Anytime! Anywhere!

Dear Friends,

Most of us have a peculiar pattern with regard to sleep. The lights must be off or on at times! Few prefer two pillows, some sleep with none, others settle for one; some tuck a few between their legs too! The pattern varies from person to person and the sleeping positions too. Today I will pen here few characters and the rest is for you to guess!

Vardha was a very fun loving guy who has lived life with full fervor. He is very loquacious and can keep your ears asking for more. Yes, he has many things to converse and many occurrences to quote. I sometimes speculate is he spinning a few of them or have they happened in real! Vardha is very obliging too, you can take your troubles to him, he will never come with any solutions but will help you to forget your troubles for sometime atleast. Vardha has one good practice, if you invite him home once, you can expect him everyday. He will have a broad smirk and same ardor - nine a.m. or nine p.m. If he has visited your home late, he will exit early. There is nothing to fret. He is well mannered that way. People who treat Vardha with food and talks have never visited his home though. He talks about his spouse, his children and invites everyone to his place, but when to go! Vardha is forever visiting other houses. A blessed soul that he is, he catches few winks between the time you take to serve food. Vardha, table is laid, you scream. Has he already reached the REM stage of his sleep? Vardha was once sitting on the window sill talking to someone on his mobile. When I returned with a mug of coffee, he was snoozing sticking his head to the sliding window! Thank God, I have grilled by windows! Vardha, who is always cheering people and helping them too, without revealing his address or his family to others, is also sleeping peacefully.

Vijay is another constant visitor of our home. My mom has somehow taken a liking for him, stop battling your eyelids, I forgot to mention, the liking of son! Vijay had become Viju and would spend maximum time at our place. Viju had returned from Muscat and was a Foren returned for our family. He would speak Arabic and impress us. (I have never checked with anyone about the dialect) In return he would get coffee, tea, breakfast and good meal. Yes, sometimes he stayed at our place for days and months too. He was never bored of talking about his experiences nor were we bored of listening to them. Viju had a troubled married life and was separated from his wife and kid, not legally though. He was going through a bad phase of his life. His parents were giving him good support and so were we trying to be with him during the bad phase of his life. He would keep telling us about the days he spent with his spouse, his kid. He had no bank balance and was dependent on his family for food and shelter. We were forever worried for him, often discussing till late night about his future after his parents who were the only hope for him. Viju would snore at any given point of time. He would also stretch himself on the floor and go to sleep. He would take a quick nap of 10 to 15 minutes at any time of the day. Once, he was snoring in a theatre too while watching movie. We kept wondering how could he sleep with so many disturbances in his personal life. Or may be he has shifted his worries on our shoulders and taking rest! Viju, our family friend or a member we can say, who filled our ears with the problems of his life, but slept peacefully.

Meena was different, she would hit to sad songs when there is a break off. Mukesh was her favourite (yes, Mukesh the yester year singer of Bollywood, who has sung innumerable sad songs), she would also reminisce the days she spent with her guy and how rude he has been by breaking her heart. There would be tears in her eyes and for some strange reason in my eyes too! I would hold and console her, trying to bring her out from her tear jerking past. She would get DVD’s of the movies, which they have watched together and play them at home. She would quietly give blank calls to the guy from land line (yes, she is sure, he does not have caller identity) only to hear his voice. He has not gone to office today, he is at home, he picked the call, she would tell me. I would feel very sad for her and had lost my sleep wondering how am I going to bring her out of this relationship. I was tossing on bed trying to find a solution, but found Meen fast asleep. God, how can she sleep so peacefully, I wondered. I have lost mine but she has gained a few more winks of sleep. She would wake up fresh recollecting more of her past to share it with me and I am having puffed eyes already! Meenu, my best friend, who loved to talk sad, live in past but sleep peacefully.

Manisha was totally broke, she had financial problems at home for which she had taken some loan from bank and credit card too. Now, she is in a dilemma of how to repay them. She has been constantly discussing this with her colleagues hoping to receive some help. We have already pooled in some cash to fish her out with one of the loans at least. She is on the verge of losing her job and has mortgaged her jewellery too. Manisha was in a desperate search of a job, which will give her a good pay hike to bail her out of her problems. We friends could never stop discussing about Manu, poor girl, she is fighting life out like a brave woman, we would say. Most of us had her in our prayers too. She was always been taken care of in office. He favourite food was there in one of our lunch boxes everyday to cheer her up. Manu, was again different. Though she discussed her problems with us, cried on our shoulders, she never gave up listening to FM Music, take long walks in the evening to refresh herself, go and meet an old friend to catch up with lost time and never disturb her after 10.p.m. she is fast asleep wearing socks, a monkey cap, two pillows and a blanket. We are always awake thinking about Manu! She is sleeping anytime anywhere.

