Lark or owl, let’s broaden our horizon

When you arise in the morning, think of what a precious privilege it is to be alive - to breathe, to think, to enjoy, to love. — Marcus Aurelius

Advertisement

Earlier this week, when I arose one morning earlier than my usual time and stepped out for some work, I woke up to some precious sights from my old student days: the blush of dawn painting the sky in a shy hue; the hue romancing with the slight nip in the air; the air still fresh and light, being free from the heaviness of the day’s pollution; the light of the sun not yet piercingly bright; bright young children headed to schools and colleges and universities….Sigh! It takes me to that not-so-rosy picture that has come to fore from some dark crevice: that of 20-year-old Gurmehar Kaur who has been forced to forego her college these days due to frightening trolls and threats. 

Hope the import of the fact that she’s a daughter of our own nation, that she’s our own free-thinking national, and not an unwelcome, suspect immigrant in Trump land, dawns on the trolls and tormentors. It’s the morning of her life, that carefree time, beautifully described by Thomas Moore: 

In the morning of life, when its cares are unknown,

And its pleasures in all their new 

lustre begin,

When we live in a bright-beaming 

world of our own,

And the light that surrounds us is 

all from within.

Lest “the light that surrounds her from within” dims into the duskiness of twilight, we need to support our daughter, as also all others facing a similar fate in our land on whose horizon (the line at which the earth's surface and the sky appear to meet) seem to lurk dark and opaque forces. Let us broaden our horizon (the limit of a person's knowledge, experience, or interest) by being inclusive rather than divisive, by being calm rather than tumultuous. When that dawns (become evident to the mind) on us all, specially the fanatics, would be the day.

I am reminded of my trip to the land of the morning calm, South Korea. As we drove down from the Incheon airport to Seoul, the horizon (skyline or range of vision) was marked by the breathtaking vista of the clear and calm waters of Yellow Sea on one side and the East China Sea on the other. Beyond the horizon, on the east, is Japan, the land of the morning sun. As we neared Seoul, the spellbinding Bukhan mountain came into view, completing the tranquil scenery. 

Interestingly, tranquility takes me to the common greeting for hello in Korean. They greet each other with “annyeonghaseyo”, and bending forward in humility. The literal meaning of the word is "Are you at peace?" (annyeong stands for peace, tranquility, good health; haseo is are you). So different from the salutations that usually include “morning/day” all over the world. For example: Good morning (England), Suprabhaat (India), bom dia (Portuguese), buenos días (Spanish), bonjour (French), guten morgen (German), and buongiorno (Italian).

Our two-night stay at the picturesque Buddhist temple nestled in the hills near Seoul, with a gentle stream running through it was equally enchanting. Whether larks or owls, we all got up at cockcrow (dawn, the first appearance of light in the sky before sunrise, when the rooster crows) to attend the session of meditation, followed by yummy vegetarian fare cooked by the Buddhist nuns. 

By the way, isn’t it interesting that chronotypes (a person's natural inclination with regard to the times of day when they prefer to sleep or when they are most alert or energetic) have metaphors of birds? Larks are morning persons, the early risers and owls are people who have difficulty in believing in the proverb “early to bed and early to rise makes a man healthy, wealthy and wise.”

It is said that one out of ten persons is a lark, up and about early in the morning. The owls comprise around two in ten. They can’t hit the bed till long past midnight. They would have heard their moms admonish them umpteen times thus: “Get up! Half the day is gone. It’s 10 0’clock!” even as they slunk lower into their bedcover for a little longer. 

The rest of us are hummingbirds, ready for action both early and late. Almost all animals have daily cycles of activity known as circadian rhythms (biological processes recurring naturally on a 24-hour cycle, even in the absence of light fluctuations) that roughly follow the cycle of day and night. That is why a rooster crows at the crack of dawn. It has an internal body clock that helps it anticipate sunrise. 

But lark or owl or hummingbird, we need to anticipate trouble and troubled times that are likely to follow if Gurmehar Kaurs are oppressed and suppressed. We definitely need to broaden our horizon.

hkhetal@gmail.com