Alarm

Good morning everyone. The alarm has sounded and it is time to wake up.

In the olden days, the only alarm available is from the bird species. People who stay in scarcity depend upon their own biological clock or the sounds of birds singing in the forest. Nomads or people living in groups would probably have some sort of farming activities so the very first sound of rooster would be their alarm to waking in the morning.

Centuries later, people invented bells and then alarm clocks. The first alarm clock I encounter was the typical round shaped, metal and glass casing type that has two bells on top with a little hand in the middle that can sway left and right to sound the alarm when the time is right. It is a winding alarm clock and so, we had to wind it every night before we go to bed to ensure that it keeps running and wake us in the morning.  This alarm clock lasted for the longest time I can remember. We only stopped using it when it dropped and broke.

As time goes by, alarm clocks come in many shapes and sizes. The next alarm clock I had was a square shaped one that runs on battery with a beeping sound as alarm. This plastic alarm clock was nothing compared to the previous one. The plastic became brittle after several years of using and the sound of the alarm became horribly distorted.

My father then bought me a good quality alarm clock that cost quite a bit of money back then. It is a rectangular plastic alarm clock with light that corresponds with the sound. The beeping sound and blinking light starts slow and progressively become faster if I did not switch it off. It excites me in the morning. There was even a snooze button. I loved this alarm clock very much during my university years. After that, I gave it to my mother because she bought me something new. My mother used it till her last breath. Now, it is still sitting on her bedside table.

The new device that my mother got me was a radio alarm clock. As the name says, this is a radio as well as an alarm clock. The time display is large. It runs on direct current but also has a compartment for me to insert batteries, in case the power is out. There are several alarm sounds that I can choose from including using the chosen radio channel, rather than the old boring beeping sounds. It is a very good alarm clock but bulky. I had it retired after several years when I needed to clear some space for other things.

Then, I have started using handphones to double as an alarm clock. It was only normal to have phone next to our bed when we are no longer staying with our parents. It is just in case they needed to call us for something important. From the old button handphones to the current flat screen smartphones, I have been using them ever since. The alarm sounds have been progressing from the analog tones to the musical ones now. It is inevitable that as time passes, the gadgets we use improves.

Somehow, it is the in thing now to go back to the days back then. Perhaps for the sake of health or for the lifestyle that we are looking for. I am actually hoping to be able to find that first alarm clock that I have used in the design and colour that I like. The phone, leave it at least three feet away from my bed. If my family calls in the middle of the night, I can get out of bed to answer the phone, not be lazy.

Perhaps one day we can all live off-grid and go back to basics. Sleep early and wake in the morning when we have gotten enough sleep or when we hear the birds chatter amidst trees outside our window. Life is simple.

But the biggest alarm in life is not visible. It has no sound. It is the sense of responsibility towards others, Mother Nature, especially. We have been warned so many times and yet we have not learnt. The recent pandemic has driven us off our normal course of life. It has obviously shown us the importance of life itself.

Now is the time to wake up! Live sustainably!  

 

Alarms don’t wake you up, your responsibilities do.

Nitya Prakash, Indian author, 1988-present