We have all been guilty of late night movie marathons, reading into the wee hours of the morning, or just sitting up and chatting with friends while indulging ourselves with a few bites. The cool shroud of night is not just a much needed balm after the scorching heat of summer days, but a time when people set aside the baggage of the day. While the premise itself is inviting, bedtime for most young people is getting pushed back later into the night, voluntarily in some cases and dictated by necessity for others.
For college students going to bed late is not unusual and hostels witness a wide range of activities that keep the young and restless busy at night. For Vishnu Gopakumar, a second year MBA student at SCMS Cochin School of Business, nights at hostel are spent playing table tennis with friends, followed by some chitchat and maybe the occasional movie, with sleep not being a consideration till one or two in the morning. Come exam time, and the entire student community is burning the midnight oil. He laughs when asked if there are still people who go to bed right after dinner. “In hostels, even attendance is only at 9.30 p.m. so I don’t think anyone goes to sleep that early. Everyone is usually up talking to each other or are on the phone till late at night,” he says, before adding an afterthought, “actually access to technology seems to be causing most people to sleep later.”
For Vinayak Veerakesavan, a sales manager at CEAT Tyres, one of the primary reasons for his late nights is, of all things, laundry. “My job requires me to travel a fair bit and by the time I’m home and finish dinner it’s already late. So night is the only time to do chores. I soak the clothes and chat with friends while it soaks,” he says. “Other days I like having friends over and we sometimes have small parties. And if I’ve been travelling for a while I like to catch up on new episodes of TV shows that I follow.”
Srivatsan Raghunath, an intern with Ernst & Young, likes to spend his nights discovering new music, apart from also being a late-night-laundry-doer. Both Srivatsan and Vinayak admit that they are occasionally guilty of staying up and snacking into the wee hours as they go about their work. “Sometimes if there is work due the next day we go to all night coffee shops and work there. Having food and friends for company makes the work easier and such places usually provide a good ambience,” says Vinayak.
When he’s not at hostel, Vishnu is an avid gamer who takes part in clan matches that are known to stretch till five in the morning. “This is again a result of office-going gamers not having time at any other point in the day. So the matches start at around 11. 30 p.m. Some people who have jobs wind-up around one or two in the morning but those who are free tend to get wrapped up and keep going till its dawn,” he explains.
In the case of Anusha Krishna, the late hours her journalist husband works is the reason her apartment lights stay on late. “My husband comes home by two or three in the morning, so sometimes I stay up reading or watching television, and then we have some dinner together. As a person who used to sleep almost 10 hours before marriage, the lack of sleep can cause some strain,” she says.
While this all seems like a lot for those who are strict about their bedtimes, these youngsters say it is a force of habit that they are used to. “We pick up the habit of staying up late right from our college days, and we just have a different sleep cycle. Yes, it is a bother when the cycle is upset and we have to wake up earlier on some days, and sometimes it results in breakfasts being replaced by brunch, but other than that there isn’t much difference,” says Srivatsan.
Dr. Abraham Varghese, former president of Indian Medical Association, Cochin, says that while he doesn’t recommend late hours, getting seven to eight hours of sleep consistently should keep one refreshed. “Night is the ideal time to sleep, as there are no interruptions, and the ambient light allows for restful sleep. However, many working professionals are forced to stay up late for various reasons. Productivity at night is less than during the day, and while youngsters may not be affected by sleep deprivation, as they age the effects will become known,” he cautions.
Despite not having a thriving night life, Kochi is now a city that is later to bed and later to rise. With busy work lives and precious little time to unwind, the welcoming stillness of night is its new best friend.
