प्रातः काले

Lately, I've found myself up and about at sunrise. And when I do so, its beyond me how I could have ever slept through the enormous racket that those birds manage to put up.

I would never have imagined that I'd say this, but here goes...

The world is awash with such glory early in the morning that late risers can never imagine. Crisp, cool air, mellow, buttery sunshine, the fragrance of freshly blossomed flowers, the song of early birds that have caught their worms ...aah.

If there is heaven on earth, I'm certain that it looks better at dawn.

My friends , on the other hand, have been going the Transylvanian way. They stay conscious between midnight and the beginning of the next workday. This means that our waking hours coincide only between 7 and 8 30 am. So nowadays, breakfast is the new lunch. ( Or dinner, depending on how you look at it).

As we sit at YIH canteen, sip on Teh (which is not chai, mind you), munching on buttered kaya toast , I see new sides of their personality that lay hidden beneath the dust of daily monotony.
In fact they even came up with the most novel idea to solve the problem of bitch batteries. You know, the kind that kills off your computer exactly when you're in the middle of a writing fit, for the mere crime that inspiration hit you somewhat away from a plug point.

"Kinetic Keys," say Aditya* and Vijay**, their eyes shining with boyish excitement, "The machine takes the energy you use to type and uses it to recharge the batteries!"

Simbly ingenious. Never mind the fact that all their epiphanies at dawn are promply followed by crashing into bed, now my fantasies of writing really deep, emotional stuff while sitting amidst swaying golden grasses shall come true. Hurrayy.

* Names changed to protect privacy.
** To be said in Bachchan. Sr. fashion as:

vijay, vijay, vijay, vijay.