Thursday, November 15, 2007

Nightmares and dreams!

I have always heard that we dream in black & white and not colours. Then how do you explain the fact that I distinctly remember colours like red and blue from some of my vivid dream sequences? Also, will somebody tell me why so many books and theories are available on dream interpretation when I cannot make head or tail of my dreams or even nightmares? Whenever I have taken the liberty of describing my very serious account of a previous night's dreams, I have always managed to have the audience rolling on the floor with laughter. Not because my dreams or their interpretations are funny, but because of the sheer idiocy of manner in which my dream sequences play out in my sleep tainted mind. I also have varied responses besides the humour angle - people have also occasionally wanted to strangle me, when I gave a very interesting account of a dream, only to finish it off midway, coz that's exactly how my dream had ended. Like the power going off just when you are about to see the face of a killer in a suspense movie!!!

I also wonder if you have experienced any realistic nightmares which leave you shivering long after you have woken up from your disturbed sleep. I, for one, am the living expert on these. My nightmares have been so vivid that I have actually followed some advice given to me during these nightmares, coz I was too scared to ignore the supposed warnings. Recently I woke up from one such experience and remembered a phrase, a sort of warning, and till now I am trying to search for the meaning of it. the term I 'heard' distinctly in my nightmare was 'shani bandhak" and am still trying to figure out what it means. Guys, any help would be appreciated.

now, last but not the least, let me discuss the weird aspect of my very special 'continuation' dreams. It's almost like watching a serial, divided into episodes. Suppose, I am dreaming about something and I am rudely interrupted in the middle of a scene by my two labradors who decide to wake me up just then with an over friendly lick in the middle of the night - I can wake up, talk to them, go to the washroom , walk back to my bed and fall asleep again, only to start dreaming from point where I had left off. It's almost as if the characters in my dream were waiting for me to go back to sleep to resume whatever it is that they had been doing. Downright weird I tell you! You won't be able to understand the strange feeling of being suspended in reality that this kind of dream leaves you with. You are no longer sure, what is real and what have you dreamt up. sounds crazy huh? well, tell me about it (rolling my eyes)!

Ok now, I have told you some ramblings from my end and now as Sidney Sheldon would have said it...Tell Me Your Dreams!!!

7 comments:

Its Time to Think and Act said...

well ranjini, i can seriously understand ur traumas, as i too undergo such episodes in my life....wat i would tell u is that follow the instincts of ur dreams as they really say something that u only can understand...........

Diti said...

Everyone feels, even strange things, not everyone can describe them like you. Kudos to your talent for vividness.
I have dreamt of Kali, she spoke to me in my dream. To me, that vision, though it came when I was sleeping, is more real than the rest of my life.
I also often dream of waking up, trying to talk, open the door, attend to urgent chores and am aware all the while that I am sleeping, my eyes are closed. It feels like an out of body experience, I can see myself prostrate on the bed and know that I am not awake.....and that I am aware and therefore I must be...awake.
Keep this up Jini, through you many of us will know the strangeness in us, as well as others.

Rolling Thunder said...

Its only once in my life that i saw a dream IB&W.

Rest have all been completely real, full blown technicolor! :)

Geez, great piece Jini!

nidsishere said...

The strangness and eerieness of our dreams and nightmares has been the talk of the psychiatry world. No one can actually understand or know why and what actually goes on watever goes on in our dreams/nightmares.

But nevertheless, the artical is quite "Awakening" and "Real".... and probably something to ponder about.

Unknown said...

I tried translating those two words.. the first one means saturn, yea the planet.. the second is "to close" ..
whatever that means!

Jini said...

thanks all for the various views on dreams and dreaming. and nithya thanks a lot for trying to translate the words. i had asked many people and finally a priest told me it means 'some obstacle caused by Saturn which needs some remedial measures'.Dunno how true that is, but glad at least it is an identifiable phrase and not just some gibberish which i dreamt up :-)

Timorous Traveler! said...

First, congratulations for the most stimulating, thought-provoking piece from an "user" point of view. Looking back on my dream experience, it mostly appears to germinate from some thought or anxiety that has been at the back of my mind- but it is seldom so unidimentional. It then pulls in from past events, relationships, anxieties, aspirations and creates a complex web that, as you said, often ends in absurdity. Also, I think I am dreaming less as I am growing older. would be curious to know if there are others who think we dreamty more in childhood. I certainly think so.