SLEEP OVER

Remember tucking into bed and falling asleep instantly? For many of us, it's a distant memory

- BARRY RODGERS

Rahul Srivastava lies in his bed, listening to the sounds of everyone else in a three-bedroom house in Mumbai's Borivali, sleeping. There's the snoring of Ivry, his 10-year-old black lab, the soft whimpers of his new three-month-old yellow Labrador puppy as he slumbers in his crate, and the various snorts and grunts of his parents as they sleep in their bedroom across the hall.

Srivastava, like so many others, seems to be struck with insomnia, a sleep disturbance that has been chronically plaguing a sizeable number of the Indian population ever since the pandemic began. “And this happens to me frequently, most nights of the week. It's been like this for almost a year now. Usually, I'd take a sleeping pill to get myself to doze off, but lately, I've been resisting. I don't like to rely on artificial ways to force myself to sleep anymore," he says, adding, "Most nights, I try and fight back the urge to grab my phone and start scrolling on Instagram, as I know the blue light it emits can impact sleep. So, I get up and go to my living room to read with the help of a dim light. It works: I feel tired within about 20 minutes, so I go back to my bedroom and fall asleep," says Srivastava.