Sleep-Story

Can one say with confidence that he/she has been a good sleeper!  

Well, it depends on who is the respondent to such a query.

There is no need to define sleep and the benefits or pleasure it gives to all the living beings. There has been a lot of research on the subject with credible positive results of sleep. This narration just covers the personal experiences, as remembered and recollected while staying awake or being in a semi-sleep state.  I know sleep is a routine matter of the body taking rest, but there are some sleepy issues that I either observed or experienced, mostly the later.

I don't remember how I slept during most of my early childhood years but certainly remember and recollect the issues with sleep during my high school and afterwards. These experiences with sleep must be more or less the same with everyone.

There was a time when the eyelids used to fall down after 8 PM as if the gravity is acting specifically on them or as if they were made of lead. Over the years as one grows old, the body goes into the state of sleep but the sleep keeps on evading the body leaving the mind to wander and ponder.

I remember waking up each day was an insurmountable trouble every morning, the battles between the mind and body to avoid attending the Physical Training (PT) period used to be epic with tricks from hiding under the cot, pulled-down mosquito net, in the locked-in cupboard and even washroom. Even the draw of running along with the girls couldn't motivate enough. I vividly remember sleeping without an interruption for full 18 hours in the dormitory on a holiday, skipping all meals. Those were the days of growing up in which even the examinations wouldn't have any negative effect on having a sound night's sleep. Sleep was such a favourite pastime that it got endorsed so in the school scrap/autograph books.

College was a different story with no change to the earthshaking-inertia to wake up early in the morning, except on a couple of occasions where meeting a romantic commitment used to take preference. The duration of night's sleep reduced as friends increased and more after I was presented with a motorbike. On one occasion my mother almost alerted the fire brigade when I didn't wake up to open the door despite repeated pressing of doorbell, calling and shouting and numerous phone calls to the landline after she returned from her evening walk. The difference here was only during exams, during which the oil in the lamps used to burn well beyond midnight to make good the whole year spent wandering. Sleep, despite the tensions of career was still sound and peaceful.

Come 'Military Training', here I was made to experience the real deprivation of sleep and also the importance of a hitherto fore matter-of-fact thing called sleep. The body and I realised some astonishing facts about sleep, that it needs no permission or preparation, place or peace - it just takes you over. Can anyone believe that you can sleep while walking, sleep with eyes open, sleep doing drill, doze-off on a potty, sleep in rain even with water drenched boots and soaking wet outfit!! There was a time when the only basic physiological need was sleep, sleep in the class, sleep through the demonstration, sleep on the bicycle, sleep in the bus, sleep through the guest lectures, sleep in the AC cinema..... all that was happening was sleep, sleep, sleep and more sleep. The trick was not getting caught to avoid punishments and night 'toughening' fall-ins by seniors. One incident which comes my mind was, in one of my class-sleep sessions the instructor asked to repeat the last sentence, to my surprise I did repeat and repeated correctly and got saved. My mind was probably ON while the body felt sleepy like Abhimanyu.

The story of sleep is too long to be covered in few paragraphs without making the reader fall asleep, hence I shall try to reduce my sleep-story to minimum narrative.

The sleep deprivation felt in the academy became a habit and got reduced to feeling content with a few hours of night sleep and many power-naps of 8-10 minutes during the day with a 1/2 hour siesta on sundays/holidays and some lucky days. The body clock was set to wake up without alarm at a particular time each morning, (I noticed a funny thing here that I wake up the same time each night at the same time and between 50 to 59 minutes of that hour). During the active and operational requirements I realised the extremities of body-tolerance wrt sleep. One can stay awake beyond 72 hours with the help of water, chocolates and occasional cigarettes as the sleepless hours progress. There were times when the whole nights were spent in snow and rain shivering with cold and numb limbs, sitting in a tactical position waiting for the mercenary dogs, only moving the fingers to be able to operate the weapon, radio and night vision device.

There were times pleasant too like the short nap after the morning physical exercises and especially the afternoon nap (THE SIESTA). I willingly did forego sleep to ride the motorcycle on traffic-free roads and on more than half-a-dozen occasions to drive 1000s of kilometers non-stop for 42 hrs and beyond.

