The Theatre of Politics and the Tyranny of Rest, India’s Dual Crises of Performance and Well-being

The Theatre of Politics and the Tyranny of Rest, India’s Dual Crises of Performance and Well-being

In the bustling, cacophonous arena of modern India, two seemingly disparate narratives unfolded recently, each holding up a mirror to the peculiar anxieties and adaptations of our time. In the solemn halls of the Supreme Court, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee transformed a legal proceeding into a high-stakes political theatre, a masterclass in persona-driven politics. Simultaneously, in the hushed, soundproofed rooms of niche urban retreats, a burgeoning “sleep industry” promises salvation from the very exhaustion that such a perpetually “on” culture creates. One story is about the relentless performance of power; the other, about the desperate, often commodified, pursuit of reprieve from that performance’s toll. Together, they sketch a portrait of a nation navigating a new normal where perception is paramount, authenticity is negotiable, and the quest for a moment’s genuine peace has become a luxury product.

Act I: The Courtroom as Campaign Stage – The Mamata Banerjee Playbook

The image of a sitting Chief Minister, clad in her characteristic simple cotton sari and rubber slippers, standing before the Chief Justice of India’s bench, is one laden with potent symbolism. As described in “Didi’s Day In Court,” Mamata Banerjee’s decision to personally appear in the Supreme Court regarding the Bengal SIR (Supplementary Integrated Revision) of electoral rolls was far from a routine legal maneuver. It was, as the article astutely notes, a “meta move of a different league,” a calculated fusion of legal strategy and political campaigning.

The substance of her grievance—the Election Commission’s (EC) process for creating new electoral rolls months ahead of state elections, which her party alleged was glitchy, time-stretched, and unfairly administered—was serious. Concerns over “name mismatches,” issues of Bengali pronunciation in translation, and the deployment of micro-observers “from BJP states” touch upon the integrity of the democratic franchise. However, the subtext and the performance were where the political genius lay.

Banerjee’s demeanor—the folded hands, the “humble regard” for the justices—provided the perfect cover for what was essentially a political offensive. Her 10-12 minute address, exceeding her requested five, was a compact campaign speech. By highlighting the alleged plight of Booth Level Officers (BLOs), mentioning suicides, slipping in the loaded word “murdered,” and framing the EC’s actions as “bulldozing Bengal,” she effectively shifted the public gaze. The legal case became a backdrop for a narrative of a beleaguered state and its warrior-matron defending it from distant, insensitive, and politically motivated authorities.

This episode is not an anomaly but a quintessential example of the “always-on persona” that defines contemporary personality politics. Governance is complex, incremental, and often un-telegenic. Performance, however, is immediate, emotive, and perfectly tailored for the 24/7 news cycle and the meme factories of social media. The “outcome of the Bengal SIR case” became secondary to the image created: Didi, fighting for her people. As the article concludes, this was “political innovation” in a “plug-‘n-play era,” where every public appearance is a potential clip, every gesture a potential symbol. It underscores a reality where the court of public perception often runs a parallel, and sometimes more influential, session alongside the court of law.

Act II: The Commodification of Silence – The Sleep Industry’s Empty Promises

If Mamata Banerjee’s court appearance represents the exhausting pinnacle of public performance, the phenomenon detailed in Buchi Karkaria’s “Sleeper Coaching” represents its private counterpoint: the industry built on selling respite from the world that demands such performances. The article humorously yet incisively dissects the rise of “sleep tourism” and the luxury sleep industry, where rest is no longer a biological necessity but a curated, monetized experience.

The “sleepcation” is the logical extreme of a wellness culture that has moved far beyond simple relaxation. It is for “those who can’t get any sleep,” offering soundproof, lightproof rooms, “Pillow Menus” with orthopedic specifications, and “mini-bars” stocked with lullabies and white noise machines. This is not merely about comfort; it is about engineering an environment of absolute sensory deprivation, a temporary withdrawal from the overstimulating world. As Karkaria writes, “‘Black-out’ was a war-time imperative or a neurological impediment. Now it’s a line of curtains for whom the show never gets over.”

