And my day begins....

 I wake up to the sounds of the birds in the neem tree outside my window, the neighbour's dog yelping even before the sun has started to warm the streets, the milkman blowing his noisy horn while he rides around the neighbourhood. 

The ladies in their nighties, with towels draped over their shoulders,  go outside with their shiny steel vessels, to have it filled with fresh, and creamy milk. This followed by a cacophony of sounds, as the ladies in the neighbourhood, talk to each other over the walls, across the streets, shouting at Jimmy, who has scampered out of the compound while she was engaged in a long chat with the milkman. And this is how my day begins, lying in bed, trying to block out the sounds with my thin bedsheet.

I finally decide to get out of bed, look at the photograph on the shelf near the foot of my bed-'Gerard smiling', drink a glass of water, open the doors, unlock the gate, and go to the terrace to get a bit of sun. I look into the distance, at the squirrel running hurriedly along the garden wall, the hills, the sky, the small stretch of highway that has not yet been blocked by the buildings. People walk around with small cane baskets, or rimmed metal plates picking flowers from bushes and trees for their prayers and offerings. When I see the newspaper boy riding in the distance, I come back down to take the newspaper, so that he doesn't just fling it into the compound, and then I stand there skimming through the papers. Not much of what I see in the newspapers actually registers in my brain..... It is just something I have been doing, probably after watching my Father do the same every morning, years ago.

What is actually running through my brain is, my girls, my lesson plans, the lunch, onions, ginger, vegetables, is the Wi-Fi back on. Do I have time for a walk, can I make a dash to the pharmacy and bank between my 9 am and 11 am classes? When will I have time to go buy a new pair of walking shoes? Renew the bike insurance for the white bike. Wake up the girls for their class, sort out and arrange the document files. Make a new file for Gerard's documents that I need to keep. Check on Gerard's bank information. Think of how to not let preposterous people drain my energy, gather enough sparkle and vim to sprinkle on those that matter.

I head back in, for a short physical workout, after I have switched on my laptop and sent the link to my students, so they can join the Zoom session. 

Walk, stretch, wake the girls, yell (at my daughters for lolling in bed even at 8:45), eat a fruit and some nuts and seeds.  Sit down at my system, open my books, breathe and get ready for a new day, hoping it is a good one.