Sharvareesamayah

     The period between the time of dusk and night is known in Sanskrit as Sharvareesamayah or the time of twilight. I am in love with some different periods of the day. And Hindustani Classical Music has always had a mood corresponding to each praharah of the day. I love the twilight and the dawn the most. The dawn, because it brings in a new sense of hope in you, that you are not the only one who is rising, that a part of the whole world is waking up to do what it is supposed to.
     On the other hand, the twilight is a tearful farewell to the day that has been. The sun sets. And the mood of people too, usually dips. That is so, because the sun, which has been so much a part of your day  that has helped you in overcoming hurdles by injecting amounts of hope in you, is bidding adieu to your part of the world. Songs sung during this period are usually erotic in nature or sad sometimes.
     But life never comes without a surprise smiley. The twilight also brings along with it, the fact that there has to be an end, no matter what you do, who you are, what you intend to do if there were no end, or whatever. And that there will be a tomorrow to everything.

The last rays of light immerse themselves in the ocean

     The songs sung during the hours of twilight are those of wait, and longing. Very symbolic of the yearning of the living creatures, of the tired earth, for the first ray of light, for the rise of the sun's charioteer, referred to by many (and correctly), as the real arunodayah. For every spell of darkness to undo its effects, and dissolve into the whiteness that gives birth to itself.