This industry thrives by pathologizing normal modern anxiety and selling hyper-specific solutions. It “both rivals and complements that snake-oil salesman, the ‘wellness’ industry,” with its own regimens and unguents. Promises of “age-defying” skin and “gut-health” are tied to perfect sleep, creating a cycle where the failure to achieve commercialized sleep perfection becomes a source of further anxiety about health and aging. The irony, which Karkaria nails, is profound: “The bedsheet-long advisory for falling asleep could make you lie awake with anxiety over not having followed its conditions.” The pursuit of perfect sleep becomes yet another performance, another checklist, another potential failure.

The ultimate critique lies in the hollow promise to make you “sleep like a baby.” As any exhausted parent knows, this is a myth. Babies sleep fitfully, wake frequently, and demand constant attention. The line sells an ideal of undisturbed, passive oblivion that is fundamentally at odds with human biology and the lived experience of care—a fitting metaphor for an industry selling a sanitized, commodified version of a deeply natural state.

Synthesis: The Feedback Loop of Exhaustion and Performance

These two narratives—the political theatre and the sleep industry—are two sides of the same coin. They exist in a self-reinforcing feedback loop that characterizes much of modern, urban, connected life.

1. The Demand for Performance Creates Exhaustion: The pressure on public figures like Mamata Banerjee to be in perpetual campaign mode, to constantly manage narratives, and to perform their roles across multiple platforms (courts, rallies, social media) is immense. This pressure trickles down through society. The professional class faces similar, if less public, demands: constant connectivity, personal branding, the need to be productive and “on” at all hours. The always-on digital culture blurs work-life boundaries, eroding natural rest cycles.

2. Exhaustion Creates a Market for Cure: The widespread burnout and sleep deprivation resulting from this culture create a ripe market for solutions. When natural sleep is elusive due to stress, blue light, and anxiety, people turn to external aids. The sleep industry, from luxury sleepcations to melatonin gummies and meditation apps, rises to meet this demand, framing rest as a product to be purchased, a skill to be optimized, rather than a rhythm to be honored.

3. The Commodified “Cure” Enables Further Performance: These products and services are not designed to help people opt out of the performance culture. They are designed to patch them up so they can re-enter it more efficiently. A better night’s sleep means higher productivity, better skin, more resilience—making one a better performer in the workplace and in social life. It is restorative not for the sake of holistic well-being, but for the sake of restored utility.

4. The Cycle Continues: Thus, fortified by a purchased night’s rest (or the anxiety of not achieving it), the individual returns to the arena of performance, sustaining the very system that exhausted them in the first place. The political leader, having perhaps used similar wellness hacks, returns to the fray, crafting the next theatrical performance that will dominate the public consciousness and contribute to the collective anxiety of the body politic.

Broader Implications: Democracy, Well-being, and Authenticity

This dynamic has profound implications beyond individual stress levels.

• For Democracy: When politics becomes primarily about performance and persona, substantive debate on policy, administration, and long-term vision risks being drowned out. The “glitchy process” of electoral rolls is a serious issue, but its resolution can be clouded when the primary event is a leader’s dramatic court appearance. It risks reducing complex democratic accountability to a binary, emotive spectacle of “us vs. them.”

• For Public Well-being: The normalization of exhaustion and its expensive, individualized “cures” exacerbates inequality. The luxury of a “sleepcation” or a perfect ergonomic pillow is accessible only to a few. For the vast majority, the stressors remain, without the curated solutions. This creates a public health crisis of sleep deprivation linked to obesity, diabetes, heart disease, and depression, which the state is ill-equipped to address with pillowy menus.

• The Search for Authenticity: In both spheres, there is a palpable hunger for something real. In politics, the performance often works because it is seen as an authentic expression of a leader’s “fighter” persona. In wellness, the proliferation of solutions hints at a deep desire for genuine, unmediated rest and connection. Yet, both arenas are plagued by commodification. Authenticity itself becomes a brand, and rest becomes a product, leaving the core itch unscratched.

Conclusion: Beyond the Theatre and the Soundproof Room

The challenge for India, and indeed for any society navigating this hyper-connected age, is to break this cycle. It requires a cultural and structural shift.

In the political realm, it means valuing and demanding substance alongside style. It requires institutions like the Election Commission and the Judiciary to not only be impartial but to be seen as robustly so, capable of withstanding and transparently processing political theatrics without being defined by them. A strong democracy needs citizens who engage with the script, not just the spectacle.

