In my stay of last 1 year and 8 months in Canada I have realized that few topics are always of interest to people. These can be considered as Ice Breakers which can help in initiating conversations in this multicultural country. One of the common topic during the November and again in March is the day light saving off and on respectively! People have different views and often share their dislike and are of the opinion that it should be done away it. The reasons could be different. Some think that it is an old concept that does not hold any relevance in the current time, some say it impacts the time clock of their body and sleep cycle and many more versions! In my short stay here so far, I have become fond of this concept.
It is the month of March right now and today the day light saving was put on.
What does it mean?
On the night of 2nd Sunday of March, at 2am the clocks are moved forward by one hour. Technically that Sunday is only 23hours.Again in the month of November, this is reversed and you get an additional hour in the day! So in a year, this is stands at zero-sum!
Why was this originally started?
Keeping in view the agricultural nature of the society, it was started back in 1890s when work was primarily based on the hours of sunlight. The idea was to get the work started an hour early in Summer so that people would end their day and still have daylight after work hours. Basically, why waste the sunshine hours when people are sleeping?
First day of the day light saving
Till yesterday, the dawn was breaking at 6am and sunrise was happening at 6:45am. In the evening, sunset was happening around 6:25pm and the last bit of light would be around till 6:45pm.
Today, the sunrise happened at 7:45am, an hour later. And likewise, the sunset happened around 7:25pm. As I am writing this draft at 7:50pm, there is still a little glow in the western sky!
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| 13 March, 2021 - 6:45AM |
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| 14 March, 2021 - 7:45AM |
Why I prefer this?
Let's see what would happen if this concept is not in place. As the north end of the Earth tilt more towards the sun and Summer arrives, during the peak time the sunrise would happen at 5am [in Toronto, Canada]. Around the same time sunset would happen at 8:30 pm.
1. With the daylight saving on today, the evenings have more sunlight than early morning! And I see no one in today's society waking up at 5am to enjoy the sunshine. Even thought I am a morning person, I wake up around 6am and there would be light in the sky by April mid.
2. Work gets done by 5:30/6pm and it gives enough time to be able to bask in the sunshine. I realized the importance and the happiness of longer days since I moved from India wherein the variation was not that significant.
3. Change is good. I feel happy on the first day of day light saving when the sun sets at 7:30pm! Physiologically, it feeds that winter is officially over, spring is round the corner and summer is on its way. Everyday from here is going to be longer than yesterday.
4. In a country like Canada where winter lasts for 4-5 months, it is important to be given an opportunity to make the most of the sunlight in the months that it lasts. If shifting an hour of time can provide these benefits, we can bear a little change in the body clock. Do we complain when we vacation around the world hopping different timezone?
On a side note: This also reinstates that the concept of time is human made. We have defined days, hours, minutes, seconds! In the science world these are called as Earth days, Earth hours etc! It's scary and fascinating at the same time! Is there a different world(s) where the concept of time is completely different?
