I happened to wake up at 3.30 a.m. last week to catch the very first train of the day for the only reason to receive my brother who was returning after a six-month-long training in the Indian Navy. My dad and I were walking through the streets, and how strange was the sight!
No noisy traffic, no long queues of vehicles and most importantly, I didn’t have to cover my nose for fear of breathing in anything polluted. It was on that day I could see what actually goes on when the city sleeps. And not the entire city sleeps. There are people who do work even before our alarms ring. I saw a couple of vans carrying tons of milk, men on their cycles with bundles of newspapers and few more of them inserting pamphlets into the main sheets.
I could hear dogs howling and cuckoos singing songs of their own composition. I have read the meaning of the word dawn but that day I experienced it. It was lovely to see the streets with all the shops shut and in fact, I realised how broad the roads actually were. I hadn’t been aware of it so far because of the traffic.
DEEPIKA K., II Year, B. Sc. Nutrition & Dietetics, JBAS College for Women
