THE GRAVEYARD

Many years ago, I used to regularly go for long walks in the morning.  I used to do this for almost 9 months in a year and during monsoon, took a break and started again by mid-December.  This was my routine for many years.  I used to walk through many residential colonies and in the route were many cinema studios, which had a glorious past, but at that period, were shut, abandoned with wild growth of plants and trees.

 

My dad had built our house in a farmland that literally had no roads or electricity at the time of construction.  The colony developed as we grew up and we celebrated every first in the locality.  The first tar-road, the first milk booth, the first bus route, the first phone, the first television in the neighbourhood, the first bank, the first clinic, the first medical store, the first fancy store etc.  The list is endless.

 

I don’t remember the year.  May be, it was some time in the early 2000’s.  On one December morning, when the roads were dry and there was no indication of rain, I resumed my morning walk.  Everyday, I took a different route and it was always a circle route.  On that day, while I was nearing my house after I walked for almost 3 kms, in the vacant land of an erstwhile studio, amidst the wild growth, I saw many tombs.  Not only that, I also saw a huge gate and a faded hoarding indicating that it’s a crematorium maintained by Chennai Corporation.  I was shocked.  For a while, I thought I was dreaming.  But then, I was walking.  Generally, in all my dreams, I am mostly lying down or at the most, sitting.  Also, the sun was shining bright and people around were already busy with their works.  While I celebrated every first in the locality, I could not celebrate this.  Tears started rolling down my cheeks.  I imagined my own death and funeral.  I always feel sad for my pallbearers, as I am very heavy and feel guilty that I would be a heavy burden on their shoulders. Then I imagined funeral of other known persons.  “Lousy thoughts”.  I cursed myself and entered home and rushed to have a shower.  I didn’t discuss with anyone at home.  I took a break again for my morning walks and when I resumed it after a week, I had a shock again when the graveyard vanished completely.  The whole experience was surreal.  This time I decided to speak to my family about this and when I did, my sister informed that it was a set built for a film shooting and shut my mouth.  I could never imagine that possibility.  It was looking so real.  The board was rusted and the paint faded with traces of ash and having all details like ward number etc.  There was no way I could find the film for which this setting was built and who that great art-director was.  Ever since, every time I see a graveyard scene in films, I try to observe whether it has any resemblance of the one I had seen.  Unfortunately, I could not.

 

But why am I recollecting this episode?

 

Recently, our office shifted to a remote locality and the landmark is a graveyard.  We have to walk past the graveyard to reach our office.  Many of my colleagues are disturbed about this. But I have evolved.  I experience no emotions.  Even when its dark and I have to walk alone, I am not scared too.  With regard to the odour everyone is complaining about, whether it’s a bird’s flesh or animal’s or a human’s, its all the same for me.  I just close my nose. 

 

P.S.  The setting of the graveyard was built exactly in the same piece of land in which Jain’s West Minister that was in news recently is built.