A story to start
Kiranjit is 34 and works night shifts as a nurse in a busy Delhi hospital. At 8 a.m. she rides home in an autorickshaw, squinting into the bright morning sun. She falls into bed at nine, wakes at two in the afternoon feeling foggy, and scrolls her phone in a dark room until it is time to leave again.
Over two years her mood has slowly sunk. She catches every cough going round the ward, and on her days off she feels flat and wired at the same time. A senior doctor told her that her body clock was simply confused. It was getting bright light at bedtime and gloom when she woke up.
So Kiranjit made a few small changes. She now wears sunglasses on the ride home and keeps thick curtains drawn while she sleeps. When she wakes, she takes her chai up to the terrace for fifteen minutes before she touches her phone. On late afternoons, when the UV index drops, she sits out with her arms bare for a while. Night shifts are still hard. But her energy feels steadier, and for the first time in months she is laughing with the other nurses at 3 a.m.