Sleepless in the city

''Destiny is something we've invented because we can't stand the fact that everything happens is accidental.'' -Sleepless in Seattle (1993)

“Sleep is such a luxury, which I can't afford.” ― Robin Sikarwar

“The creak of bed springs suffering under the weight of a restless man is as lonely a sound as I know.” ― Patrick deWitt, The Sisters Brothers

“In troubled times, one wishes for a sound sleep more than usual, but on the contrary, realizing its amplified importance, sleep smugly impedes all attempts to woo it.” ― Pawan Mishra, Coinman: An Untold Conspiracy

As I had said in one of my earlier posts, one can get the best of beds, but sleep is something you have to be blessed with. Being an early to bed, early to rise person, I find it difficult to get sleep late into the morning, unless I am very tired. The past ten days have seen a consistent pattern where I lose sleep in the middle of the night. 

Yesterday was no different, only that it was worse. Have you read the book 'The Amityville Horror' or seen its movie adaptations? In this story, the head of the family is woken up regularly by some noise or unfathomable spirit in the dead of the night.... Around  2 am every single night. I seem to have the same problem with my sleep the past ten days. Yesterday was 12:45 am. Only that there were no spirits to be afraid of! 

So what do you do when you get up in the middle of the night? I don't have TV. I tried to watch a movie on my computer. A 1998 Hollywood A/B grade cross, 'Wild Things'- a favorite of mine - Don't get ideas, just because of the consistent topsy turvy plot. But 15 minutes into the movie, I realized that if I have to sleep, then watching Denise Richards on screen is not going to help! I switched it off and decided that I will read some random part of a book. I pulled out Chetan Bhagat 's Five Point Someone and opened somewhere in the middle. As luck would have it, it was the part where the one of the characters kisses his girlfriend the first time on a terrace. No, not the perfect advertisement for getting sleep.

When u get up in the middle of the night, strangely, hunger pangs arise from nowhere. The stomach acts as if you have not had food for ages! One 200 ml pack of buttermilk, a pack of lassi and portions of the new-in-the-market bournvita biscuits. Some more nights like this and my Bhageeratha  like penance in reducing my weight is going to take a hard knock!

Then I started doing something wild. I have weights at home. 'Doing weights can make me tired and consequently, could aid me in getting the much needed sleep', I decided. I pumped rubber (again, don't get ideas, the weights I have are made of rubber!) for about thirty minutes. At one point, it became so frustrating that I thought of knocking myself senseless with one of those! Walked inside the house for about thirty - Yes, thirty- minutes!

I browsed, shared something on gplus, and decided to read an e-book on the kindle app on my phone. 'You can do it'  by Andrew Boskugel. One of the lines in a chapter on the law of attraction said thus:

'God has created a rule. And this rule says that you always get what you concentrate on! Paying attention to something, strengthens it!'

Is it? I decided to concentrate on sleep, hoping there was this law of attraction thing between me and sleep. No luck... We seem to be the same sides of a magnet! I looked like I was exploring all possible ways to construct a sequel to the Hollywood movie 'Clueless'! Moreover, when your nights end up sleepless, your thoughts gain ground and overpower their way. The heart and mind then get into a slanging match over who is right.

At around 4 am, slight semblances of sleep and I hit the sack. In just five minutes, the fan stopped - the electricity Board had decided to pull the plug. No, God, no! Not me! Why me Lord, why? I pray to you, I am a good boy and all that... You can't do this to me!

Then, on reflex action, I got up, groped around a switch in the hall and lo, there was power in the hall!  You are awesome, God dude!!

I switched my 4:30 am alarm off and.. Crashed! At 6 am, the conditioned body refused to continue any further and it was time for.... Coffee!

I am dreading today's night. But I have decided one thing... If this happens today, Wild Things in on.. Full!

Yawn!