Recently I was reading Dr A P J Abdul Kalam’s autobiography in which he says that his father used to wake up everyday at 4 o’ clock in the morning. Though his father was not a very educated man, he was the breadwinner of a very big family. And in those days most people were early risers.
This reminded me of my own grandfather who also used to wake up at 4 in the morning. Likewise he would engage in agricultural activities, prayers and other work. He always seemed so busy, buzzing around like a bee.
When my cousins and me were children, we used to spend a lot of vacations together. I used to be so excited for vacations. Even though we never used to talk over the phone otherwise, when we got together we would fill each other in about all that passed during the year. School stories, crushes, college sweethearts, projects, tuitions and more were our usual topics.
We had so much to talk about that we would sit late into the night. Raiding the kitchen at midnight for snacks, pickles and more. Sleeping in the hall,on the floor, everyone just talking till midnight or else huddled together under blankets watching horror movies.
The only problem with this was that my grandfather woke up at 4 a.m and would be doing his usual rituals around the house and right in the middle were we children trying hard to sleep. We had no intention of waking up anytime my grandfather considered appropriate.
After 7 my grandfather would start losing his patience and proceed to scold us in loud noises. We lazyheads would toss and turn trying hard not to let go of precious sleep that has ensnared us. Some of us would scatter to various bedrooms dragging our drooping eyelids and pillows to sleep some more.
But most of us would be awake by 8. Anyone who had the misfortune of waking up when my grandfather is present in the room would be subjected to an hour-long advice session about the benefits of waking up early and other important life lessons that my grandfather thought we thoroughly lacked.
We in our half-asleep state would nod and agree to everything he said. When any aunt or uncle appeared on the scene, we would desperately make eyes at them to save us. But they would mostly walk away with a sly smile.
I still don’t wake up early most mornings. But his words have stayed with me. In a world of uncertainty, I find that there is something so special about people who do things like waking up early day in and day out, their whole lives.
Do you wake up super early in the morning? What time do you usually wake up? Are you a morning person or a night person? Do tell me in the comments below.
Salmagundi 