Shah ast Hussain (as)

The Shias of Hyderabad, originally uploaded by firoze shakir photographerno1.

The Shias of Hyderabad are very intense and emotional about Imam Hussain..
Ghame Hussain is the underlying current that sweeps them off their feet,and they flow with the tide of their ancestral heritage.
They are one inspite of their social differences, the rich the poor all captured in the web of Faith..mostly the Hyderabadis wear black, for two months eight days..
I shot Ashura and Chehlum,2004.
Donning their skin tight sherwanis the older population attends majlis ,and are the guiding light to the younger generation.

There is Adab and Tehzeeb, it comes naturally , this is a cultured race, extremely polite and helpful.
The Nizams heritage is there in the monuments also in the changing times.

Ashura be it the Bibi ka Alam Juloos or the Matam at the Bargah of Hazrat Abbas , the Hyderabadi is in the forefront he cuts his head as you might be cutting watermelons, excuse the quintessential simile , but its all bounder to their Shia spiritualfervour andancestry of Pain that one calls Ghame Hussain..
No pain bigger than the pain of Hussain.
Come Chehlum the same fervour exists and the crowds, all reach out to each other.

The Hyderabadi is a blade cutting man, every chest of a Shia youngster bears the mark of his ritualism of coming of age…on the flesh of his chest.

Every Shia head has a hairless gash..that you cant ever miss..

There are Shias all over India who are as are intense but Hyderabadi intensity is poetic and passionate..
You cannot miss the contribution of the migrant Shia Irani now a part of the Indian cultural ethos, he is there feeding the poor, be it in Hyderabad or Hussaintekri.

These ae personal observations, the older lot are stubborn and overbearing , hate photographers dressed like me..
But than on introspection very few Shia photographers dress like me..
I send out the wrong signal, inspte of my sartorial austerity during Ashura and Chehlum..

I wear totaly black and no jewellery during Ashura or Chehlum..
I am barefeet all Moharam.
But yes I dress to kill on Navi or Eid e Zehra..

I am like a Xmas tree on a Diwali day.
And so pass of as a Shia Pandit, saffronized soul of a Shia man..who shoots the soul of Hinduism with the same ease as I shoot my own faith.

And today is my 13 th fast, morning will see me dressed in saffron shooting the Ganesh Visarjan, following Lal Bagh Cha Raja all night to Girgaum Chowpatty.. early next morning …

I shall break my fast in the procession..

All this not for selling pictures, but sharing the unique soulful compatibility of being an Indian..
Yes be a Muslim or any ethnicity it is a blessing in disguise being born an Indian..

My photostream at Flickr is evidence of the open windows of my soul that let in fresh air of the place of my birth.. my nativity .

I hope to die with a camera in my hand..the camera truly an instrument of Peace and Harmony..that poetically wordlessly records the emotions the turbulence of the human soul.
Have Camera cant Travel.

Posted by photographerno1 on 13 Sep 2008
Filed Under: shiasm | No Comments »

Bibi Ka Alam Hyderabad 2004, originally uploaded by firoze shakir photographerno1.

Every city has its uniqueness as part of its Moharam mosaic.
In Lucknw it is the Chup Tazia procession in Athvi ,from Shia Girls College Nakhas to Kazmain,with elephants camel as a juloos known as the Amary.
In Mumbai it is the Ashura and Chehlum processions..from JJ Corner to Rehmatabad Shia Cemetery.
In Delhi it is the White Tazia that is carried a distance of 21 km from Juma Masjid to Shah e Marda Shia cemetery.. in Chehlum and the Black Tazia in Ahvi..covering the same distance and the same destination..

In Hyderabad on Ashura day it is the Bibi ka Alam carred on the back of an elephant, with precious jewels , huge security, both the Hindu as well as the majority community participate in this Shia procession.
The Mutawalli of the Bibi ka Alawa is a Sunni gentleman.
This was captured on slide in 2004, I have never posted these pictures before , as I mostly shot slides for salon participation.

So now with the Epson V500 scanner I am bringing out pictorial memories , my earlist tryst with photography..there is nothing great about these pictures in terms of technique or spectral quaity, but these are photojournalistic wanderings of a tribal spirit ..
I followed the Bibi Ka Alam and just before it reached Charminar , I handed my camera bag to Sajjad Hussain a police constable , a Shia, and stripping to my waist cut open my back with 24 “steel blades..

This was my Moharam, as I visited city to city the pain and pathos of Shiasm..

I carried a lot of film, two camera bodies both Nikon, shot slides, color and sometimes monochrome..
But BW does not give the richness of blood, the other problem is the entire scenario is in a sea of black clothes that cause havoc with camera readings if you dont compensate accordingly.

All my stfuf was processed manually even the slides at Vishal Bhendes lab.

Than came digital and everything changed..I stepped on the gas accelerating my life towards photo blogging.

Posted by photographerno1 on 13 Sep 2008
Filed Under: shiasm | No Comments »