"Tamasoma jyothir gamaya"

Today afternoon as I stepped out my office for my daily dose of caffeine, I was suddenly struck by the brilliance of sunshine. It was a stark contrast from the air conditioned, cold, artificially lighted office space of mine. I had been feeling dreary all day today and suddenly I felt my spirits rising.

As a kid I always used to be in awe of the night and darkness. One of my earliest memories associated with darkness is one of my dad’s friends offering me a “five star” for staying in a pitch dark room, alone, during a power cut. I was barely five years old then but still braved the challenge and won the “five star”. From then on I always associated myself as a night person. I always used to tell my friends that I enjoy doing things at nights better than day. I remember, when I first read that in parts of Scandinavian countries, where half the year is spent in darkness. suicide rates are higher, I thought how very strange people there should be to not to enjoy the 6 month long nights. As I grew up, there was also no concern of getting tanned during the night!!! In all the silly online quizzes for finding the soul mate, deciding which season I belong to etc I always pick night over day as the choice. For me nights are mysterious, romantic, charming with lots of promises.

But today as I stepped out into the warm, bright noon, I felt there could not be anything more pleasant than sun shine. It brings with it a strange and remarkable sense of warmth, cheer, brightness, hope and general bonhomie. I may still not like sweating it out in the sun and getting myself tanned but then next time when I am figuring out what my personality is , I for sure know the answer to – Choose one of the two
                   a. Day
                   b. Night