The search for 40 winks

The city never sleeps quite literally. We are all up, out or about, irrelevant of the reason why. but mostly because of our attachment to beloved technology. Bengalureans have a happening night life and it is not uncommon to see people on the roads late into the night, grabbing a cup of tea from local vendors. And we don’t mind giving up a couple of hours of sleep. But more often than not, that is not all that keeps us up. A candid chat with youngsters in the city shows that most of them don’t sleep as much as they would like to, often citing lack of time to catch up on all aspects of their life. These youngsters break down their reasons for why they burn the midnight oil.

Advaita Srikant, a tourism student notes, “Since most of our day is occupied by work, we use the night to catch up on the rest of our life. A lot of establishments like shopping spaces and gyms are open late at night. Gyms are accessible 24*7 in our city but the other day, I even saw a popular shopping complex, buzzing with activity at 12  am. People were shopping at 12  am! I believe this happens because there is a large population that only gets to squeeze in the rest of their daily routine late in the evening or night.”

The city offers a lot and these youngsters don’t realise that a good night’s sleep should be a priority. Raksha Ravikumar, a student, says, “A lot is happening as there is a lot of stimuli  around us and it is hard to fall asleep because we are constantly interacting with the world.”

Many students struggle with establishing a regular sleep pattern. Ashita Anil and architecture student explains, “Assignments are laborious and require at least 12 hours of work, which happens post college hours, so we do not get to sleep as much as we want.”

This age group that falls under 30 years have a a lifestyle disease which although inevitable, is tampering their health. Dr Rajeev Kumarakandath, a sociologist observes, “Unlike earlier, students and working professionals anticipate themselves to be engaged in various things. The job pressure is such because the market is highly competitive and they have to consistently prove themselves. Life practices are completely changing.”

“It is important to sleep at the appropriate time, ideally right after 10 pm and not post 12 am.” From another view point, Meghana Singhal, a psychologist explains further, “A lot of screen time on phones or laptops close to bed time is not healthy. Sleeping less during weekdays and trying to compensate for it during weekends wrecks havoc with their system.” She recommends limiting screen time for an hour before going to bed, and listening to soothing music close to bed time.