{"id":3243,"date":"2016-07-18T14:22:22","date_gmt":"2016-07-18T08:52:22","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/13.201.39.237\/?p=3243"},"modified":"2016-07-18T14:22:22","modified_gmt":"2016-07-18T08:52:22","slug":"bengali-father-afternoon-napping-ghum","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.arre.co.in\/?p=3243","title":{"rendered":"How the Bengali Father Has Mastered the Art of Serial Napping"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

L<\/span><\/p><\/div>

ike most <\/span>Bengali<\/span><\/a> daughters, I too saw several scattered traces of my father in Amitabh Bachchan\u2019s comic turn as the <\/span>hypochondriac<\/span><\/a> Bhashkor Banerjee while watching Shoojit Sircar\u2019s <\/span>Piku<\/span><\/i>. <\/span>\n\nFor most Digene-loving Bongs, it\u2019s the not-so-quiet battle that Bhashkor wages with constipation. But for me, it was a brief, unremarkable moment during the film\u2019s <\/span>road trip<\/span><\/a> that sealed the deal \u2013 Bhashkor comfortably naps in the car, minutes have having an animated debate with his daughter Piku. Each time I watch this scene, I\u2019m instantly transported back to the Sunday afternoons where lunch would be preceded and followed by Baba napping away in abandon, unperturbed by responsibilities, two noisy daughters, and the blaring sound of Rabindrasangeet. <\/span>\n\nIn a way, with that scene in <\/span>Piku<\/span><\/i>, Sircar successfully encapsulates the one true love of almost every Bengali father: afternoon naps. I\u2019m certain it\u2019s probably what Baba must be doing right now.<\/span>\n\nGrowing up, I was sure of two things: If I dutifully tricked my <\/span>sister<\/span><\/a> into gulping down fruit seeds, her stomachs could open its very own Nature\u2019s Basket and that Baba was fluent in afternoon nap-speak. He had after all napped through <\/span>celebrations<\/span><\/a>, arguments, vacations, movies, suffocating <\/span>train journeys<\/span><\/a>, and <\/span>wailing babies on flights<\/span><\/a>. Although, afternoon is his favourite time for a nap, my father isn\u2019t one to discriminate: Not only can he easily nap at any time of the day, but he has also mastered the art of taking multiple naps in a single day. And still go straight to bed at 10 pm after yelling out his trademark announcement, \u201cOnek hoyechhe, ebar ghum pachhe. (Enough for the day, time to sleep).\u201d<\/span>\n\nFor Baba, a nap isn\u2019t just another state that his body goes into when held hostage by fatigue, a full meal, or an evening of physical activity. Instead, he has always pursued napping like a hobby. He actively sets aside exclusive time for practising this art: Weekend outings are planned around his nap schedule. You see, before <\/span>Netflix<\/span><\/a> was even invented, my father had gone ahead and created his own brand of entertainment: Snore and Kill.<\/span>\n\n

Believe it or not, it takes Baba even lesser time to fall asleep than it takes Usain Bolt to win a race.<\/p><\/blockquote> \n\nAt home, \u201cBaba ghumachhe\u201d (Father is sleeping), was the standard line that my <\/span>mother<\/span><\/a> would generously use on my sister and me to shut us up the moment we threatened to burst into a noisy bout of wrestling. Not that it would have mattered, because at this point I\u2019m confident that my father could have napped through EDM music and the noisiest <\/span>Ganpati visarjan<\/span><\/a> that Mumbai has to offer. I think the geniuses of my generation, who demand a conducive environment for sleeping that involves curtains pulled down in a certain angle, fan on a particular speed, an eye mask, and a bed made of unicorns, could learn a thing or two. <\/span>\n\nWhat I\u2019m still most fascinated about, even after two decades of witnessing him launch into sudden snores, is that it takes Baba even lesser time to fall asleep than it takes Usain Bolt to win a race. He could fall asleep mid-conversation, argument, or while watching a Mohun Bagan vs East Bengal penalty shootout. There\u2019s no power in this world that can stop my father from dozing off. <\/span>\n\nBut he isn\u2019t alone \u2014 \u00a0<\/span>Calcutta<\/span><\/a> is full of quiet, wise fathers who have long adopted afternoon naps as a shared reaction to <\/span>happiness<\/span><\/a>, affection, anger, and exhaustion. I suppose, for a generation that worked grueling nine-to-five government jobs to provide for their families, their afternoon siesta must have doubled up as their daily vacation \u2013 one that they could encash without approved leaves.<\/span>\n\nI\u2019m also certain that it was these group of nameless fathers who heralded a Bengali language of relaxation. It\u2019s a well-known fact that Bengalis and \u201clyadh khawa\u201d (being lazy) are as incomplete without each other as Fardeen Khan and his double chin. Just like him, for us, excelling at doing something that requires the least bit of effort is a state of being. And if every Bengali father\u2019s affinity toward naps is any proof, I wouldn\u2019t be shocked to discover that this lyadh culture was actually officiated by them. <\/span>\n\nAfter all, it isn\u2019t hard to imagine a congregation of hundreds of Bengali fathers \u2014 with stomachs full of maach bhaat (fish and <\/span>rice<\/span><\/a>) \u2014 convinced that the only way we will ever attain world peace, is if they start napping the moment the clock strikes 2 pm.<\/span>\n\nCome to think of it, it\u2019s a peculiar legacy to pass down to your children. When people my age shared their father\u2019s interest in gardening, music, or academics, my father on the other hand, taught me the art of napping. I\u2019ve lost count of the number of afternoons both of us have just headed straight to the bed, “paash-balish” (side-pillow) in tow. Growing up, I used to be embarrassed to tell people that the one thing I\u2019d inherited from my father was a passion for snores. But now that I think of it, Baba ended up teaching me one of the most important life lessons: You can never have too much of afternoon naps or your own company.<\/span>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Calcutta is full of quiet, wise fathers who have long adopted afternoon naps as a shared reaction to happiness, affection, anger, and exhaustion. Take my father for instance, over the years he has napped through celebrations, movies, and wailing babies on flights<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":103,"featured_media":3244,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[439],"tags":[6333,6334],"class_list":["post-3243","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-modern-family","tag-afternoon-naps","tag-bengali-father"],"yoast_head":"\nHow the Bengali Father Has Mastered the Art of Serial Napping<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Calcutta is full of quiet, wise fathers who have long adopted afternoon naps as a shared reaction to happiness, affection, anger, and exhaustion. 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