What's in a morning?

During my childhood years my mother would wake me up each morning, with half-whispered advice about the benefits of starting the day early. Not being a morning person, the prospect of rising early always frustrated me. Rationally, it's true that utilising the daylight hours for productive work helps you achieve much more, but when you are young you seldom think with logic.
Later, when I started working or had to get my children ready for school, early mornings were always rushed and hectic. My mother was no longer there to wake me with her soft touch. The responsibility was all mine and the moment I hit the bed at night my stress level would rise at the sheer thought of the morning's challenges ahead.
I notice that over the past decade there has been a major shift in lifestyle with the day starting later, especially for the young. Their nocturnal activities (game playing or tele-watching or partying) carry on until the wee hours and most of them spend their mornings in bed. By the time their real work day commences the sun is already in the mid-sky. Of course, there are still many who maintain 9-5 office schedules. But for some obscure reason it's now passé to wake up early and start work at nine. This does not mean that the youth have become indolent; it's just that their life cycle seems to have shifted to a different tempo.
To be absolutely fair I have to admit that, even though I did use my mornings in productive activity in my youth, I did not consciously relate to the pleasures and benefits of rising early.  I was too engrossed in my daily tasks to pause and internalise the splendour of dawn's first light. I remember my early morning music classes in Santiniketan where I sang Tagore's beautiful morning compositions with gusto. Regrettably, the magical connection between the lyrics and nature escaped my full attention. I remained intent on learning the song and moving on to the next activity on the day's agenda.
Yes. When you are young and in the "doing" phase, time seems to be running out. As a matter of fact, if there is nothing to do you are overcome with guilt because you feel that you are wasting time. Or you are overtaken with that indefinable feeling of boredom since being alone with oneself or meditating in solitude is rarely an option for the young.
In mid-life I became a bit apprehensive about the prospects of a post-retired life, because I believed that it would be a purposeless existence. But, life is full of surprises and each turn can bring the unexpected. Now that I am semi-retired with ample spare time, I realise that there is so much more to life than the tangible goals that we measure achievements with. I am getting to appreciate the many little things that escaped me while I was busy pursuing the big things. Even the mornings have started to feel different.
Recently, I have revived my habit of waking up early but for a different purpose. My husband and I have started a routine of taking morning walks. Surprisingly, this has turned out to be one of the most rewarding experiences -- the soft caress of dawn's first light and the fresh smell of the earth have rekindled my love for nature. In a way this is helping me in an interesting transition -- from the "doing" phase to the "being" phase. The early morning strolls also provide an opportunity to appreciate the simple things -- like the larks singing, the dew on the freshly bloomed flowers, the dogwood trees guarding the sleeping homes and a co-walker waving a cheerful "Good Morning"!
The totality of the morning's experiences has helped me realise that I am privileged to be a part of this amazing, unfolding world. There is something ethereal about watching the orange hue of the rising sun spreading its radiance to announce the advent of a new day -- a new beginning. In many ways it's like an epiphany which brings one closer to the pulse of the universe. More like a revelation that life is nothing but a "bishhoy" -- a happenstance. Although I do not know how my life "happened" but what I surely know is that I am blessed to be alive.
Today's youth will inevitably journey through time, initially at a hectic pace and later slow down when their time for reflection comes -- just as we did. But I write this column extolling the virtues of the morning in the hope that it might inspire some young readers to celebrate each new day with the sun's first warm glow.

The writer is a renowned Rabindra Sangeet exponent and a former employee of the World Bank.
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