With all kinds of experimentation with sleep my habit has settled to sleeping only for four hours at a stretch. And as part of that habit here I am awake at 2 AM and typing these lines.

Watching my sleeping wife's pretty face and postures is the perk.

Don't Dare To Demote Sleep To A Lazy Man's Pastime But At The Same Time Don't Wait Till The Ultimate-Sleep To Enjoy The Little Pleasures Of Life, If Need Be, Sacrifice Sleep To Catch The Small And Invaluable Moments Of Life.

Soldier mostly unknown & routinely forgotten!

Soldier mostly unknown & routinely forgotten!

Entrapment

The title may sound misleading but I am sure of attributing some meaning to it by the end of this piece of writing. I am not talking of a war hero or who died a hero's death in any action (be it against external enemy or internal insurgents) but of those who are alive and kicking, true in every sense of it!

Soldiers are solitary individuals (I won´t say souls because of negative connotations), lonely posts, mountains, forests, flowers, brooks, glaciers, deserts and all the areas without a whisper of human life appeal to him as his own. Those are the areas where one can truly be an "I am I".

Soldiers are simple beings happy to get basic facilities and joys of life. Their humble backgrounds keep them grounded close to reality always. They are alienated from many walks of life due to the long periods of separation from immediate family, friends and society. But with improvement in communication facilities they are not insulated from the changes in the society. Soldier misses many aspects of life which are taken for granted like, coming home each evening to share with dear wife & children, many social occasions, fashion changes, elections, and changing the course of things around by mere presence. The services do prepare a man for these rigorous by seasoning, conditioning, insulating or sometimes just keeping you busy. An interesting point is of `Rum & Cigarette Allowance´, it was introduced by the British at subsidised rates to keep the soldiers amused and away from the daily happenings around. It still is doing its bit!

Travel always teaches a man many things by providing opportunities of first-hand experience of many regions, cultures, languages, systems and builds tolerance thus making a man mature in his outlook of life. The profession of arms is a great equaliser; soldiers forget caste, language, colour, religion by intermingling and making thick friends for life. Uniform obliterates the importance given to individuals on acquired skills in the society, all are comrades first and specialists later.

Soldiers are mostly misunderstood by the civil society, there is a major misconception that there is no work unless there is war. Even family members cannot understand the real grind which he undergoes as part of routine. The concept of maintaining standing professional armies is as ancient as human history, but choosing soldiering as a long term career option is only as old as the nation state form of governance. It is a national requirement to have an army for peaceful progress of the nation without interruptions, be it voluntary or conscripted. Soldiers are coolly forgotten and remembered only during dire situations. No nation can progress without a strong army and routinely forgetting the contribution of soldiers. Army, Navy and Air force are all the same for the conditions of a soldier only with little difference in culture.

Soldiering is not an easy job; it involves apart from physical requirements various skills. He needs to always update his awareness about ever evolving military tactics and technical advancements, know well of the type of terrain of operations, implications of changing Geo-political scenarios, innovative ways of out-smarting the enemy. The change & adaptability is continuous in the life of soldiers with changing work place, environment, job nature, level of responsibility, operational demands by topping it all is understanding the demanding boss.  A soldier is a student for life his learning curve is up always, more so in case of preparing for and leading a well adjusted post-retirement life.

Soldiers retire relatively young compared to his civil counterparts with emerging responsibilities at the family front. All the skills of a soldier could be better utilised for progress of the nation with right kind of post-retirement avenues. The problems continue while in service also with the regular apathy of government officials and ever increasing red tape. He is taken for granted by all in not responding timely, being fully aware of his limited leave period.

The real sense of being a soldier is best understood by none other than the soldier himself. One has to be a soldier to understand one.

Once a soldier will remain a soldier for life, with all that openness, straightforwardness and yet a child at heart (Dil to batcha hai!). No one can understand the simple pleasures of life like a hot water bath after 90days, seeing lights after months of dark nights, a working mobile to speak home, the lovely letters from near ones and many more SIMPLE PLEASURES are only enjoyed by soldiers... one needs to maintain an immaculate image in the societal glare & temptations for the larger community of soldiers.

"In a play, everyone wants to be a soldier but reality shuns him as a lesser brother of fate!" - Gurucharan Singh Bais(Bhai).