@ Dawn’ 09

I really hate to get a wake-up call either be it a mobile call or an alarm watch. This time, I got my dream cut shortened by my friend’s call. He screamed “Its dawn and get ready for Dawn’09”. Wonder “What’s Dawn 2009 ? “ … have a look on the snap right if those scripts looks familar…Forgotten ? or you just buttoned down a maze, then you may need to do a bit of exercise here .


Well before that in this space of blog-o-sphere, I bow to Arivuselvan and other fellow yggdies for the sincere effort in making this event for the sixth year. Though we departed and spread across, still it’s just a one tiny world when it comes to friendship and Dawn.

We headed towards Kannamangalam, a remote village in the skirts of Vellur. Baring the long 3 hours journey, I always took joy in keeping myself hooked this event, for two reasons. First, it will be a rare get together with dozens of yggdies in a place of this globe. Other one would be, getting a chance to visit schools at these remote places and meeting different sets of people.

Dispersed houses, narrow streets with roaming cattle, alone school mapped center, green field encircled with hills around, the sight of a perfect village. As we entered the school, we felt embraced as the playground were already filled with students, their parent and just waiting for us to kick start our event. There were around 100 lads let to school till their 8th standard here … good numbers for a school which is so remote. But squaring those numbers with 4 teachers and 3 class rooms would be no more than a joke, still had my own eyes to believe the worst. Just had to check my view and bear out the stance on the rural quota system…

As the event started with the brief welcome note from the headmaster, I had my own job as photographer to cover the same. As it proceeded with our chief guest Suresh’s speech none other than our fellow yggdies, expressions starts cropping up among the kids. Some were eagerly waiting for that candy to be distributed; some felt boring and went off, some were started staring at my lens. If you had little interest in photography, then you will feel like a kiddy in a candy shop… Again being done enough of people watching, didn’t search much to spot the most expressive ones... (some snaps below).

By the time we wrapped the event with the National Anthem, I just wondered when was the last time I stood in attention for this… It date backs to last Independence Day, been a year now as it happens like that in this corporate arena. I really enjoyed my day out as I kept myself at bay to the usual cronjobs. I was relaxed while returning, kept my eyes closed and searched for what I should do next. Hence a post on “@ Dawn’09”

A Persistent Dream

Huge walls with an apogee towards sky; sky that sketched as deep dark and as if nothing prevails beyond that. Giant rectangular blocks of rocks, cut and curved to the perfect, piled up straight; solder together as neighbors’. Fear, it springs up and avalanche through neurons; In turns accelerates cardiac pistons. Still “What’s there inside? What’s guarded by these phalanxed stones?” a curiosity which preys the questioning part of mind and urging to pierce down its defensive stance.

An armored pair of tall wooden doors separated with a slit of lights rays grants a pass to this mystic world. A place lit by oil fed torches hanging itself in the alternate pillars. Its buzzing sound amplifies as they get closer and unveiled huge statues in its proximities. Huge statues with bulging round eyes, tongue lengthened out, arms wrapped with serpents and tall swords like killing iron piece of never –seen heights capped with citrus. Their skin toned with bright color, biased towards red in the color spectrum. With the dark clouds deforms its shapes to rampant horses and race by in the back-ground, an portrait which will detonates fear and flees the way out.

But steaming courage follows the path of scented air fused with sandal and marigold. Chirping sound of bats echoed around the stones and gears up the yield of adrenaline. Feeling the moisture around, the search led to the lone slab of rock as it is soaked well and bloody. Its a ritual blood bath as the beheaded corpses nearby. It was as dreadful as I opened my eyes. “Where I am ?” Caught in the middle of an abandoned temple or made into an world of dark arts where it dwells ?... Foggy thoughts...as it reveals, its the same dream. The Persistent one.

Tired of mapping it to the realty; still a remote temple nearby to my native can be drawn parallel to it. A place I used to visit in childhood with my grandpa. A place where I started practicing vegetarianism. In this world of reality, its been more than a decade, I paid a visit to this place since my grandpa demise. But the truth is otherwise as this Dream Persists.