Kochi: John Watson still remembers his insomniac nights with dread. The New Zealander realised the affliction as he was recovering from his fifth bypass surgery. He could not sleep no matter how tired he was.
Insomnia is a malady that denies people even their dreams. The condition could be caused by a variety of factors, including medication or a fear of death.
Watson, however, decided to fight back. He formed a collective of insomniacs and sought ways to be lured into sleep. He eventually found solace in music. And he spread the word, rather melodies, through an internet radio station named ‘Sleep Station’.
Watson’s channel works round-the-clock, putting up lullabies to insomniacs around the world. The music he offers is orchestral, enabling it to transcend language barriers. The channel does not even require a 4G data connection to listen to.
Watson’s objective is to lull an insomniac to sleep within 10 minutes. About 1 lakh people across Europe, North America and Africa tune into Watson’s station every day, depending on their sleep time. Yet he was curious about a spot on earth from where more than 400 persons tuned into his station just about daybreak in New Zealand.
He located the internet protocol address to Kochi. He thought it was the Japanese city. Then he found out about the city on India’s west coast.
Kochi was not too unfamiliar to the cricket-crazy New Zealanders because of the Jawaharlal Nehru International Stadium. Malayali students in universities in his hometown were able to tell Watson more about Kochi. He said he wanted to visit Kochi when his health was better.
Dancing to the lullaby?
Watson suspects that the people of Kochi may be using his music to conduct dance parties!
The visitors from Kochi have a strange usage pattern. Most of them leave after listening to the music for about two hours, whereas insomniacs usually doze off listening to the music.
Watson is intrigued by the interest generated by his music station in the remote corner of the world without any advertisement.
One man’s lullaby may be another’s booster shot. Watson tries to explain the usage as cultural difference. He said he was fascinated by the chenda melam of Kerala. He also plans to put up a lullaby exclusively for Indians. Hope he does not select chenda.
Celebrity insomnia
Celebrities including Madonna, Merlin Munroe and Michael Jackson had opened up about their insomniac conditions. Recently a Bollywood actor created news by visiting a sleep clinic abroad.
Doctors have said that the number of insomniacs is on the rise in India, especially in Kerala. Night shifts, workoholism, depression, wrong sleep patterns and mediation could be some of the factors contributing to the alarming trend.
Insomnia has three stages. The first stage is a difficulty in falling asleep. The next is a difficulty in staying asleep. The more serious stage is the trouble faced in getting back to bed after a break in sleep.
