Life is full of conflicts- major ones, minor ones, global ones, national conflicts, sectarian conflicts ( all of which seem so unnecessary and so very distressing), inter-personal conflicts, and intra-personal ones, which are the most ludicrous of all.
Your average homemaker may or may not get sufficient sleep. This seems plausible enough when she has school and college going children, who have to be woken up and sent off with meals packed and breakfasts served to them, and to husbands too.When the spouse has retired, surely she has no reason to complain.
This is where the intra-personal issues arise. The body gets used to waking up at a particular time. The body also wants to go out for a walk, most mornings. On the days you decide not to walk, the bathroom beckons. It is usually possible to go back to sleep after a 'small' job. Once the bowels move, though, it is harder to get back to sleep. And if there are the usual issues of an urban Indian home, sleep remains under threat: there are early morning doorbells to be answered- the part-time help comes in, the press-wallah dhobi comes to collect the clothes that need ironing, the car-cleaner needs the car keys, drinking water needs to be filled before a particular time- it goes on. This is all normal. Problems arise when chemical substances confuse the poor body still further........
The weather these days is pleasant in the early mornings, and sweltering during the day. It has also triggered some strange allergies: my eyes itch, then water, and then the sneezes begin. Yesterday was a case in point, with streaming eyes and runny nose and acute irritation. I decided to take an anti-allergen. I thought of taking half a tablet, but it seemed as though the tablet was sniggering at my bulk.(Note to self: do not act upon the perceived sniggers of inanimate objects, particularly pills). One Cetrizine at bedtime, and at least the sneezes were under control. I decided that a morning walk was not an option, and woke up at 7.25 a.m., with five minutes to spare before the RO water supply was over for the morning. I filled the bottles, watered my solitary tulsi plant, filled the birds' water bowl (at least one pigeon drinks there every day), opened up my absent neighbour's house and watered her plants. The maid arrived, as did the dhobi. I parked myself on the couch and dozed, telling the maid to not clean our room as the RE was still asleep. As she left I told her of my dopey state, and when she sympathetically told me to go to sleep, I said that I was sure the spouse would be up the minute I entered our bedroom. I was wrong- as I closed the front door behind the maid, the man manifested himself in the dining room! I made tea for both of us, drank tea, asked him to remove the tray from our bed, and I was asleep again. I did get up once to switch off the light, and pottered out to see him chopping onions and tomatoes for an omelette. I slept. And slept. And woke up to the inevitable conflict- needing to go to the bathroom vs. needing to stay asleep. Guess who won!
Your average homemaker may or may not get sufficient sleep. This seems plausible enough when she has school and college going children, who have to be woken up and sent off with meals packed and breakfasts served to them, and to husbands too.When the spouse has retired, surely she has no reason to complain.
This is where the intra-personal issues arise. The body gets used to waking up at a particular time. The body also wants to go out for a walk, most mornings. On the days you decide not to walk, the bathroom beckons. It is usually possible to go back to sleep after a 'small' job. Once the bowels move, though, it is harder to get back to sleep. And if there are the usual issues of an urban Indian home, sleep remains under threat: there are early morning doorbells to be answered- the part-time help comes in, the press-wallah dhobi comes to collect the clothes that need ironing, the car-cleaner needs the car keys, drinking water needs to be filled before a particular time- it goes on. This is all normal. Problems arise when chemical substances confuse the poor body still further........
The weather these days is pleasant in the early mornings, and sweltering during the day. It has also triggered some strange allergies: my eyes itch, then water, and then the sneezes begin. Yesterday was a case in point, with streaming eyes and runny nose and acute irritation. I decided to take an anti-allergen. I thought of taking half a tablet, but it seemed as though the tablet was sniggering at my bulk.(Note to self: do not act upon the perceived sniggers of inanimate objects, particularly pills). One Cetrizine at bedtime, and at least the sneezes were under control. I decided that a morning walk was not an option, and woke up at 7.25 a.m., with five minutes to spare before the RO water supply was over for the morning. I filled the bottles, watered my solitary tulsi plant, filled the birds' water bowl (at least one pigeon drinks there every day), opened up my absent neighbour's house and watered her plants. The maid arrived, as did the dhobi. I parked myself on the couch and dozed, telling the maid to not clean our room as the RE was still asleep. As she left I told her of my dopey state, and when she sympathetically told me to go to sleep, I said that I was sure the spouse would be up the minute I entered our bedroom. I was wrong- as I closed the front door behind the maid, the man manifested himself in the dining room! I made tea for both of us, drank tea, asked him to remove the tray from our bed, and I was asleep again. I did get up once to switch off the light, and pottered out to see him chopping onions and tomatoes for an omelette. I slept. And slept. And woke up to the inevitable conflict- needing to go to the bathroom vs. needing to stay asleep. Guess who won!
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