“Nothing would be different. I have been there before. I pretty much know the schedule for the days to come – classes starting at 5.45 am and going on with various activities till late night.”

This is the “Natyasangraham”, a 3 day camp conceived and conducted by Natyarangam annually at Tennangur, a temple town about 100 kms from Chennai.

This year it was held from February 3 to 6th, 2011.

At the helm of organizing this camp every year is Sujatha Vijayaraghavan, Major Balasubramanian & Kalpagam, K.S Subramanian, Charukesi, S. Janaki (I always wondered how apt the initial ‘S’ is for her – I take it as ‘Sruti’) and Kannan, working with C.V Chandrasekar as the convenor.

But the person who gives the camp the apt atmosphere is R. Krishnaswamy.

This year’s panel included Anil Kumar & Suresh – Yoga, Allepey Venkatesan – Music, the dancer duo Sridhar & Anuradha Sridhar from Bangalore – Satvika Abhinaya, Gowri Ramnarayan – Dance & aesthetics, Dr. Sudha Seshayyan – poetry and Prof Chandrasekar – Angika abhinaya.

My previous participation at the camp was about 7 or maybe 8 years ago. The daybreaks and nightfall happened regularly, each filled with different sessions. As I sat in the bus to Tennangur, added with 8 years of life’s experiences, I wondered what could be in store and what I was going to take back.

I come from a family of scholars and one oft repeated quote in my growing up years was “Vidya dadati Vinayam”. This was the anthem we heard each day from my father. The panel of scholars addressing us and sharing their knowledge in the most simple and elegant way oozed humility. It stood testimony to the age old saying and I not only witnessed but also experienced this. “Vinayaath dadati paatram” - By humility one becomes worthy. Each of our teachers’ is a living example of this.

For some of the teachers, it was the first time at Tennangur. Each of them had taken up their sessions so seriously that it was a well prepared class, structured in their approach and at the same time making it a conducive environment for all participants to be forthcoming, discuss and learn.

At the end of each session, not only did we have homework but we took back something that made us think. They were truly inspiring.

One of the things I realized was the sense of gratitude. When we get a lot in life, I wonder if we deserve all of it.

Every person we are associated in life with, one way or the other has done so much for us. It is important to acknowledge all those who have done something for us. If not for the creative minds and organizational abilities of the team working overtime, if not for my family who held fort at home, if not for the host team at Tennangur making satvik food, if not for the interesting and inspiring sessions, if not for the sensitivity of each one of them who assisted me during my asthma attack, I wouldn’t have been able to realize the importance of gratitude. To all of you, my deepest thanks.

At the end of the day, it is the values that make a person and not just achievements. I feel truly blessed for being in this camp.

And yes, something in me has changed a bit.

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Priya Dixit who wrote this report took part in the Thennagur camp.