Dusk

Photo source: Author

Dusk, they say, is the hour of the defeated. As the sun dips below the horizon, and nature signals a transition from day to night, there is at times a lingering sadness that seems to float in the air. Some distant dream that is not yet achieved, some faraway destination that has not been reached -the relative quiet of dusk does raise troubling questions in our minds after the hectic activities of the day cease to be a diversion.

City life makes us oblivious to the change in the diurnal motion of the earth. Most of us work in offices lit up by electricity, while the same electricity powers our televisions that provide evening entertainment, and can convert a sports stadium to day-like luminance, making a small white ball as visible to us as in the mid-day sun. Somewhere, someday we seem to have lost touch with how nature wanted us to live.

It was, therefore, with quite a bit of interest that I took a short walk around this time on a rare weekday that I was home before dark. From the quiet promenade along the Kallang river, it was indeed remarkable to see and hear the sights and sounds of day give way to those of the night. As the sky turned from a palette of orange and purple to first a light, and then darker, shade of grey, street lights and home lighting seemed to gradually glow bright one by one. The odd chirp of a bird or two slowly gave way to the low, monotonous drone of insects. Far away, you could hear the sigh of relief from homebound traffic, eager to return to something or someone that waits at home. A few walkers and joggers passed me - for some, a necessary diversion from home or office, and for some others maybe a hurried attempt to check the "exercise" box for the day.

I was convinced dusk was not only a hour for the defeated - it was an hour for contemplation. It is the time when a small chapter in our lives comes to a close; every day, day after day. It gives us a chance to pause and ponder over what we have done, and which direction we have been travelling. How far are our goals, and how many dusks will it take to reach there. Or is there any goal? Should there be one? Is it not an amazing experience to just get a chance to marvel at nature's beauty, and quietly rejoice at how mankind has harnessed nature's gifts?

And I realized that dusk is as much a hour of hope and forgiveness. This is the time when you can see how the same sky can be as dark in the east as it can be softly bright in the west. And there is no boundary where day meets night. Nature seems to be telling us not to get blinded by the light of day or misled by the darkness of night. Because life, just like the sky at dusk, is a melange of black and white and everything else in between. Each of us, in every way, is like the sky at dusk - a mix of different traits and qualities. It is up to us to decide how we want to travel from darkness to light. Or for that matter, choose that little spot in the middle where we are comfortable. Sooner or later, we all will certainly get our place in the sun. Equally certainly, there will be times when the darkness will seem to be all-encompassing. But as long we do not forget the sky at dusk, there will be colour in our lives.