You Know What I Did Last Sunday?

There are days when I wish I hadn’t developed the habit of getting early in the morning. I don’t know how I got into this habit of waking up at the crack of dawn. My mother says it is because I was born at half past four in the morning. Whatever, but my day begins at five in the morning when I wake up and get on with my routine which consists of an hour’s reading and writing first thing in the morning. I also make myself a cup of tea before waking up my son to get him ready for school. But on Sundays this routine changes a little as my son sleeps on being a holiday for the school. But holiday or no holiday, I wake up very early. It gets a little monotonous to follow the same routine day after day. So this Sunday I did something I had been planning since quite sometime.

I left the house before sunrise on my bike, hit the Tank Bund road and reached Necklace Road. I had done this earlier too, sitting at the edge of the lake to catch the sunrise. It is a wonderful sight watching the sun’s rays light up the placid waters of the lake. There were very few people about so early in the morning. The sun wasn’t up yet so I sat on a bench and waited.

The absolute silence and the absence of people had a calming effect. I was able to come to terms with a few disappointing developments. I had been overlooked for a promotion and it had upset me. In the calm of the dawn I discovered the brighter side to it- I could be in Hyderabad for one more year.

The sun rose slowly appearing from behind the clouds. I clicked a few pictures and here’s one on this post. Later I took a walk down the edge of the path skirting the lake. There were dozens of cars parked ready for a second sale later in the day. A flock of pigeons circled above. There were people meditating in the grass and some were exercising. It was a tranquil scene on the Necklace Road.

As the sun rose higher up I left and arrived at Adarsh Café picking up the ‘Deccan Chronicle’ on the way. I sat down at an empty table and sipped the hot Irani chai while going through the paper. It was something I hadn’t done earlier, and on Sunday I enjoyed reading the Sunday papers sitting in an Irani hotel sipping Irani chai. The hotel was not crowded and no one disturbed me while I was lost in the news. It is only on Sundays that some newspapers have interesting articles in their colorful supplements.

About a couple of hours later I came back home, relaxed. I was glad I made this early morning foray. Next month again I plan to slip away in a similar fashion and experience ‘Necklace Road on a Sunday’s Early Morning.’