Post Tenebras Lux
After the darkness comes light.
September 11, 2007, I woke up early and prepared myself to attend a
seminar organized by our college at the Alumni Hostel, University of
the Philippines Diliman as part of the requirements for our SRP I
(Seminars, Researches and Practicum) course. I got myself ready to see
my classmates and friends, everything seemed to be light and happy. I
went out the house, and a shiny day welcomed me out there. walking
towards the bus stop, I was reminded of my digital camera which i have
left at my room, thus, i hurriedly went back to get it.
after several minutes, I arrived at our meeting place. I’ve seen my
friends and classmates. Then, we prepared for our trip to the seminar
venue. With my suggestion, three of my classmates and I decided to ride
a cab for us to arrive safe and quick at the venue. With joyful moods,
we chat while the cab brings us to the place.in no time, we arrived at
the place, we shared for the fare then jumped out of the taxi to check
the place. Moments later, here cam my other peers and classmates. I
greeted them merrily and had a chat since we’re too early for the
seminar thing. all of a sudden, I felt a sting at my stomach and i
remembered my digicam. I left it at the taxi. suddenly my mood shifted
from a very positive one to a worried one. I don’t know how to handle
the situation. I wanted to beat myself up. Clouds came from nowhere
covered my very bright atmosphere.
Moments before the seminar started, I was informed by one of the
faculty members that I am supposed to give the opening remarks. I
wanted to argue. Haller, why me? I am neither a part of the organizing
committee nor an official. I am not in the mood, but then again, I
agreed. I don’t know what to say. I sighed and whispered Bahala na! The
sppech was the last of my priorities at that time. I still hoped that
the driver of "the last takeoff" cab would be kind enough to drive back
and return my cam. Time to say goodbye to my Premier SL36 6 Megapixel Camera.
The seminar started, a student lead the opening prayer and another
the national anthem. i gave the opening remarks, without even a hint of
what to say. Well, thanks to God, I didn’t look awful and fortunately
ended my brief address nicely. The speaker is good at making us all
attentive. He was successful in making his talk an interesting one in
front of a very large crowd in an a full packed venue. (Hmmm… I
guess, he’s not the only one successful there. My classmates know to
whom I might be pertaining to, considering the large number of students
present with their reg fees. Haha) Nonetheless, the seminar went
out fine but nothing really got deep in my thoughts from the talk
because my mind is still floating with the fact that my hard earned cam
is now gone. Depressed, sad, and helpless, the very long day continued.
12 September 2007, 11:30 am, my mobile phone rang. I ignored it just
as I used to when the caller is unknown or I don’t recognize the
number. Hours later, around a couple of minutes past 2pm, my phone rang
again, once more, the caller id failed to retrieve the number. I
answered it. A mysterious woman with a some sort of chinese accent woud
like to talk to Mr. Krish Rainjit. She identified herself but because
of other things, I failed to understand her first few sentences. the
next thought that sank into me is when she said that I won in their
contest. Duh! I was thinking that time that it might be some sort of a
scam, considering much of it were reported and broadcasted already over
the television. So, with pure honesty and curiosity, I asked what
contest. She answered, you won in the I am Nokia Nseries Contest!
what? its unexpected. She just called to ask me to reply to the e-mail
they have sent to me with my personal info.With shocked mind, i ran to
my PC, opened it and checked my e-mail to confirm and whoala, its true.
A month ago, i clicked a hyperlink at the friendster homepage and
joined the I am Nokia Nseries Photo Contest. There were three ways to
win a Nokia Multimedia Computer Phone. The first is to upload atleast 1
original photo with a creative caption. If it is selected by the judges
thru the criteria: curious in nature, need to discover, and need to
share, you win. The second way is to have your photo voted by the most
number of users. The third way is if you have voted for the photo that
will be selected by the judges, you along with the others who have
voted for the same photo will have an equal chance for a raffle and
will win a device too.
I wasn’t really hoping anymore to win, given the fact that there are loads of entries a
nd
that the popular photos garnered a thousand votes already. Therefore, I
don’t stand a chance anymore of being the most popular coz i joined the
contest on its last week. The only option left is the first and third
way, but I am no longer hoping. After a week, i checked out my pic and
surprisingly, i got a vote. Somebody just voted for my pic. hehehe…
atleast, my entry didn’t got a zero vote. haha…
The Caption of the photo:
Getting out of the comfort zone open new horizons of opportunities. Do not prolong the night but usher the dawn!
The photo was taken inside the St. Bartholomew Parish, Nagcarlan, Laguna. The same church structure where the famous TV series Kampanerang Kuba
shot their acts. I owe also the credit to Carl Marc Ramota. My family
visited my mother’s hometown when the photo was taken. She grew up
there at Nagcarlan.
What a sudden twist of fate. The day before, I am so sad because of
the loss of my digicam. The next day, I was surprised by a call
informing me of the contest result. Truly, God has a very special plan,
a Grand Design. There is a reason for everything. We can always be
assured that there will always be a good thing after the most low and
gloomy time. Post Tenebras Lux. After the darkness comes light.
