dawn – Simple Moments of Life

It is seven in the morning. There is no crazy rush to send the family out to work or school. I cherish the extra time by taking my cup of coffee to the balcony, to observe the world and ponder over life’s big questions.

My eyes take in the sights below – vehicles, morning joggers, the neat array of buildings, trees and birds. Then my eyes fall on this scene.

The rays of the early morning sun are falling exactly on this particular tree. The tree looks bright and golden, and seems to be reveling in the sun’s gaze.

The many other plants surrounding this golden tree are still in the dark, awaiting their turn patiently, as they wait for the sun to light up their day and their lives. There are some other plants that are in the shade of the building, and will never receive the sun’s rays on them directly.

Watching this scene makes me reflect. Just like these trees, even humans wait for their golden moment of fame, happiness or prosperity, and we come alive and bloom at such times, spilling forth our happiness.

Sometimes, we may have to wait for prolonged periods for those special moments, and during that long wait we end up losing faith in ourselves and our abilities. And then again, for some, such moments never happen.

But we still have to live out our lives, believing in ourselves, living every moment to the fullest, doing the best we can and hoping that the sun will peep into our lives one day!

We are at Kanyakumari, the southernmost tip of the Indian subcontinent. The entire family is up at 5.30 a.m. to watch the sun rise. Daylight arrives with the bluish-silver colour of the sky. We wait now, and as we watch, the sky turns a pinkish orange, lighting up the clouds around it. Molten orange cotton-puff clouds streak the sky. The pinkish orange glow spreads across the horizon, as we wait with bated breath.

The Indian Ocean catches these golden moments, and reflects them in the calm waters of the morning. A few boats bob about near the beach, tired out from their fishing trips of the day before.

Again, in just a few minutes, the pinkish orange is replaced by golden yellow light and there, peeking into the horizon, is the golden Sun. Over the next few minutes, this golden ball rises up and takes over the sky. We watch in amazement.

As the day progresses, the warm colours of the morning give way to the bright and white light of the Sun as it moves across the sky. The breeze and the waves play with each other throughout the day, sometimes energetic, sometimes gentle. The swishing of the waves, and the gentle sounds of the breeze talking to the coconut palms, soothe the ears.

We see a number of vendors selling sea-shells of different colours, shapes and types. The lady in the shop asks me to place the shell against my ear. My ears hear the ocean and its waves, the stories that this shell has to tell me about its adventures in the sea.

We are in harmony with the waves, the breeze, the rocks and the Sun. We feel a sense of timelessness, as we watch the Universe at work, quietly going about its day.

Pure bliss.

Some photos that we captured.