The Tranquility at Dawn...

Farzana Contractor believes in living life true to her nature. To uphold her missive – live life simply, honestly – she urges us to regain the old style of stress-free living like our forefathers did. When they knew just how much was enough to be content, happy and healthy

Fajr is what is known as the morning prayer, the first namaz of the day, which is at the crack of dawn actually, even before you see the first of the salmon streaks in the sky. It’s the one I usually miss. Though I make it a point to adhere to the last one at night, known as Isha namaz.

My mother always got up at dawn for fajr. And she tried to instill that in all of her 10 children. Some followed her advice and some didn’t. But she never stopped trying to influence us that being a morning person was the best gift you could give yourself. Alas, I was an owl all my life. It’s only now that I am beginning to see wisdom in my mother’s words.

It got to me in an organic way. My eldest sister, 82, more like a mother to me, (even when my mum was alive), came to live with me recently, for a few months. I watched her closely during this time. She not only got up at dawn for fajr, she even got up in the middle of the night for what is known as the Tahajjud namaz. The world knows about Muslims saying namaz five times a day, but actually it is six times, counting Tahajjud.  

But this is not about that. It’s about how I got inspired by Faimida Apa. And felt ashamed, too, seeing how disciplined she was even at her age. So, it just happened in the last weeks of December while we were both at our home in Panchgani, I began to wake up early, too. And on January 1, 2025, the morning of the New Year saw me pottering in the kitchen making myself tea, while others at home were fast asleep. Believe me, making that tea and going out in the garden with that mug, sitting down and listening to the early bird singing was akin to being in prayer mode. The stillness and softness of experiencing that dawn got to me and I made a vow; I will become an early riser from now on. And while I did do that until I was in the hills, back in Bombay, it became difficult. But I am at it. Facing both, the challenges and the perks that come with embracing the early hours.

I always used to wonder what did people do when they woke up at 5 am? When it was still dark outside and the whole world seemed asleep. Now I am beginning to see. For that’s what I do.

Catch up on reading. Not on the phone, please no! But all those books I have been buying, hoping to read at some point. In the quiet of the early morning, it’s such a special feeling to be curled up on the couch, reading.

Doing some yoga is next. Nothing heavy duty, just some stretching and bending, twisting… whatever I fancy. Being a sportsperson all my life, this comes easy. But what really feels good is the deep breathing; all the pranayams, starting with kapalbhati, going on to anulom vilom, bhastrika, ujjayi, and my favourite, the bhramari, humming like a bee. The energy that this gets going is phenomenal. Suddenly you feel your life has a new structure. I whip out my yellow writing pad that I can’t do without, in any case, and happily start my day, jotting down; To Do Today!

The next good thing that is beginning to come about is I am not rushing through my breakfast. I am actually eating it nice and slow and in a watchful manner. That was such a luxury earlier, something I did only on a Sunday morning.The rest of the week had my maid come rushing after me to grab my tea mug at the elevator!

But with all this what is happening is I am getting even more choosy and picky with my social engagements. All for the better! You can’t wake up early if you will sleep late. Worse when you even eat a late dinner. So best is to avoid late nights. Means you come home from work, have a nice, hot shower, admire the sea view, get into your track pants and go back to curling up with that book which is waiting to be picked up again. Reading can become addictive. Best is when you doze off with the book slowly falling off your hands and on your chest. Oh, I love that feeling. Power nap at its best. And 20 minutes later you wake up nice and fresh and listen to music until dinner is served at 8.30!

Seriously, being a morning person really sets the tone, makes you so positive.

Being inclined towards living a Wabi Sabi life, all my life, I already feel aligned towards joy in simple things, but the tranquility aspect is new to me. Quiet moments of contemplation in the wee hours are so special. It’s actually quite indescribable, you just have to experience it.

Having said that, let me also state that I have enjoyed late nights just as much. When you sit by a fire pit, your dog in your lap, half asleep, even as you watch the leaping flames of burning logs go down and then burn slowly and deeply, turning into embers… the beauty of the night is also extraordinary. Watching the stars actually twinkling in a dark sky or see that full moon rising over the hills… all very special. The trees look so different at night, just as the nocturnal sounds coming from all around seem. If the bird songs of the morn greet you with gay abandon, the crickets at night lull you to sleep. What I am basically saying is it’s nice to have a balance in your life. And I feel fortunate enough to get a little of this and a little of that… between Bombay and Panchgani where I do yearn to spend more and more time.

Which actually reminds me of an exchange I had in school with a teacher. She was, like my mother, extolling on the virtues of being an early riser. Talking about the morning glory, the dawn chorus and being up with the lark and so on, throwing in an idiom or two; ‘Early to bed, early to rise, makes a man healthy, wealthy and wise’. And then when she said, remember, “It’s the early bird that catches the worm…” I couldn’t restrain, I retorted, “Foolish worm, that got caught, if only he had slept a little longer!” Stunned, she turned and glared at me and said, “Oh yes, he was foolish alright, but that’s because he was out late at night and returning home in the early morning that he got caught!”

Well, early riser I want to be, but a late night or two, now and then won’t hurt. I want to be a bird and a worm, especially a glow worm!