A Morning Affair

“Oh no, I’m late! How did I not get up?” were the first words that came out of Neeya’s mouth as soon as she woke up. Her phone showed it was 5:27 a.m. Indeed she was late. She has been waking up at 5 o’clock for the past 1 year 4 months and 16 days. No, 15 days since she got late today. She wakes up at 5, brushes her teeth, washes her face and pinches her cheeks (to get the natural flush) before she rushes down to her lawn to water plants. Well, not really to water the plants but to see Avi run by her lawn at 5-15 a.m.

Avi studies with Neeya at St. Martins. They are in class 12^th, but different divisions. And Neeya has had a crush on him ever since he joined school in April 2 years back. It was only in August that she found out that he runs from front of her house. She had just come back from her grandparents’ house after spending her summer vacations there. Her train arrived at 4-15 a.m. and at 4-55 a.m., she was home. Sleepless as she was, she decided to go out and water the plants in her lawn. That is when she saw Avi running and said “Hi Avi” without even thinking once. She was just so happy to see him, but the moment she said, her cheeks flushed out the color of apples.

“Neeya, right? Hi… How are you?” replied Avi with equal enthusiasm.

“Good. And you?”

“Very well, thank you. Hey, you like watering plants too? I love it”

“Ummm yeah, I think it’s a perfect way to start one’s day. You know, when the sun in just rising and the air is fresh.” Neeya managed to lie.

“Really?” questioned Avi. “But I have never seen you before. I run every day from this route”

“Oh no, what am I going to say now?” thought Neeya. “I used to do it around 6 o’clock. But I just thought I should get a up a little early. I used to get late for school. And now that the school is opening in a week, I thought maybe I should make it a habit to get up early.”

“Cool. Ok then, I better get going now. See you tomorrow” said Avi.

“Bye” was all that Neeya managed to say. “Thank god he believed me” she thought.

And that is how she her habit of getting up at 5 a.m. was developed. Every day for the past 1 year, 4 months and 15 days, they used to exchange their good mornings and sometimes a little conversation. It was not the sunrise and fresh air that gave Neeya the perfect start to her day. It was Avi’s smile when he wished her good morning that made it perfect. But today was just not her lucky day. She was late by 7 minutes, and by the time she reached down she would be late by 15 minutes. Nevertheless, she jumped off her bed, brushed her teeth, washed her face and rushed downstairs. She skipped the ritual of pinching her cheeks today. She knew she was pushing her luck too hard, but still she went into the lawn and started watering the plants. She waited there for about 10 minutes and just as she was about to give up and go back inside, there he was!

He was wearing a deep purple round neck t-shirt, which read “I moustache you a question” in red ink and underneath the text was a moustache drawn in black. It was a t-shirt that he wore most frequently with his black standard Puma shorts, ankle socks and Nike Air running shoes. Never had she seen him without those earplugs in his ears and the music played was always some fast numbers. The songs “pumped him up to run with a steady pace” in Avi’s words. Each muscle in his body used to move and the muscles that melted Neeya’s heart were those of his face when they broke into a smile.

“Good morning Neeya” wished Avi with his 1000 watt smile.

“A very good morning to you too Avi,” replied Neeya. “You got late today?” Oops! She had not meant to say that and was embarrassed when she saw a look of astonishment on Avi’s face.

“Ummm… Yeah. Actually I could not find the keys to the main door. Dad came late last night and he took them inside his room by mistake. So I had to wait for him to wake up.”

“Ohk…” Was all that Neeya managed to say. She thought she was too obvious in showing that she kept a track of his time. She did not want to make it any more obvious.

“You get going then or else you will get late. I will also go in and get ready for school” said Neeya in a very calm voice.

“Yeah I should. All right then, see you in school”

“Sure. See ya!” saying this Neeya turned around and thanked god for not letting her perfect start ruin. Just a good morning wish and she knew her day was made. What she did not know was that not only were the wishes the perfect start to her day, but also Avi’s days’.

To be continued…

Seasons of life

“To everything there is season and a time to every purpose under heaven”- Ecclesiastes 3:1

While I was going for a run today evening, these beautiful hues of sky caught my eye and throughout the run I was just thanking God for showing me such a beautiful sight. It looks as if far away at the horizon, the sky is burning lighting up the universe. And these colors kept changing with every lap I took. The season is changing. Quite early though. But feeling the chill in the year, it looks like the winter is just around the corner. Is it good or is it bad, I don’t know yet. What I know is that how ungrateful do we sometimes become. Sometimes?? No. Always?? Yes!

With the change of the season, not only the colors of leaves and our surroundings change, but we change. We often hear the phrase “changing over the years”. But I think we don’t change over the years. We never change over the years. We always change over the seasons- from the free soul in summers; to a deep thinker in fall; to a loner in winters; and finally a hopeful you in spring. It is funny though that we never realize the same.

With each season we get opportunities to think a different way. What might seem impossible in winters may be super successful in summers.  It is all about breaking the shell and moving out of it, like a butterfly does. As a larva, it must have considered itself to be the ugliest, but as soon as she breaks the cocoon and comes out of it, she is a beautiful living being with the most delicate wings that take her to far and away to the most beautiful flowers. Had the larva given up on itself, it would have never been able to fly from one flower to the other, not only enjoying its fragrance but also helping spread it.

It is all about the perspective we hold and how we decide to live our lives- in despair or in hope. Living in despair will only make us a negative mind spreading negativity all around. The world already has a lot of negativity and does not need any more of it, what the world needs is a positive approach to life. One positive approach per person equals to billions of positive approaches. Comparing that to the negativity, it accounts to much more since I still believe there are much more people with the positive outlook than negative, which is one of the many reasons that we are living this life today.

So let us all take this chance to be grateful to God and pledge to be a more positive with each day. Just like the seasons, let us all change for the good.