(This post is based on my experience in Dublin during my short stay between July 2016 - September 2016. Specifically, this post talks about the sights, sounds, feelings and thoughts I experienced between 9 PM and 9 AM on a regular day.)
Sights & Thoughts : I fall asleep each night, looking out through the large glass panel which forms one of the 4 walls of the room. I'm collecting my thoughts for the day ahead, reminiscing on the events of the day gone by and making mental lists of things to do and to not do. Every now and then, I feel compelled to shift from the cozy position I've curled up under the sheets just to make the note in the mobile, but decide against it considering the great amount of effort it'd take to move, reach out to the mobile, in the process of making the note, also check the mails and messages - a series of activities that'd take up to the next 30-45 minutes. The last sight every night is the same, the fading out of the lights, once bright but now no more than twinkle, slowly everything becomes black and I slip in to an oblivion.
Sounds & Feelings : It's eerily quiet and I can sometimes hear the cars passing by on the street from across the apartment, which is usually a busy street during the day but not so much after 10pm. The temperatures are pleasant right now, but there's an unmistakable hint of the winter closing in, slowly but surely. Which can probably explain lesser and lesser people on the road past mid night as the weeks progressed from mid July. I'm sometimes woken up by a sudden sound - thud of a door in the hallway, a shriek from the street, a ping on the mobile, noisy neighbors, car alarms, but sometimes by something inexplicable that keeps me up for the next few hours till I eventually decide to surrender to sleep once again, leaving the mystery to the moon.
Sights & Sounds : I usually wake up minutes before my alarm goes off or sometimes exactly a minute before 7 AM. Sometimes the first sight is that of a beautiful bright blue sky, sometimes a blanket of dull white fog. I smile regardless. The smile is brightest on weekends and holidays. The smile is accompanied by a countdown to weekend on weekdays, the closer I'm to weekend, the brighter the smile. A sense of duty engulfs me right after I wake up and I first make a call to my family. It's usually around the time my parents just finish their coffee mid-day break. If my dad picks up the phone, he's transmits energy and enthusiasm, if my mom picks it up, she lends her cheer and positivity. Either ways, 15 minutes later, I'm poised to take on the day.
Thoughts & Feelings : The shower takes an easy 10 minutes, it's the process after showering and before stepping out of the apartment that threatens to take forever. On the extremely lucky days, I can pick out what I want to wear, actually put it on and leave. On other days, it takes about 3 iterations to get the look I want. Days like that I settle on blue jeans and collared t-shirts, hair drawn in to a high pony tail and a pair of sneakers. Oh well, the sneakers are for every day regardless of what I wear. I admit I'm not the best person for fashion advice. Comfort clothes and sneakers win 9/10 times. The one time they don't win is when they're all in the laundry. I grab a jacket as I head out, it's either cold or raining despite how "sunny" it seems. On the walk to (and fro) office, I pass by a number of strangers, each in a hurry. I like to wonder what's going on in their lives, what are their thoughts as they walk to work today, what major challenges await them and how successful they'd be in tackling them. There's also some constants in my daily walk, the river Liffey, the construction worker at the old mill which is being demolished to raise a brand big office space and the unnamed stranger who I wish good morning to as we pass each other. A little less than 17 minutes later, I'm at the office doors, wondering if chaos or certainty await me.
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