SOUNDS OF SNORING

 I snore, yes I do and most men of my age would acknowledge that they too tend to snore in their sleep, the decibel level of the sound generated varies of course. The act of snoring is supposed to indicate that one has had a sound sleep, although in the bargain, the spouse or others in near vicinity may end up as insomniacs is a different matter altogether. There is an old saying those who snore always fall asleep first. Snoring is caused by blocking of air through your mouth or nose so the breathing is laboured and noisy. Incidentally snoring has been the bone of contention for spouses and may end up in their choosing to sleep in separate bed rooms or in worst case may end up separating them altogether.A wise man once said, Laugh and the world laughs with you, snore and you sleep alone. After all sleep is dear to everyone and even love can’t make up for it over a considerably long period. 

I was not aware that I did indulge in creating this racket in my sleep until my kids recorded a video and played it for my benefit. Initially I was in denial that they had probably doctored the video, but then I realised that there was a strong possibility as the masculine gender is more prone to snoring so accepted the fact in all humility. Politics makes strange bed fellows and snoring makes even stranger ones, if both the spouses do it and are not disturbed by the other’s emanated sounds. To an unsuspecting guest the sounds seem to be in a sort of dulcet duet which is a sort of Indian classical jugalbandi of vocal and instrumental in tandem. Use of Headphones is the only way out for the one who is at the receiving end of this guttural music, in the middle of the night to get some respite for themselves. Sometimes the snorer himself wakes up from his deep slumber due to his own loud snores and sheepishly looks around before settling down to further louder pitch. Extreme cases of snoring may end up in sleep apnea, where the person stops breathing altogether which can be distressful in the milder version and may even prove to be fatal in extreme cases. 

We in the armed forces sleep light while on alert but sleep soundly at every available opportunity, a quality developed in the academies and then honed later on in service. Sleep like food must never be refused as one doesn’t know when would the next meal be available or whether we will be blessed to steal the forty winks again. In NDA, we could sleep standing and as the legend goes there were many who could even sleep through a run or a bathroom session, after all it was so mechanical an activity that one could doze off in between comfortably. So much so that we could hear some of us actually snore through it. A dog tired cadet falling asleep in classroom was a given and even instructors did not normally disturb his hard earned siesta but when he started to snore then he had to be nudged not to awaken him but just to get him to stop disturbing others by his loud and sonorous snores which could act as a lullaby inducing his neighbours too into joining the ranks. Many of us may not have slept in the classroom but did indulge in daydreaming as the subject matter was normally too complex and our attention span was highly limited when it came to anything to do with the brain, brawn of course was par for the course.

Recently I happened to travel by train after a long time and the different patterns of snoring which was audible was almost like a Royal Philharmonic Orchestra with someone at the drums, some at the trumpet and some simply whistled. Over the years one has got used to the spouse’s but here with such a splendid ensemble it was not possible for me to turn a deaf ear and stayed awake the whole night enjoying it to the fullest. May be the train coaches ought to be called two tier/ three tier snorers rather than sleepers.