The joy of 6 am

6 am, Delhi.

Post school, this has been a time I would never be awake at. But a recent trip to Jharkhand, changed things for me.

When I am home in Hyderabad, this is when my parents would also wake me up for early morning chai and after chai, they would leave for the morning  walk and I would get back to my happy slumber.

In Ranchi, I was spending a couple of days at my mama's. So every day I would get up at 6 and with my mama , my cousin and mai (mama's wife!) I would go for a walk. But this Jharkhand journey was one of those trips where I am open to everything new. Things which might have been happening in my life, since childhood, but in some of these trips, I leave all my beliefs on one side, and I UNLEARN. I had actually gone there to do some research for one of my documentaries, but I was open to everything coming my way.

So, me and my cousin, Divya walked behind and my mama-mai walked forward. It was early morning and I could feel the freshness in the air. Divya and I were just talking and she said that she gets up by 7 usually, and that is when i realised that I have been missing the joy of an early morning, just because of my pure laziness or stupid reasons. I also felt that I could change my whole schedule just to feel that moment of freshness.

With resolutions, I came back to Delhi and the first thing which I had to work on was sleeping early, which sounded impossible. For getting up at 6, i had to sleep by 10, which sounded absurd. So, I pushed the time to 12 am, as sleeping for 6 hours is good (12 to  is 6 hours!). 

On the first day, I finished all my work by 7 pm, so that I go back home, cook, read a book, write stuff, wash clothes and have dinner by 12. I realized that the more I kept a track of time, faster I would work. The big change had come when from the usual 1 or 2 at night, my room's lights went out at 12. 

The alarm woke me up at 6. With the whole excitement, I got up, went to the loo for 10 minutes, and I came out and opened my window. As I opened it, I experienced fresh air again. I got a glimpse of what-heaven-might-feel-like.

I wore my slippers, locked my room and went out for a walk. The early morning breeze is absolutely amazing. I don't know if there is a word in the English language, which describes the freshness of an early morning. With birds chirping and dogs being super active, the early morning had another story to tell me. In fact, I have noticed that an 8 o'clock morning is less fresher than a 6:30 morning. They say, that you should get up with sunrise, or if possible may be before it.

So, in the early hours of the day, I would see old people exercising or school kids leaving for school. I would reach the park, take off my slippers and walk barefoot on the soil and the grass. Heavenly!

I would walk around the park, and sit and meditate for 20 minutes. I would have more time to kill, so I would exercise and feel fresh. And after 45 minutes of meditation and exercising, I would go to the chai stall and sip chai.

There is another benefit I have from getting up early in the morning- TIME.  I would come back to my room after the walk, and I would have so much of time with me. This was like 2 'free' hours have been added to my life. So, I can read, write or watch a movie. 

And I am very happy with getting up early in the morning, and I am surely experiencing things, which I had been missing all my life. Now I am not missing sun-rises!

I look back and wonder why would my parents go for a morning walk and never share how they felt. I think I get it now. I know why they would never tell me how awesome they felt. It is just because they could never describe it in words how heavenly they felt.

And it is getting late, I leave for the walk now. I just had this to share.

©K. Harish Singh 2013.