The power of sleep

I have been on the highway for the last seventy-two hours. A friend and I drove into the horizon one afternoon. We were heading to a temple town amidst a cluster of hills; thereafter a seaside city and in between we would cut through vast plains and plateaus shadowed by gigantic rock formations. Each moment was filled with a wealth of sensations. Each moment that demanded it be mulled over and savoured with great deliberation. And what better place than the bed to do so?

And so each night as I crawled into bed, I would plan to dwell over the day’s drive and all that I saw. But as soon as my head touched the pillow, I would pass out. It was a purely magical moment of letting go; all the muscles relaxing, the nerves stretching; the day’s cares and worries, joys and triumphs all curling into a little impenetrable ball to be tucked into a little corner of the mind. Only to be brought out and bounced the next waking day. But the next morning when I woke up, it would be to a new day demanding new stimulation. And hence the previous day would have passed into the realm of memory.

I know so many who lie in bed wide-eyed going back and forth over the happenings of their day and others. I know how reluctantly sleep come to some. I know of how it can be to hear every tick of the clock as the night crawls towards day. Of being unable to sleep while all around everyone else is fast asleep. It must be one of the loneliest places to be….

In our prayers, we ask for our daily bread and for worries to be erased from our brow. No prayer seeks the blessing of sleep. If only…. the world would then be a better place. After a good night’s sleep, everything seems less bleak, less hard to deal with, less tedious… It seems to me that the power of sleep is an unsung virtue.

Anita Nair’s new novel is Lessons in Forgetting