Going to sleep with earphones plugged in

People, especially youngsters, with earphones plugged in, is a very common sight, nowadays. Most of them are listening to music, I guess. You see them in office working on something very serious, or travelling metro trains, or walking or jogging; and I am told, they listen to music even while going to sleep.

I am plugged in (to mean online on my phone) only to keep myself updated with the news stream almost through the day, and to reply to important emails and messages. I am not one of those who listen to music on earphone while reading, writing, walking or jogging. Very rarely, when I am craving for some change, I play instrumental music in very low volume on my laptop or phone, but through the speaker and not the earphones.

During the past few weeks, on four or five days, I went to bed with earphones plugged in, listening to music or some of my favourite podcasts. During those good old days, I have fallen asleep listening to the radio, but not via earphones. There is also a school of thought which says soothing music in low volume calms the mind and helps you get good sleep.

But my experiment was a disaster. I didn't fall asleep. The music and the radio programmes hardly had any soporific effect. Worried I might just lie awake the whole night, I unplugged the earphones and tried to sleep, the way I have always done.

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