Status: The Exclusive Phone Call..

 

Status: That Exclusive Phone Call...

By

Vivek Hande

The word Status derives from the Latin word status which refers to condition/ position or state. This in turn is derived from the Latin verb stare which means to stand. Status as we understand it today, refers to social rank of a person in a group. A status symbol are the visible external things that attach to a person or workplace and serve as evidence of social rank. The word first came into existence around 1670s in a legal and social context.

Status Symbols are tied to societal changes and changing social norms and practices. They constantly evolve and what might be a status symbol today, may cease to be one, years down the line. Obviously, they serve as visible indicators of societal status, prestige and wealth. They may include luxury goods, exclusive experiences, practices, designation of rank or certain behaviours.

There have been some weird status symbols over the ages. At some point of time, certain colours and artefacts could only be used by the elite. The wealthy Victorians went through an intense Egyptomania phase where everything Egypt was flaunted as a status symbol. The highlight of exclusive dinner parties used to be the ability to purchase Egyptian Mummies and unwrap millennium old corpses gradually over the course of the evening. The evening would gradually wrap you around in a creepy awe...

Dinner Entertainment..

Chinese aristocratic women in the late 1800s/early 1900s would have their feet crippled as a status symbol. Girls from rich families would undergo foot binding and a steady breaking of toes and bones of the arch of the feet to make them look delicately lotus shaped and symmetric to enhance feminine beauty. Break your feet and flaunt your wealth and status! The procedure was mercifully, legally outlawed in 1912.

Lotus Feet: Break a Leg

When Columbus returned after his voyages to the New World, he brought back Pineapples and introduced them to Europe. The Europeans lapped up the succulent delight, but they were available at premium, and they had no clue how to grow them. Pineapples were hired for display for exclusive dinner parties and were regarded as gift worth giving if you had arrived in life.

I cannot say I am very conscious of status symbols but one has worn good watches, written with some expensive pens, driven some nice cars and felt good about them. However, in the mid-90s when I was stationed at Port Blair, Andaman & Nicobar Islands, as a Physician in the Naval Hospital, I would receive a phone call once in about four to six weeks. Nothing has ever matched the feeling of exclusivity and the high it gave me. More importantly, the phone call would make my wife feel very proud of me and I rose up a few notches in her eyes, at least transiently. It was a phone call one could not brag about, and one could only talk about it in hushed whispers. You had to be on the very special list to be on it. You obviously had to be very important and special to figure on it.  The list also had different status levels. I was quite on top of the list and it was an amazing feeling which did great for my ego. It still makes me feel good after so many years.

The Port Blair of those days was very different from today. There were few cars on the roads; two petrol pumps; four civil flights a week. I was one of the two physicians on the islands- the other being in the Government Hospital. I doubled up as a Psychiatrist, Dermatologist, often as the Paediatrician and I was the best Cardiology, Gastroenterology and Nephrology could offer.

Back to the phone call. Every month or month and a half, Madhavan would call me on my phone and whisper on the phone, “30 minutes Doctor; 3 plus 3”. I would leave everything and drive my trusted Maruti like a maniac to Aberdeen Bazaar. A designated spot and I would collect an innocuous looking packet and get home. Hand over the packet to my wife and see her eyes light up. Transient elevation by a few notches in her eyes. I do know a few others were on the ‘60; 2plus2 and some on the 90; 1plus1 list’. But there were a handful on my list on the entire island. I had treated Madhavan and his family a few months ago for Malaria and a particularly recalcitrant respiratory infection and that is what got me on the top of the list. 

30; 3plus3- the ultimate status symbol

Three Kilograms of Tomatoes and Three Kilograms of Potatoes within half an hour of being offloaded from the ships which came in from Calcutta or Madras once in a month or a month and a half! It could not have got better on the islands during those days when there was no fresh produce; very infrequent flights and limited commercial ship movement! Being on the 90;3plus3 was indeed the ultimate status symbol. Nothing else has truly matched that feeling of ultimate exclusivity and being right there!! Status, they say is a way to say who you are without having to spell it out...

Rip Van Winkle And Other Sleepy Stories..

 

Rip Van Winkle and Other Sleepy Stories..

By

Vivek Hande

“The woods are lovely, dark and deep. But I have miles to go before I sleep”. Beautiful and immortal words from Robert Frost. Inspiring but hugely depressing to someone trying to go to sleep and not the ideal bedtime poetry. And then you have Benjamin Franklin who famously commented, “Early to bed and early to rise makes a man healthy, wealthy and wise”. And the same man on another day wrote, “A life of leisure and a lifetime of laziness are two things. There will be sleeping enough in the grave”. Thomas Edison wrote, “For myself, I never found need of more than four hours sleep in the twenty-four. I never dream. It is real sleep.”

