A guide to sounds in early morning

In a typical Indian town or suburban area, it is not just the crack of dawn that heralds a new day but also the mingled sounds that come from near and afar. The earliest sound is the call to prayer from the nearby mosque, the crisp, beautiful azaan echoing in waves in the silent air. Soon after begins the incessant cock-a-doodle-do of roosters, a pure, refreshing call. It has been said that a rooster crows on seeing angels and wakes one up for the morning prayer. The voice of the roosters is intermixed with the comforting sound of dawn chorus that still echoes in our neighborhood, thankfully – cawing crows, chirruping sparrows, cheeping mynahs, and white-eyes, cooing doves and pigeons, tinkling bulbuls, occasionally a black kite can be heard whistling overhead. There is a menagerie of wildlife that has adjusted to the human lifestyle and contributes to the morning “commotion” as well – cheeping squirrels in the nearby mango tree, the barking, howling, shrieking street dogs, bleating goats and so on. The scratching sound of broomstick on the hard concrete floor tells that the shopkeeper is up, sweeping off the litters from the front of his shop and sometimes, a splashing of water is heard as well, to wash off the roadside grit and dust, either on occasion of any special event or perhaps it is just an extra effort to cleanliness. The vehicles come clattering next, sometimes, as early as 4 am. The banging of doors is followed by the thump-thump of bulks being dropped off in the front of the shops – packets of milk, boxes of ration, sacks of vegetables and fruits. The voices of men waft in through the window as they talk while offloading, an indecipherable gibber. All of this and many more sounds, distant and near, are very comforting to hear while warmly tucked in a blanket in a particularly cold morning. The world is preparing to start a new day again and one feels grateful to have witnessed it and ready to be a part of it too.
What are the sounds in your neighborhood that remind you of early morning?