Janaki underwent a major surgery, the doctor was worried for her, as her B.P. was not coming below 250! Her son had come down from New Jersey and her daughter from London. Everyone was praying hard for Janaki who is still on bed with tubes venting out from her body. A pale smile and a blink is all that she is for the past few days. After a week, the doctor gets her out of ICU. Family and friends are very concerned about her; children have gone pale and have lost their sleep and appetite. Janaki keeps assuring all of them, she will be fine and will be dishing out their favourite dishes in a months time. When she was discharged, the surgeon shook hands with her children. They thanked him for the efforts to revive their mothers health, the doctor in return said, it is not him who has made her walk, but Janaki’s will power and her believe in herself. Patients keep asking doctor when I will be fine, but Janaki would say, I will be fine in few days doctor. Patients would scream at night and ask the nurse to give them sleeping pills, but Janaki would have absolutely tasteless kichdi pop her dose of medicines and go to sleep peacefully saying small prayer to her God. Yes, she would sleep during day time or night even in the evening when visitors were around her. When asked she said, “When I return home, will I get time to sleep like this, I have to cook for my kids who are here to spend time with me and then I have to go and meet my friends, I cannot waste time sleeping”. She had the power to sleep anywhere anytime.

Each characters mentioned above had loads of problems in their life - some had found a solution, some have not given it a thought to, they all had one thing in common, they could sleep anytime, anywhere.

Count your friends when you in trouble, shred the mask and be yourself, your heart will be at peace and so will be your head. You too can sleep anytime and anywhere. It is my guess!!!

hi mals,

that was good but i sadly belong to the first category of people........my heart is clear..there is no mask..life is a bed of roses..touch wood but the head is not clear...the room has got to be dark...absolutely soundless and the AC in the correct temperature...only then can i sleep......dh can sleep anytime anywhere so his comments are usually that his heart is pure and mind clear......and that i should not make an issue of it but read abook till i fall asleep...but i will toss and turn and fret and wake him up too sometimes....poor him for putting up with me,i think sometimes.... lucky indeed are those anytime anywhere types....

Mindi

Dear Mals,

Good one dear.......... reading this made me think of my father. He was also like this. Even though he did not have a pie for tomorrow, but you could find him sleeping on the chair itself. When my second daughter was born, I wa toooo weak to look after her. My father was a good baby sitter and he was the pillar for me for child rearing and this little girl used to sleep in the daytime and wake up the whole night. When she wanted to sleep, father used to sit on the couch in a reclining position and she would be perched on his chest and both would be sleeping away to glory. This sight used to amuse us a lot and I used to call Monkey Kutty(in tamil).

Thanks Mals for this nostaligic journey.

Good one Mals.

I too just can't fall asleep anytime anywhere...even if i do will get up in a short time and then hard to go back to sleep.

But my dad, my husband and all the gents in his family are anytime anywhere souls.

2 of my BILs as kids had the habit of going to sleep while having their meals. I think they have the photographs too. With a peice of roti in their hand mid way from the plate to the mouth and after some time if you observe they will be fast asleep in that position.

I also can sleep when the room is dark and no noise. If I am very tired I cant sleep.
With age u do not get proper sleep also. My husband will sleep fast and get up also fast. I like to sleep alone without any disturbance. Sometimes if I do not get sleep I will go and have some sweet. I feel sometimes that if I have some sweet I will get good sleep. Previously when I used to go for marriages after having lunch and payasam I used to go off to sleep fast. But now a days its not like that. Must be becos of the age. When I was young I used to go off tosleep anytime anywhere.

Hi Mindi,

Count me in! I cannot sleep anywhere and anytime. I have to drop dead to go to sleep. It all started during my S.S.C. Exam preparation. I would sit late and study and till date I am sitting late. It is a great pain for me to travel to city that sleeps early. Well, most of the city in India say good night kisses by 10 p.m. average. As I constantly travel a lot for my work, I have experienced it quite often. I stay put in my room scanning channels. My heart is clear for sure but my head is always clouded with work. Lucky are those people who can sleep anywhere anytime.

If we ever happen to meet, I am sure I have a company!

It's a blessing I guess to be able to sleep soundly, anywhere, any place. Perhaps even in one's cell in the death row. Like the ability to face any situation with a smile, sleep too produces wonders. Smile when you are awake and dream sweet dreams when you are not. What more can we wish for? That's paradise, isn't it?

Dear Malspie,
'Chilla neerangallil chila manithargal- what else say to say? Life has to go. Some become lethargic unable to find a solution to their affairs. perhaps the depressed state makes that gentleman sleep anytime of the hour. For ever your thread is good. kanaka

Dear Malspie,

I am happy to see this post that you had took undiscussed part in life i.e sleep..People say those who are blessed can sleep soundly....

You can also add me in to this category anytime!anywhere! even though im undergoing toughest parts in life...

Hugs,
dg..

Hi Lalitha,

Your father is really blessed. Sleep is rather a blessing in disguise by the almighty. It has nothing to do with the financial status or any other crisis in life. Thanks for stepping in here.