Sleep or the lack of it has forever driven people to divine poetry or deep despair. A good laugh and a long sleep are the best cures in the Doctor’s book goes a famous Irish quote. I cannot agree more and yet it seems easier to laugh if you have had a good night’s sleep. Those were the days... one could stand sleeping; be knocked out before the head hit the pillow; it didn’t matter whether there was a pillow or not; it didn’t matter what time of the day it was and one knew one could have a large cup of coffee with your hostel roommate at midnight and be dead to the world fifteen minutes thereafter and no earthquake could wake you. Sleep patterns and habits change. Nobody really teaches you to sleep – it is one of those ingrained biorhythms. It should be the easiest and most natural thing to do and yet …

Sleep disorders have emerged as the silent epidemic. In a large study, it was reported that 61% Indians report less than six hours of uninterrupted sleep. the figures rose by 6% over just one year.  A third of young Indians report at least one sleep disorder. The incidence of insomnia has doubled over 15 years in the Indian population. An AIIMS study of 2022, showed 52% respondents having poor sleep quality.  

Always 5 Minutes more..

What constitutes normal sleep? Most adults require seven hours of sleep. Babies, children and teenagers require more sleep. Normal sleep cycle has two phases Non rapid Eye Movement (NREM) and Rapid Eye Movement (REM). The NREM phase has three segments N1, N2 and N3. If you have slept through telephone calls, doorbells, earthquakes and loud music, you are probably in the N3 segment. About an hour and a half after going to sleep you enter the REM phase where there is increased brain activity. If you remember having vivid dreams where you vanquished the world or were fighting off goons on the top of a train, you were in REM sleep. Each sleep cycle (NREM & REM) is of about 90-110 minutes and ideally one ought to go through 4-6 cycles to be able to say you slept well.

NREM & REM Sleep

The Normal Sleep Cycle

The benefits of good sleep are myriad and it affects ones’ mental, psychological and physical wellbeing. Good sleep contributes to improved memory, emotional regulation, better mood, cardiac health, stronger immune response and faster muscle recovery and tissue healing. The sleep of Lord Vishnu is regarded as the Cosmic Pause and is rich in symbolism and denotes rest, renewal and the cyclical nature of life. It is the balance between creation and dissolution. Dreams in Upanishadic texts have spiritual significance and the state refers to the bridge between the conscious and the subconscious mind. The Goddess Nidra has an important place in mythology and is associated with spiritual rejuvenation and slumber. She put Lakshman’s wife Urmila to sleep for fourteen years to make it easier for her and enable Lakshman to devote himself to his elder brother Ram. That was considerate.

The Cosmic Pause

Sleep Heals

Sleep Disorders constitute a huge spectrum and include multiple conditions such as Insomnia (inability to go to sleep or stay asleep); Hypersomnia (excessive sleepiness even after adequate sleep); Narcolepsy (waves of Inappropriate sleepiness through the day even after getting up normally); Parasomnia (abnormal movements, behaviours, emotions or dreams during sleep – sleepwalking, nightmares, Night terrors, Sleep related eating disorders). Crimes have been committed by individuals suffering from Parasomnia which have included sexual assaults(sexosmia), murders- a famous case in point is the Kenneth Parker case (Canada 1987) where he sleepwalked; sleep drove and sleep entered his in-laws’ residence and fatally stabbed his mother-in-law and critically injured his father-in-law and was subsequently acquitted on account of the fact that he was asleep!

A Good Night's Sleep

The Best Meditation

Sleep has always been central to many fairy tales and fables. Each of them might have a lesson in sleep management. Princess Aura, better known as Sleeping Beauty and associated with Sleeping Beauty Syndrome went into deep sleep on her sixteenth birthday was obviously suffering from hyspersomnia and would have benefitted by a consistent sleep routine. Goldilocks had three beds to choose from and chose the one which was most comfortable and suited to her back. Snow White also tested out all the seven beds before choosing the most appropriate. It is important to focus on the right mattress and bed linen.  Princess and the Pea – similar issues; difficulty sleeping in new surroundings and needing comfortable bedding to sleep well. In the original Grimm version of Cinderella, her room was cold and bare and had no bed- a sure recipe for insomnia. Rip Van Winkle accepted some liquor from a group of dwarves and went into slumber for twenty years and got up an old man – best to avoid alcohol; caffeinated drinks before sleeping. Closer home, Kumbhakarna was doomed to sleep six months of the year and it well nigh impossible to wake him during this period and when aroused, he was cranky and in a foul temper- obesity; heavy foods and possible obstructive sleep apnea had a role to play.

The Sleeping Giant

Sleep is no sleeping matter and has spawned a global multibillion dollar industry. Conservative figures for 2025 pegged it at 72 billion USD and is projected to increase to 114 billion USD by 2030. These include Stay-Cations and Nap- Cations , vacations tailored to get you rejuvenating sleep and navigate you through sleep hygiene lessons. The industry also focuses on Sleep gadgets and wearables such as AI driven Sleep Trackers; Eye Massagers; White Noise Devices and CPAP machines. Another huge segment is the Over-the-Counter drugs such as Magnesium and Melatonin and prescription drugs. Sleep material which includes weighted blankets, breathable pajamas and smart pillows are the way to go. Sleep deprived folks are guzzling chamomile tea and inhaling lavender oils by the gallon

A good night’s sleep is really a fundamental right and one owes it to oneself to do whatever it takes to allow your mind and body to heal with the curative powers of sleep. ‘Throw Off your worries before you throw off your clothes at night’ said Napoleon and Dalai Lama was spot on when he wrote, “Sleep is the best meditation”. Wise words from Homer, “There is a time for many words and there is also a time for sleep”

Have To Switch Off