I woke up as usual today morning, checked the time, also as usual. It was 5-15 a.m. It was time to get up and start my day. No. There is nobody or nothing forcing me to wake up at this (for some) unearthly hour, in case you were wondering. I was up at my own volition, and naturally to boot.

The first thing I do is pop the morning medication. And then I pick up my phone and glasses and make my way to the bathroom. Today I found myself dragging my feet. My brain was sending me confusing signals. How wonderful to get back into bed and curl up, I thought wistfully. Confusing, considering that I am usually in a get-set-go mood as soon as I am up.

What’s more, my body ached. I felt listless and tired. For a moment, I thought maybe I should cancel the walk and go back to sleep and give myself some rest. But there have been countless occasions when my brain tried to trick me into not going for a walk, but I demurred and went anyway and found the walk exhilarating. So my better self intervened and pointed out, rightly so, that I needed to ignore everything else and stick to my routine.

Anyway, I plodded on for the rest of the four steps to the bathroom and luckily didn’t fall asleep on the pot or drop the phone. Once I had brushed my teeth and washed my face in cold water, all the lethargy was gone and I was at my brightest and raring to go.

Soon my night suit came off and I got into my walk-wear in the muted light of the room. I slipped the ear-pods in one pocket and the phone in the other. Walking out of the bedroom, I glanced at the fast asleep L&M a little puzzled. Why wasn’t he up? I checked my watch. The time was 5-45 a.m.

Unlike me, the L&M is a need-an-alarm-to-wake-up kind of person. I use an alarm only for times when I have to catch a flight or a train or some such. His goes off promptly at 5-30 a.m, usually the time I am brushing my teeth, whether he wants to get up or not. Today it was fifteen minutes past his usual wake up time, and yet there he was snoring away.

I shrugged my shoulders. Perhaps he intended sleeping in and had snoozed the alarm. Next stop, kitchen. I filled up my water bottle, grabbed the house key and walked towards the front door. Out of sheer habit, I once again took a quick dekko at my watch and stopped in my tracks right there.

The time was 4-45 a.m.

Huh? How did that happen? At what unearthly hour had I got up? 4-15 a.m. instead of 5-15 a.m. I know I confuse left with right, but to not know 4 from 5?! To think I could have spent an hour more in blissful slumber. Sigh.

I had half a mind to go back to bed, but was too far gone into my fully awake mode that it made no sense to waste time lolling in bed. I could do it to spite my brain of course, for waking me up at the wrong time and also making me misread the dial. But then that would be like cutting the nose to spite your face.

So I did the next best thing. Back I went to the bedroom, took my iPad, came out, sat at the dining table …..and started writing a blog post. Ha, you expected me to write that, didn’t you? Not what I did though. Instead, I opened the Farmville app. I might as well get some ‘farming’ done before my walk. Right folks? 😉

©️ Shail Mohan 2025