoughts and the poetry of my life.
I mean with malice to none I would rather shoot beggars and garbage than run around celebrities.. I will not shoot frivolous silhouettes sunsets nature trails.. I might shoot urban landscape urban chaos misery but that is it.
Both me and my camera think alike I have humanized the soul of my camera it bleeds during Moharam it gets excited by the chants of Har Har Mahadev.
It gets nostalgic at St Peters Church listening to the melody of the Latin Mass by Fr Jaun my Jesuit godfather and Guru.
Fr Juan takes credit in opening eyes and hearts of both my photo shooting granddaughters with Ave Maria and Jesus.
So shooting a beggar cleanses my soul of pride ego and arrogance.
Being Human is certainly not being Salman Khan bring human is surrendering to the Will of God.
I know my audience has moved I had no choice I am not crazy flaunting my humility as a photographer with 5000 Facebook friends. For me less is more.
I thank all of you for following me I get a bit more creative here at Facebook than at Twitter or Flickr.
But I will fly the coop I get claustrophobic at Facebook I get asthmatic at Facebook it has always been this way.
Happy Morning from Bandra.
Later in the day I have the dentist appointment a reminder that even Rs 100 paya at Pehalvi Irani restaurant Bandra Bazar road can cost Rs 15000 asymmetrically .
I have just come back all wet in sweat after playing tennis and all the Municipal water department people are surrounding our building it has had no water since yesterday water came in late night for a few minutes only.
And my building is home of our local MLA esteemed Advocate Ashish Shelar also President of Mumbai BJP.
One tweet on Twitter about our buildings Ester problem and tagging our MLA can bring some action.
What happens to the poor who don't have a local MLA living in their building and those who have no knowledge of using twitter.