Getting up early!

Now - getting up early has always been more then Mission Impossible for me. I have tried to get up early many times earlier also, but always in vain. But, hurray - today I was able to get up at 7 a.m. Oh yeah, 7 a.m. might not seem early morning to you, but a person who is used to getting up at 8.30 or 9 a.m., 7 a.m. seems like midnight. All the credit goes to my blog friend Nupur, who shared her - "Do Withouts" a few days ago and asked others also to share their's with her. And as usual I like a "shareef bacha"(innocent kid) told about my Mission Impossible. Then she urged me to get up early, go for a jog and maybe if I could find a good-looking gal in the park, it will be motivation enough for a week. The idea was great and I also started thinking that maybe like Hari of Chetan Bhagat's novel - "Five Point Someone" - someone like Neha might bump into me. So, I slept at 11 p.m., hoping that early sleeping will make my getting up easier. Yeah, 11 p.m. is early for me as I sleep at around 1-2 a.m. But, then your body clock gets used to a particular routine and even after lying on the bed for an hour, I was totally awake. Then I thought, maybe I should start reading something boring - that might make me sleep. But, for that I will have to keep my eyes open and maybe some part of my brain also open and reading was never boring for me, so I just dropped that idea, closed my eyes and started concentrating on the blackness. When I fell asleep, I don't remember.

The next thing I heard was the alarm of my cellphone - it was 7 a.m. I closed it and got up. This is the most critical moment - because, whenever I have tried getting up earlier, I start getting the thoughts - "Let the world go to hell - a little more sleep won't hurt anyone". Moreover, most of the times you get very wonderful dreams in that part of the morning sleep, so the odds are almost always tilted towards going back to sleep after switching off the alarm. But, today I did get up, partly maybe it was because that I had told Nupur that I'll get up and it wouldn't fell nice to tell her that I slept like a Kumbhkaran today also.

After getting up, I deliberated whether I should go for a jog or not, because it would have taken almost half an hour and I wanted to reach office by 9 a.m. Moreover, being a thin fellow, with no fat to burn - I took it easy - or maybe I am too lazy. If I can maintain this schedule of 7 a.m. for a few days continously then I might shift my getup time to 6.30 a.m. and squeeze in a jog too - meeting someone like Neha is tempting nevertheless.

The real fun started after my reaching the office. After getting ready and commuting I reached office 10 min before 9 a.m. The security man give a strange look at me - saluted me and I went inside. The office was totally empty and I was thrilled to be the first one to reach there. Office buses reach office around 9.05 a.m. and I was excitedly waiting for that moment only - to see the expressions on the faces of my juniors. Everybody was shocked to see me there - they never expected to see me at that time. Some even asked me whether I was all right or whether something had happened. I really loved those moments - grinning.

Till lunch it was fine but after that I started feeling drowsy and sleepy and by evening it has gone worse. Maybe my body clock will adjust if I am able to keep up this routine. But, I know the hardest part is to keep doing it for a long time, without any skips, so that it becomes a part of your habit. So, mission is not accomplished yet, the hard part is yet to come. Let's hope I keep it up fot the coming days also – chances are slim.Thanks to Nupur again.

posted by Navjot Kashyap @ Wednesday, October 26, 2005