“Clean was the bed and very warm
Night was young, no cause for alarm
Lying down looking at the roof
Wondering why sleep was so aloof!”
There was a time when posters in the room were the means to get you up and going! Now of course they are memes and reels! One such poster had words like, “Money can buy you a comfortable bed but it cannot buy you sleep!”
I have often felt that if anyway it cannot buy you sleep, it is better to be sleepless in a great mattress than on the floor!
Did you know that one of the most costly material for the mattress is actually a charity or hand me down by a duck!?
Now before you think, what the…duck! Read on!
Sleep is a luxury and lucky are those who can sleep at the drop of a hat!
In my college days I know of people who could sleep while sitting or even standing! There was one guy who could sleep at any time of the day and all he needed was the book in front of his eyes!
I am one of those who need a good bed and a good mind to sleep! Of course if you are really tired then sleep is natural and comes soon enough!
But then if the place is new or the bed is not comfortable then after sometime the sleep just refuses to come back! Some people prefer soft mattress or bed while some others like it hard! A balanced bed is what is recommended!
As far as I am concerned, the most important for me is not even the bed but the pillow! Because of my neck issue, I prefer the neck support pillow and that is the only way I can get a good sleep which itself is a luxury most of the time because of a million things running in the mind! The ability to simply switch off your thought process and sleep is a God given gift which only a few can have!
When we were in army quarters the beds were the rope ones which used to get soft after sometime and our Bhaiyya used to come every three months or so and make it tight! If not for him, the bed would start sagging so much that it used to resemble a hammock!
Later on we got the coir or cotton or spring mattress!
When our parents used to get new beds or mattresses then we used to feel very happy since then we would be getting theirs!
Then when I reached my medical college with a thin bedding…well, that is a blog for another day!
So of all the materials for the bedding, this is a material found in the nest of a duck and is supposed to be very expensive!
It is called Eiderdown, sometimes referred to as the “down of the gods,”.
This exquisite natural filling is world-renowned for its prodigious quality and unparalleled softness!
Eiderdown, or eider down, comes from the Common Eider Duck, a large migratory sea duck. The common eider duck ranges along the northern coasts of eastern Siberia, Europe and North America. Approximately 85-90% of the worlds eiderdown comes from Iceland, 10-15% comes from Canada!
As a bedding material, what sets eiderdown apart from other types of bedding, is its amazing softness and its distinctive insulating properties. Each tiny cluster of this down possesses an intricate and unique structure that creates tiny pockets of air, allowing it to trap warmth more efficiently than any other material while remaining very lightweight. This extraordinary fusion of qualities provides a level of insulation unrivaled by almost any other material, natural or synthetic!
It also has a natural resistance to moisture and dust mites which cause allergies. It is thought to promote a cleaner, healthier sleeping environment, if cared for properly!
Harvesting must be timed precisely to ensure ethical practices while not disturbing the birds or compromising their nests or habitat. Moreover, Eider ducks are meticulous nest builders and use their own down to insulate and protect their eggs and chicks against the harsh Arctic cold. This means that only after the ducks have completed nesting and have abandoned their down can it be collected ethically!
The amount collected is also closely regulated by governments and then carefully hand-sorted based on quality. Due to these factors, coupled with limited nesting areas, and concerns around the decreasing population of the ducks, eiderdown becomes an extremely scarce resource!
Now I have never slept in an Eiderdown mattress but I would rather have a good pillow! Good reminds me of the good or Bhala dialogue by celebrity of the day Kanhaiyalal which goes like, ” Kar bhala, so ho bhala”!
Now select your mattress or pillow properly if you want a good sleep!
Shubh Ratri!
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