Sundays

There was a time when I waited for Sunday. After a week of work, and I worked hard, a day of rest 

was very welcome. I loved to sleep.  I am not an atheist, and I go to church maybe once a year for 

midnight mass on Christmas eve. So I'm not a churchgoer basically. Therefore Sundays did not mean 

that I was seated in the pews in church listening to the pastor's sermon.  The pastor, in fact, 

would not recognise me until my sister, who goes more often to church, introduced me as her brother 

after Christmas Eve mass.

I also had a problem sleeping and would lie awake at nights trying desperately trying to fall asleep.

I tried counting sheep and it never worked. I also tried those sleeping videos on YouTube. I listened 

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and felt bored.

They were not music I was familiar with and they kept my eyelids firmly apart. Even a safe 

tranquillizer that my doctor prescribed did not have any effect.

The only thing to do then was to switch on the computer and start looking through endless posts, 

mostly on cats. I love cats, especially black cats and I have a feral black cat. He sleeps for hours

as all cats do and I feel sorry for myself. But that is another story.

I do not remember when I got my first computer, but my sleeplessness preceded it.  

I read somewhere that reading a book at night would make me fall asleep. Then, I read somewhere 

else that reading did not help at all. Neither option worked.

During summer I would take a couple of baths during the night to cool down my system so that I 

could get some sleep. Sometimes, I would be able to sleep for a few hours. Then I would be wide 

awake again.

I had a very senior colleague in office who would drink himself to sleep, but he got up early and did 

pranayama. That was not an option for me, but at one time I did hit the bottle quite a lot 

and the bottle also started hitting me back. But then those were the days. Interestingly, 

I did not drink, smoke and chew bettle leaves until I was in college. College day friends must have 

corrupted me. I proudly told my mother when I had my first cigarette. I do not remember what her 

reaction was. But then I should also blame myself for not having sufficient self-control.

I had a cousin too who encouraged me to drink.  That meant free drinks for him. He brought mutual 

friends along and there were frequent sessions. But this did not last long thankfully. And, I did not 

have to attend Alcoholics Anonymous sessions either.

But then I was speaking about sleep. When I was a boy I could never get enough sleep. I hated it 

when my mother woke me up in the mornings when it was time for school. I must have 

slept away all my entire childhood with no quota of sleep left for old age.

I remember the night duty at the office. I would take along a book to read and never sleep in the 

office. The office provided a camp cot and a mattress. But I did not sleep on it for fear of bed bugs. 

There is no night duty at the office anymore. My erstwhile colleagues and the new young men who 

have joined close shop at 11:00 pm. The women are exempt from night duty. All men at the News 

Desk have cars now to drive home at night, save one who spends the night in the office. He does not 

have a car. But he should have one before long I presume considering that our office is the top 

paymaster in India now.

Speaking of night duty I used to return home in the early morning. I live in Kolkata 

where dilapidated tramcars still run. The first tram then would arrive punctually at 4:55 am, the next 

at 5:00 am and one at 5:10 am. I would board one of them and be home in 10 to 15 minutes. The 

same journey during the rush hour during the day would take 45 minutes.

I also particularly, remember an insane woman in the square which the trams used as a roundabout. 

She would be dressed in rags and sing and dance on the empty streets, poor woman. She was there 

only in the early morning and I did not know where she disappeared to during the day. Then a tram 

would arrive and I would return home. I slept sometimes in the morning when I was on night duty.

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Then I have strayed from my original topic of Sundays. All weekdays are like Sundays now. There is 

an exception though. There is a tea shop where I drink tea in the morning. It's open day and evening 

throughout the week but closed on Sunday evenings.

That's why I hate Sundays now!

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