It's not as if the Insomniac is incapable of sleeping. He can, provided conditions are right.
"I had just fallen asleep when this pack of rabid street dogs went on a barking spree, a canine opera at 1:00 am. After that, I could not get sleep. This city is going to the dogs I tell you! Looks like these days, more people are reborn as dogs, there are so many of them!
Bangalore was good till the 90s when these software fellows started coming in droves.Why can't the "authorities" do something about these dogs? They (dogs or software fellows?) are a nuisance and just won't allow anyone to sleep"- he trails away. The Insomniac spends the rest of the week identifying which authority deals with rounding up street dogs. The last we heard was that his trail hit a dead end and he had to be satisfied by lodging his complaint via email.
"Why do these cars come with an automatic alarm system which goes off without any rhyme or reason at 2:00 am and wakes up the whole neighbourhood? Absolutely senseless! I was watching from the balcony. For an entire hour, this monstrosity was going on and on, with not a single soul worrying about it. I had half a mind to go down and smash the damn thing!". With the car or the owner not being clearly identifiable, the Insomniac has picked up a quarrel with the apartment security personnel who are an easier target.
"Who lives in the flat upstairs these days? Tenants? Looks like we have dinosaurs and elephants! Close to midnight, they march across the room like elephants trampling the earth! The vibration almost knocked my spectacles off the side table! How can you sleep with this kind of disturbance ?" Thankfully, elephants and their gait took the Insomniac to a different topic. The Insomniac likes music (at least something!) and started singing "Saamaja vara gamanaa" (popular classical song which refers to Lord Krishna's gait resembling an elephant). In the process, the Insomniac possibly woke up some other neighbours, but he couldn't care less.
He hates bachelors in the neighbouring flat who switch on loud music late at night (especially Friday nights), laugh loudly till the wee hours and sometimes, time their "antakshari" sessions with the Insomniac's sleep hours! Children below the age of one are anathema to him. They cry at odd hours and their parents who sleep in the neighbouring room just don't hear the howl! Children above the age of 7 are equally despicable. They bounce the ping-pong ball on the top floor late at night and the game just won't stop. Don't these kids have school tomorrow ? He loathes the months of December-January. That's the season when the temple on the next street tries to inculcate bhakti in the neighbourhood by playing bhajans over a loud speaker starting 4:30 am! When the Insomniac tried to investigate, he found that the person who had switched on the music had himself gone back to sleep and there was absolutely no one even manning the player and the speakers!
The Insomniac is obsessed with pillows, beds and blankets. That pillow is too hard, his neck is sprained and hence he can't sleep. That pillow is too soft, his head sinks into it,and he can't sleep. This bedding is too thin. His hip bones rub against the floor and creak as he repeatedly shuffles his position and keep him awake. The blanket is not long enough; his toes show and he is disturbed. If the toes are covered, he can't pull the blanket over his head (dangerous) and he clicks his tongue in irritation! If he is on a bed, he worries whether he will curl up on his side and manage to fall over. If he is on a bunker bed (lower berth, which he sometimes borrows from his children), he worries whether while waking up (if he manages to sleep), his head will strike against the roof and give him a bad bruise!
It seems almost an impossibility to sleep. Is there some incubator which he can get into so that the ecosystem is just right ? To make matters worse, he gets an innocuous comment for his earlier post: "I can even sleep while standing!". "Life is unfair", mumbles the Insomniac.
- to be continued.
"I had just fallen asleep when this pack of rabid street dogs went on a barking spree, a canine opera at 1:00 am. After that, I could not get sleep. This city is going to the dogs I tell you! Looks like these days, more people are reborn as dogs, there are so many of them!
Bangalore was good till the 90s when these software fellows started coming in droves.Why can't the "authorities" do something about these dogs? They (dogs or software fellows?) are a nuisance and just won't allow anyone to sleep"- he trails away. The Insomniac spends the rest of the week identifying which authority deals with rounding up street dogs. The last we heard was that his trail hit a dead end and he had to be satisfied by lodging his complaint via email.
"Why do these cars come with an automatic alarm system which goes off without any rhyme or reason at 2:00 am and wakes up the whole neighbourhood? Absolutely senseless! I was watching from the balcony. For an entire hour, this monstrosity was going on and on, with not a single soul worrying about it. I had half a mind to go down and smash the damn thing!". With the car or the owner not being clearly identifiable, the Insomniac has picked up a quarrel with the apartment security personnel who are an easier target.
"Who lives in the flat upstairs these days? Tenants? Looks like we have dinosaurs and elephants! Close to midnight, they march across the room like elephants trampling the earth! The vibration almost knocked my spectacles off the side table! How can you sleep with this kind of disturbance ?" Thankfully, elephants and their gait took the Insomniac to a different topic. The Insomniac likes music (at least something!) and started singing "Saamaja vara gamanaa" (popular classical song which refers to Lord Krishna's gait resembling an elephant). In the process, the Insomniac possibly woke up some other neighbours, but he couldn't care less.
He hates bachelors in the neighbouring flat who switch on loud music late at night (especially Friday nights), laugh loudly till the wee hours and sometimes, time their "antakshari" sessions with the Insomniac's sleep hours! Children below the age of one are anathema to him. They cry at odd hours and their parents who sleep in the neighbouring room just don't hear the howl! Children above the age of 7 are equally despicable. They bounce the ping-pong ball on the top floor late at night and the game just won't stop. Don't these kids have school tomorrow ? He loathes the months of December-January. That's the season when the temple on the next street tries to inculcate bhakti in the neighbourhood by playing bhajans over a loud speaker starting 4:30 am! When the Insomniac tried to investigate, he found that the person who had switched on the music had himself gone back to sleep and there was absolutely no one even manning the player and the speakers!
The Insomniac is obsessed with pillows, beds and blankets. That pillow is too hard, his neck is sprained and hence he can't sleep. That pillow is too soft, his head sinks into it,and he can't sleep. This bedding is too thin. His hip bones rub against the floor and creak as he repeatedly shuffles his position and keep him awake. The blanket is not long enough; his toes show and he is disturbed. If the toes are covered, he can't pull the blanket over his head (dangerous) and he clicks his tongue in irritation! If he is on a bed, he worries whether he will curl up on his side and manage to fall over. If he is on a bunker bed (lower berth, which he sometimes borrows from his children), he worries whether while waking up (if he manages to sleep), his head will strike against the roof and give him a bad bruise!
It seems almost an impossibility to sleep. Is there some incubator which he can get into so that the ecosystem is just right ? To make matters worse, he gets an innocuous comment for his earlier post: "I can even sleep while standing!". "Life is unfair", mumbles the Insomniac.
- to be continued.
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