#personal

Written at 4 AM at a boarding gate, waiting for my first international trip with my mother. On how travelling with family has changed over the years — from 16-hour train journeys to nani ghar with comics, board games and window-seat fights, to flights, iPads and international itineraries.

A few weeks into waking up at 6AM, I have enough distance now to say something I couldn't before: this wasn't just a schedule change. It quietly changed how I think about my days.

For over a decade, sleeping late was just how I was wired. Quiet nights, no interruptions, my own pace. Then life required 6AM, every day — and I had nothing to give. This is what I did about it, what actually worked, and what didn't.