Gurgaon based founder asks why Indian parents call sleeping till 9 am ‘lazy’ but praise 5 am wake-ups

Sleeping until 9 am is often treated as evidence of laziness or a lack of ambition, but a Gurgaon-based entrepreneur has questioned why waking up early is given more importance than getting adequate sleep. Jasveer Singh, co-founder and CEO of Knot Dating, argued in a post on X that Indian households have created a culture where sleep itself is judged as a character flaw.

“Indian parents have somehow turned sleep into a character flaw and waking up early into an achievement,” Singh wrote.

He questioned the logic behind criticising someone for sleeping until 9 am while praising the same person for waking at 5 am after getting only five hours of sleep.


Also Read: Teen girl turns study problem into AI app for busy parents, earns Rs 2.5 lakh in 3 days

‘What exactly did he achieve by waking up at 5 AM?’

Singh said parents may see a child sleeping late and immediately associate it with laziness, poor discipline, a lack of focus or low ambition.

“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,” he wrote.

According to Singh, the time at which someone wakes up should not automatically be treated as a measure of discipline or achievement.

“Waking up early is not an achievement. Sleeping properly is more important than waking up early,” he said.

Why Singh says Indian homes treat sleep differently

Singh traced the attitude towards early rising back to childhood, saying parents and teachers have long reinforced the idea that sleeping late is undesirable.

“Since childhood we have heard nonsense like ‘Jo sota hai, woh khota hai’,” he wrote.

He described the familiar routines in some households where children are deliberately woken up through opened curtains, banging doors, switched-on lights or other noise.

“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.

Singh argued that these routines often focus on the time a person wakes rather than considering when they went to bed or whether they had enough sleep.

“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.

Sleep, not just wake-up time, becomes the focus

Singh said sleep influences concentration, memory, mood, recovery, metabolism and overall health, and argued that an individual’s natural sleep cycle should be taken into account.

“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 intentionally interrupting children’s sleep, claiming 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,” Singh concluded.

Also Read: ‘Zero civic sense’: Indian woman’s Thiruvathira dance at Costco goes viral, sparks debate over culture and embarrassment

Internet debates early rising and adequate sleep

Singh’s post received mixed responses, with some users agreeing that sufficient sleep should matter more than simply waking up early, while others argued that traditional advice about early rising also includes going to bed early.

One user agreed with his argument and repeated his point about the body’s sleep clock, writing, “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.”

Another user said Singh had missed part of the traditional reasoning behind the practice.

“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,” the user commented.

A third commenter similarly argued that parents also encourage children to sleep early, writing, “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.”

Another user said their perspective changed after becoming a parent and adopting an earlier routine.

“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,” the user wrote.

Disclaimer: This report is for informational purposes only. The Economic Times Digital has based this report on user-generated content and does not independently verify or support the claims, views or statements made by the individual.