In my personal experience, punctuality is leverage.

There are times that I long to wake up early enough to watch the day break. There is this magical feeling or aura I get when I watch the dark early morning gradually transition into the day. It can be likened to when a stage curtain is gradually rolled way to properly reveal the arrangement of the stage, the arrangement on the stage. It is beautiful.

The early morning symbolizes different things to different people. I also remember longing to watch the dark hours of the early slowly fade away but this time, I had wanted to witness this with some lady I was crushing on. She was never worth it sef!

The whole night-to-day cravings started when I had once woken up early to study for exams, way back in the university. I looked up through the window and lo, the dark sky was giving way to day. I loved it and later realized that I wanted to see more of it.

My other love for being up in the very early hours of the morning is that of what I refer to as leverage. I also termed it a "wealth of time". Imagine this: you wake up early in the morning, say your prayers, do the needed chores, and realize you still have some hours till daybreak.

In as much as this may sound like a daily routine or normal thing to some people, it is a luxury I love to afford whenever I want. But then, time, chance, and condition are yet to permit me to have this luxury; and I am madly working towards taking charge of this aspect of my life.

Some days back, a housemate woke me up. I checked the time and it was past three o'clock am and towards four o'clock. I rushed my bath, do one or two, and returned to my bed. The race was against 6:30 am. I slept and woke up and felt rich. I still had some hours before 6:30 am. The feeling was incredible.

Once, I escorted some housemates to catch an early bus as they were to embark on a journey. We got to the main road and after checking the time, it was 6:17 am. 6:17 am, magical hour. The photo in this content is from that day and is now one for history. I still remember that early morning; early birds were up already, each to his business and interest. A few people could be seen here and there, there were lights on the street and few vehicles were in sight. In those moments, I wonder if anyone could be inhumane enough to think of committing a crime. Only God knows.

"Punctuality is the soul of business," said my former headmaster. "Early to bed, early to rise". The "early to bed, early to rise" part has not always been the case for some of us. Sometimes we go to bed early and still wake up late. Well, we are working on that.

For Art and Life, Sadiq Yusuf.