The best thing in the world

I was reading Shantaram, wherein Karla, the female protagonist, asked everyone on the table @ Cafe Leopold, what according to them was the best thing in the world. Some of the answers were- power, money and freedom. Each person talked about the thing that they valued the most.I thought about it a lot and a zillion things came to my mind- I couldn't pinpoint one single thing that I really desired and valued. After analysing my thoughts I realised that, for me, sleep is the best thing in the world.

Sleep has been glorified in many mythological tales and fairy tales too. In Ramayana, Ravana's brother, Kumbhakarana, slept for half the year and was awake for the remaining half. This was because, he was so gigantic, that the Gods feared that if he would be awake for the entire year, he might just eat up all the livestock, food supply and may be even human beings! And even though he may have not liked the fact that he was sleeping for half his life, it was a boon to everyone else around him. In Sleeping Beauty, Princess Aurora goes into a deep slumber when she pricks her finger on the spindle of a spinning wheel (in accordance with the curse by a wicked witch). And then, her Prince Charming comes on a white horse, falls in love with her, and his kiss awakens her from the slumber. Even in Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, Snow White, on eating an apple, poisoned by her evil step mother, falls into a death like slumber. She is kept in a transparent, crystal coffin, by the dwarfs. And her prince comes, falls in love with her, and love's true kiss brings her back to life. So sleep is a very important element- be it in romantic fairy tales or highly dramatic mythological tales.

Even when someone is ill, the first thing the doctor advises is to get a good night's sleep. Sleep is our ultimate goal. We do or refuse to do certain things so that our conscience is clear and we can sleep at night. Very often, we hear people telling someone who does something wrong, "How do you even sleep at night?" - a very common and popular dialogue used in most movies. "He slept like a baby"- is a phrase with a highly positive connotation. It is said that people who work hard all day sleep very well at night. A happy person, with a clear conscience, sleeps well. So the union of many states that we desire lead us to sleep.

You can dream only while you are asleep. Sleep opens for us the window to our subconscious mind. Very subtle details about ourselves are revealed to us during our sleep. When we are stuck while thinking over a complex problem, or when we can't seem to find our way out, we always sleep over it. It clears our mind and brings things into perspective.

When we are tensed, anxious, depressed, sad, worried- we lose sleep, get dark circles, become morose and lose interest in the things around us. People then try different things like a visit to the psychiatrist, sleeping pills, or even mood enhancing medicines. It is said that the best way to die is to die in your sleep and ironically many people have died/killed themselves by an overdose of sleeping pills.

Sleep is our gateway to a new start. Nothing beats the feeling of waking up after a restful sleep, feeling all fresh and ready to face the day and the challenges that it brings with it, forgetting the previous day's defeats, mishaps and sadness.

Death- our final destination, is also a form of sleep, a very very long sleep from which we will never wake up. And most of us do good deeds, to accumulate good karma so that our final sleep will be peaceful.