ON SLEEPING

 

We all sleep. Animals sleep. Even plants sleep too. So sleep is a biological process all living organisms perform. We sleep at a particular time, especially at the night. We have bedrooms for sleeping with a zero volt bulb blinking in a corner or without it. My bedroom window is facing the street. The street light penetrates through the curtain a bit into my bedroom. Scientists advise us not to have light while sleeping. Also, they say that sleeping is induced by a hormone called melatonin. It controls the sleep-wake cycle. I think this hormone is available in drug stores in the form of tablets. For those who do not get sufficient sleep, doctors prescribe these tablets. Overuse of melatonin may cause even death. There are many cases reported in the newspapers over time. Therefore one has to take this tablet under the doctor’s advice. Prescribed dose in prescribed time is essential to follow. Nowadays sleeplessness has become very common among young people. Not only that. They sleep not at a particular time because of the type of work they do. Some people work at night either in an office or from home. Thus the sleep cycle is changed.

Scientists recommend 6 – 8 h sleep per day for an adult. As an old man I sleep from 10 pm to 5 am and during the day 10-11 am and after lunch, 3 to 4 pm. Most of the senior citizens follow this pattern of sleep only as I come to know from my friends. So there is a sequence of sleep in one’s daily life. Students do sleep in the class if the subject taught is not interesting. Even sometimes teachers do sleep in the classroom after giving some work to students. Thus one cannot know when one sleeps and when one wakes up.

One of the most beautiful things all of us must have noticed is a sleeping 3-month old child in his or her bed. Everyone will enjoy seeing that. I have not seen anything else is more beautiful than that. Sometimes the child smiles in the sleep involuntarily. Every parent might have enjoyed this scene in their life. So sleep adds beauty to the face of a young child.

Another unpleasant thing we notice while people sleep is snoring. A rhythmic sound disturbing the people nearly comes from their open mouths or nostrils. Fortunately, I do not snore and my wife also does not snore. No problem for us. I have often come across people snoring while sleeping in the train either in an A/C compartment or even in the non-A/C one. Annoying it is for those who want a peaceful sleep. How to control snoring? One way is to wake up the snoring man or woman. Of course, snoring is not a disease I think. It occurs due to some nasal blockage. Alcohol consumption before bedtime is also cited as a reason for snoring. There are incidents that couples who got divorce for the reason of snoring.

During sleep, our muscles and minds are relaxed. Nothing we remember or see. Our eyes are closed. Almost all our thoughts are shut except breathing. Dreams do come during sleep all kinds of pleasant or unpleasant dreams do come in our sleep. Some will be vivid and clear, some others are vague and unreasonable. Moreover, the vague ones may not be remembered the next morning. There are volumes of literature available on dreams. Various kinds of dreams are classified and interpreted. People believe in those interpretations. Some dreams may predict good things to happen in the future, others indicate the bad omens in the future life. So dreams that occur in our sleep predict our future. Someone said that what you think or what’s in your mind before you go to bed will come in dreams in some form or other. My desire to put my thoughts on this topic has been completed. It's 10 pm. Time to sleep. Good night to you all. - NARA