The Ultimate Hustle

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“If you want something from an audience, you give blood to their fantasies.
It’s the ultimate hustle.”
(Marlon Brando – American actor, 1924-2004)

This is a portrait of Bollywood actor, anchor and dancer, Hussain Kuwajerwala shot in his green room after a performance on stage.

Hussain is a popular TV star who is acting the leading role of the first-ever Bollywood musical, “Zangoora, The Gypsy Prince” at Kingdom of Dreams since 2010.

Recently we have been working together and it was amazing to see how much Hussain is giving to the audience.
His performance requires an incredible physical effort and concentration which he carries with a high professionalism.
In many ways his work reminds of Marlon Brando’s early movies.

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Rummaged Souls

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“Rummaging in our souls, we often dig up something that ought to have lain there unnoticed.”
(From “Anna Karenina” by Leo Tolstoy)

Those men are ship carpenters working all day along the Ganges in Varanasi (Benaras).

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A Song, A Dream, A Whisper

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“You are the answer to every prayer I’ve offered.
You are a song, a dream, a whisper, and I don’t know how I could have lived without you for as long as I have.”
(From “The Notebook” by Nicholas Sparks)

Early in the morning this lady lit up a diya (candle) at Dasaswamedh ghat and let the holy waters of the Ganges carry away her prayer as if it was a song, a dream, a whisper…

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In God’s Hands

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“I have held many things in my hands, and I have lost them all; but whatever I have placed in God’s hands, that I still possess”
(Martin Luther – German Priest and Scholar whose questioning led to the Protestant Reformation, 1483-1546)

Three ladies were performing a puja at Gay ghat at the feet of the big statue of Nandi which stands in front of several Shiva ligams.
We were alone and they smiled at me, the day was rising up among a heavy mist.
I didn’t want to disturb that moment but they insisted that I took some pictures, they seemed to be happy.

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The Dream Girl

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“To be a star is to own the world and all the people in it.
After a taste of stardom, everything else is poverty.”
(Hedy Lamarr – Hollywood actress, 1913-2000)

This is a portrait of Bollywood actress Gauhar Khan shot in her green room after a performance on stage.

Gauhar is known for her prominent role in “Rocket Singh: Salesman of the Year” (2009) and for the item song “Parda Parda” in “Once Upon a Time in Mumbaai” (2010).
In 2009 she participated in a popular celebrity dance show, ” Jhalak Dikhhla Jaa” where she ended up as the runner up.
Since 2010, she joined the cast of the Bollywood musical, “Zangoora, The Gypsy Prince” at Kingdom of Dreams.
She is also featuring with her sister Nigaar in the popular TV show “The Khan Sisters” which started in 2011.
Recently we have been working together and I was surprised by the absolute professionalism and the positive attitude and energy she carries with herself.

Gauahar in “Parda Parda” from “Once Upon a time in Mumbai”, 

Gauahar in “Jhalla Wallah” from the new movie “Ishaqzaade”, 

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My Name is Khan

“Rizwan Khan: My name is Khan, and I am not a terrorist.”
(from movie “My Name Is Khan”, 2010)

Today for the second time Shah Rukh Khan has been detained by the US border control, presumably because of his last name.
The Bollywood superstar was detained at a New York airport for over two hours by immigration officials after arriving from India in a private plane with Nita Ambani, to address students at Yale University.
While Nita, wife of Reliance Industries Chairman Mukesh Ambani, and the rest of their group were cleared immediately, Khan was stopped and was given immigration clearance only after about two hours, sources told PTI.
The US customs and border protection authorities expressed profound apologies for the Shah Rukh Khan detention incident.
Meanwhile there is a strong reaction to this detention in India, mostly from politicians on Indian TV news…
Later Shah Rukh Khan joked about it with the students of Yale University: “Whenever I start feeling arrogant about myself, I always take a trip to America. The immigration guys kick the star out of stardom.”

It also echoes another quote from the movie, “My Name Is Khan”:
“Razia Khan: Remember one thing, son. There are only two kinds of people in this world. Good people who do good deeds. And bad people who do bad. That’s the only difference in human beings. There’s no other difference. Understood? What did you understand? Tell me. Tell me
Rizwan Khan: Good people. Bad people. No other difference. “
There is inedeed no other difference…this detention shows it well…;)
View On Black

www.ndtv.com/video/player/news/shah-rukh-khan-now-a-chubb…

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A Certain Instinct

“There is in the human body a certain instinct for what is beneficial to us, as there is in the heart for what is our moral duty, an instinct which no authorisation by a doctor of medecine or divinity can replace.
We know that cold baths are bad for us, but we like them: we can always find a doctor to recommend them, not to prevent them from doing us harm.”
(from “The Captive” by Marcel Proust – French novelist, 1871-1922)

This man was stepping into the cold holy waters of the Ganges at Lal ghat in Varanasi (Benaras)…
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“Il y a dans notre corps un certain instinct de ce qui nous est salutaire, comme dans le cœur de ce qui est le devoir moral, et qu’aucune autorisation du docteur en médecine ou en théologie ne peut suppléer.
Nous savons que les bains froids nous font mal, nous les aimons, nous trouverons toujours un médecin pour nous les conseiller, non pour empêcher qu’ils ne nous fassent mal.”
(“La Prisonnière” de Marcel Proust – Ecrivain français 1871-1922)

Cet homme pénétrait dans les eaux glacées et sacrées du Ganges en bas de Lal ghat à Benares…
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What You Seek

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“The place you seek, is seeking you.
The place you need, needs you.
Divine Principle brings need and supply together for mutual good.
God wisely, and intelligently, and lovingly controls, guides, protects, prospers, and blesses this union of His idea (man) and this normal joyous activity (work).”
(Mary Baker Eddy – American author and founder of Christian Science, 1821-1910)

This man took a bath at Tulsi ghat among the milkmen who often come there to wash their metal jugs in the holy waters of the Ganges.
According the Vedas this place is the navel of the universe.
Benaras is so special to many of us, what you seek there is also what is seeking you…
“What you seek is seeking you.” (Rumi – Persian Poet, 1207-1273)

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In the River of Teachings

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“The Guru is the ocean, and all His Teachings are the river. Bathing within it, glorious greatness is obtained.”
(Sri Guru Granth Sahib, or Adi Granth, the religious text of Sikhism)

This man was having a ritual bath in the holy waters of the Ganges in Varanasi (Benaras).
It was early in the morning, the water was cold and the back lighting was providing an amazing atmosphere which can only be seen in winter.

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The Beauty of the Flower

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“By plucking her petals, you do not gather the beauty of the flower.”
(Rabindranath Tagore – Indian Poet, Playwright and Essayist, Won the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1913, 1861-1941)

At sunrise many women spread their sarees along the Ganges after washing them.
They look huge petals of extraordinary flowers which bring life to the awaking ghats.
This festival of colours and patterns becomes a treat for the lense of a photographer and a tribute to femininity…

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