Sleeping through life

AISHA FAYAZ

Sleeping through life

It started like any other summer in Kashmir- lazy mornings, shaded windows, the
whir of fans battling the sun’s gradual rise. But this summer, something broke. Not in
the climate, but in the minds of people.
When schools reopened in July, there was a wave of resistance across the valley,
not only from the students, but from their parents also.

“Why are schools reopening so early”? “Kids can’t wake-up at 6 in this heat? “This is
not fair – it’s summer — it’s too hot.
Complaints flooded the social media like sweat from a forehead that had never
experienced true toil. Anger erupted from drawing rooms and comment sections but
no one questioned. Why waking-up early was such a burden in the first place.
They didn’t say it, but they felt it: “we’ve gotten too used to ease. We don’t want
discomfort.” And that’s where the real problem begins.

Comfort isn’t peace ,it’s is a trap.

Kashmir is a place of breath-taking beauty. But, sometimes, this beauty becomes a
blanket —- soft, cozy, heavy, but dangerously comforting. We wrap ourselves up in it
so tightly that it does not allow us to stretch, to struggle, to grow and sometimes
even the normal daily routines.
Take the example of the recent protests against early school timings. These weren’t
just about heat. They were a symptom of a deeper disease: Our growing worship of
the comfort zone.
We’ve begun to equate effort and hardship with cruelty. To see early mornings as
oppression. Discipline as punishment. But outside Kashmir, the world does not wait.
For example in Delhi, children step out for school in 45oC heat – without complaints.
In Rajasthan, students don’t groan when they walk miles to reach classes in
scorching heat in the desert state.
In cities across India, youth wake up at 4 am to study, to work, to chase their dreams

– while we are still debating if 6:30 am is “too early”.
Is our climate harsher than theirs?
No.
Is our potential smaller than theirs?
Never!
Then what’s different?
Our mind-set. Our addiction to ease. Our fear of struggle.

Parents and the poison of overprotection.

Parents always want the best for their children but sometimes, their protection
becomes a prison.
When you say “My child can’t wake up early,” You’re not being loving – you’re
unknowingly telling them “You are not strong enough”.
When you utter “it’s too hot to go to school, you’re teaching them to run away from
obstacles instead of facing them.
And then we wonder: Why don’t our children compete with the children in rest of the
world?
It’s simple — because we never let them fight their first battles. Greatness doesn’t
flower in comfort. It matures in opposition.

Billionaire Blueprint

Look at the world’s successful people.
Elon Musk didn’t build Tesla while scrolling instagram under a fan or inside a quilt.
He worked 100-hour weeks. Slept on the factory floor.
Steve Jobs dropped out of college, walked miles to attend a free meal at a temple,
and still spent sleepless night’s building APPLE.
Kiran Mazumdar-shaw, India’s leading biotech entrepreneur, faced rejection after
rejection because she was a woman in science—but she never looked behind.
Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam studied under a streetlamp, selling newspapers to support his
family, and still rose to become the Missile Man of India.
None of them stayed in comfort. They lived in discomfort until it became their
strength
Now let’s ask ourselves — what’s stopping us?
Nothing but our own illusion that comfort is success. But it’s not ……. It’s just
comfort.

The real summer Heat

Let’s stop pretending that little heat is our enemy.
The real danger is what happens when we avoid it and bend under its fear.
We lose our competitive edge. We shrink our goals. We create a generation that
confuses luxury with progress.
Summer in Kashmir isn’t a curse. It’s a chance, a chance to become stronger, more
disciplined, more prepared for the world outside. If we can’t wake up early now, how
will we ever wake up to opportunities?

This is Aisha Fayaz’s take on recent protests against early school timing. Aisha Fayaz is a student of Class 10th at KPS Kupwara. She seems to be lamenting on our
addiction to easy and luxurious life style.