A yawning gap!

 Yawn is an onomatopoeic word. To say yawn, you almost have to yawn! Back in school, we were sure a yawn is contagious! It required only one boy to start it off! Soon, the bout of yawning consumed the entire class! There is nothing that dents a teacher’s ego more. Teachers reacted angrily, “Didn’t you sleep at night?” It was tough to admit, “It is not the lack of sleep; it is the soporific nature of the current proceedings!” Some teachers were more lenient. “Go and wash your face!” they ordered. Teachers learnt later that students faked a yawn, just to take a stroll outside!

No one has contributed to yawns more than chief guests at public functions! Once they get access to the microphone, they just won’t stop. As they ramble away in a monotone, clouds of yawn envelop the entire auditorium! The fog is so thick that the speaker cannot see the audience anymore, to even take a cue from them!

There is no easy way to control a yawn! You can try everything- clench your jaw and shut the mouth tight. But a yawn is a stubborn candidate. He manages to escape- the nostrils flare up, the eyes moisten and eventually, the mouth gives up and breaks into a yawn anyway!

Nothing irritates you more than someone yawning away, while you are frantically working to meet a deadline. You are certain that the world is unfair! As you work away, you can hear the yawn around you. The yawn is so monstrous that you can hear the click of the jaw! Any bigger and the jaw is sure to get locked! And when the yawn is ended with a series of incoherent sounds, you cannot take it anymore. Angrily, you shoot your mouth off, “If you are so sleepy, why don’t you go and sleep?” A yawning person is defenseless. He gapes back, blinks repeatedly, too sleepy to even respond!

There is a yawning gap in our understanding of the yawn. It is evident that you yawn when you are sleepy. But there are days when you have overslept and still wake up with a yawn! Self Help books spin yarns providing simplistic tips to take deep breaths and a glass of water!

You are all alert! The last over of the T-20 match is about to be bowled. It is well past your sleep time, but you do not yawn. A yawn or the lack of it, is ultimately the mind’s escape valve. It is a tell-tale barometer that the mind has shut shop, faced with a topic with which, it has no connect!