This dates to 22.4.2007:
This morning, after arriving in Tiruvanmalai, I was walking around, looking for a guest house.
It was 4:30 in the morning, and everything was covered with a thick stale darkness.
Sleeping on the sides of the roads with only a flimsy sheet of canvas separating their cadaverously thin bodies and the ground, were babas - sadhus - Indians who have decided to devote their entire lives to their gods , roaming around India barefoot and living on bhakshish - donations.
I was enjoying the walk, as it was quite cool, and I had the chance to examine (albeit with poor lighting) the small ornaments and baubles adorning the babas' bodies, and the Hindu make up of red and white covering entire foreheads.
I was engrossed in these observations when I came upon a curious sight: one of the babas, lying flat against his back, had a small tent-like shape protruding from the dhoti (sarong) covering his waist.
It took me a moment before I realized the magnitude of my discovery: even babas, ascetic men of the spirit, get morning wood.
I was gleefully happy and giddy with excitement. I decided that this would probably make for one of the most entertaining pictures ever taken in India (or even the world!).
So, taking my camera out gingerly, I positioned myself for the shot, when a strange thought occurred to me: this ascetic baba, this 'Champion of the Morning', would probably like to remain incognito.
And so I spent another minute, with my eyes darting between his decorated face to his voluminous tent (which was quite impressive I must concede in hindsight - he would have made a great lover), and went my own way.
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