A Gurgaon-based entrepreneur has sparked a debate online after questioning why sleeping until 9 am is often viewed as a sign of laziness or lack of ambition. Taking to X, Jasveer Singh, co-founder and CEO of Knot Dating, argued that Indian parents have "turned sleep into a character flaw" while treating waking up early as an achievement.
"Indian parents have somehow turned sleep into a character flaw and waking up early into an achievement," Singh wrote in the X post. He said parents may see their child sleeping until 9 am and immediately conclude that they are "lazy", lack discipline or focus, or have no ambition. However, he questioned why the same person would be praised for waking up at 5 am after getting only 5 hours of sleep.
"But if the same person wakes up at 5 AM after sleeping for five hours, suddenly everyone is impressed. Why? What exactly did he achieve by waking up at 5 AM? Nothing," Singh wrote.
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{{/usCountry}}In the post, Singh argued that waking up early should not automatically be considered a measure of discipline or success. "Waking up early is not an achievement. Sleeping properly is more important than waking up early," he wrote.
He further said that parents and teachers have played a major role in shaping Indians' attitudes towards sleep from childhood. "Since childhood we have heard nonsense like "Jo sota hai, woh khota hai" Curtains opened. Doors banged. Lights switched on. Someone deliberately making noise because apparently seeing a child sleeping peacefully is unbearable for Indian parents," he wrote.
"Nobody asks what time the person slept. Nobody asks whether they got enough sleep. Nobody cares about the quality of sleep. Bas subah jaldi uthna chahiye," he added.
Singh explained that sleep affects several aspects of a person's wellbeing, including concentration, memory, mood, recovery, metabolism and overall health. "Your body has its own sleep clock. Once it has had enough sleep, you naturally wake up. You cannot just keep sleeping because nobody disturbed you," he wrote.
He also criticised the practice of deliberately disturbing children's sleep, saying that millions of Indian children continue to experience it. "In Indian households, disturbing someone's sleep is treated as completely normal. Even today, millions of Indian kids face this every single day," he wrote.
"And then we carry the same stupidity into adulthood. Indian parents need to stop treating sleep like a crime," he concluded.
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Social media reactions
Singh's post prompted mixed reactions.
Reacting to the post, one user wrote, "This is actually very true. I never thought about it: Your body has its own sleep clock. Once it has had enough sleep, you naturally wake up. You cannot just keep sleeping because nobody disturbed you."
"That is not what is said.........context is wrong. Thats 50 percent of the picture. With waking early comes habit of sleeping early. Infact that is the start point. No use waking early after sleeping at midnight or later. The old advice is to eat light at night, sleep early and wake up early. If you can't manage due to reasons beyond control...... then priority should be to sleep adequate.... not less than 6 to 7 hrs," commented another.
"Parents don't just ensure early rising, they're after early lights off as well. Basically they want kids early to bed n early to rise to make em healthy wealthy n wise. Conventional wisdom, not stupidity," wrote a third user.
"I used to be someone who used to think why waking early should be forced but now when I am a mother myself and have started following early to bed, early to rise routine, I have felt the difference. I am more active, accomplish more, have a fairly productive day," said another.