1:43 am

I savor the hour at which silence blankets Kolkata, the absense of sound entirely refreshing as I awaken during the night to witness this rare indulgence of quiet. The darkness is colored only by the familiar cadence of crickets that chirp lullingly. While the rest of the city, surprisingly, sleeps, I glory in its unconsciousness. My mind renews itself from another day of being bombarded by people, smells, sounds, and images, the ceaselessness of which is utterly exhausting. The taste of noiselessness is the soothing complement to my day like yogurt is to my spicy tikka masala. If only night could last all day. But my body also falls victim to the brief hibernation that takes place now, the intoxicating silence hypnotizing my mind into the same desperate inactivity so necessary to recharge in preparation for the anxious and copious stimuli that forebodingly await us all.