In the realm of well-being, it means reclaiming rest as a public good and a human right, not a private luxury. It involves addressing the root causes of societal anxiety—job insecurity, urban design devoid of quiet spaces, relentless work cultures—rather than just selling escapes from them. It means recognizing that sometimes, the most radical act is not a perfectly engineered sleep, but the collective courage to slow down, to disconnect, and to accept the imperfect, restless, human need for quiet in a noisy world.

Mamata Banerjee’s day in court and the rise of the sleepcation are both symptoms of the same modern condition. One shows us the stage on which we perform; the other shows us the green room where we desperately try to recover. Understanding their connection is the first step toward building a society where the performance is less exhausting, and rest is less hard to come by.

Q&A Section

Q1: According to the analysis, why was Mamata Banerjee’s Supreme Court appearance considered more of a political performance than a legal strategy?

A1: While the appearance was framed within a legal challenge, its primary impact was political and theatrical. Key indicators of it being a performance include: her calculated demeanor of humility before the justices, which softened her sharp political accusations; her efficient use of her speaking time to hit campaign-ready “hot button points” (BLO suicides, targeting by the EC, intrusion from BJP states); and the overarching goal of swinging “public glare” back onto her narrative. The outcome was immediate campaign material and social media memes, effectively bypassing slow legal processes to directly influence public perception in the pre-election period. It was an “always-on persona” in action, using the court’s stature as a backdrop for political messaging.

Q2: What is the fundamental irony or contradiction at the heart of the modern “sleep industry” as described in the article?

A2: The core irony is that the sleep industry, while promising relief from anxiety and restlessness, often ends up exacerbating the very conditions it claims to cure. By turning sleep into a complex, optimized performance with checklists of conditions (pillow types, light colors, soundscapes), it creates a new source of anxiety for failing to achieve “perfect” sleep. As Buchi Karkaria notes, the long list of advisories “could make you lie awake with anxiety over not having followed its conditions.” Thus, the pursuit of rest becomes another stressful, commodified task, trapping individuals in a cycle where they need to purchase solutions to problems intensified by a market that pathologizes natural sleep variations.

Q3: How do the two phenomena—political theatre and the sleep industry—create a “feedback loop” in modern society?

A3: They create a self-reinforcing cycle: 1) Performance Culture Drives Exhaustion: The demand for constant public and professional performance (exemplified by always-on politics) leads to widespread stress, anxiety, and sleep deprivation. 2) Exhaustion Fuels a Market: This collective tiredness creates massive demand for quick-fix solutions, giving rise to a lucrative industry selling curated rest (sleepcations, gadgets, menus). 3) The “Cure” Enables More Performance: These products and services are designed not for holistic withdrawal but for optimized recovery, patching people up to return them, more efficiently, to the exhausting performance culture. 4) The Cycle Repeats: Individuals re-enter the fray, sustaining the system, and the loop continues, with both the performance arena and the recovery market thriving symbiotically.

Q4: What are the potential negative implications for democracy when politics becomes heavily focused on persona and performance, as seen in the “Didi” example?

A4: A hyper-focus on persona and performance can undermine democratic health in several ways: it can eclipse substantive policy debate, reducing complex governance to emotive spectacles; it can weaken institutional trust if bodies like the Election Commission are constantly framed as political actors in public theatrics rather than neutral arbiters; it can polarize the electorate by emphasizing “us vs. them” narratives over shared civic problems; and it can oversimplify accountability, where a leader’s perceived fighting spirit becomes more valued than tangible administrative outcomes. This risks creating a politics of perpetual campaign over sustained governance.

Q5: Beyond buying products, what alternative approach does the analysis suggest for addressing the societal crisis of exhaustion and poor sleep?

A5: The analysis advocates for a structural and cultural shift away from individualized, commodified solutions toward addressing root causes. This includes: Reclaiming rest as a public good by creating quieter, less stressful urban environments and promoting healthier work-life boundaries through policy. Redefining success in professional and political life to value sustainability and depth over constant performative activity. Cultivating a cultural acceptance of imperfect, natural rest cycles instead of pathologizing normal sleep variations. The goal is to create conditions where genuine rest is accessible by design, not by purchase, breaking the dependency on a market that profits from exhaustion.