From ‘No Money’ to ‘Harmony’

Mohammad Azaruddin in his new home, "Harmony"
(I shot yesterday for Getty Images).

People often ask me who inspires me.

I say, “Life”… people, places and everything in-between.

Yesterday was one such inspiring day that showed me what all life has to offer.

A day when a 'Slumdog' celebrated his new home, another, (born as one, in a humble dwelling in Gary, Indiana, fifty years ago), left behind all his worldly possessions, he had earned in the last forty stupendous years of his life, NEVER to LAND back to them again.

The former moved from the shanties of ‘Garib Nagar’ (which in Hindi simply means ‘the place of the poor and the downtrodden’) to a fully furnished flat minutes away from Mumbai’s domestic airport, and the latter, finally bid adieu to all that’s worldly, at the grandest Public Memorial Service the world has ever seen.

I saw one grow, right in front of my eyes, from the ‘Garib Nagar’ slums to ‘Harmony’ (the name of the flat he has earned from the 'Jai Ho' Trust, in one of the most expensive cities of the world), while the other’s priceless, meaningful harmonies made me grow into an artist, from afar.

May these pretty pictures of Mohammad Azaruddin, the young “Slumdog Millionaire” Star, and the momentous words of Michael Jackson ‘For You And For Me’, inspire us all, forever. ☺

“There's A Place In
Your Heart
And I Know That It Is Love
And This Place Could
Be Much
Brighter Than Tomorrow
And If You Really Try
You'll Find There's No Need
To Cry
In This Place You'll Feel
There's No Hurt Or Sorrow

There Are Ways
To Get There
If You Care Enough
For The Living
Make A Little Space
Make A Better Place...

Heal The World…”

(Lyrics from Michael Jackson’s “Heal the World”.)