The balcony at six in the morning
Why light before breakfast helps the night that follows.
Quiet nights · a free letter on Sundays
One quiet idea about sleep and supper, every Sunday
A short letter from Mitali on sleeping well through midlife: hot nights, a late tea, an ordinary Bengali dinner.
The latest letters
A thali for a lighter evening
Rice, spinach, dal and a little fish, in the order I eat them.
What the vegetable seller sells in November
Pumpkin, green bananas and bitter gourd, and how I cook each one.
Consultations and plans
See a nutrition practitioner, in Kolkata or by video
A few women a week, at my room in Gariahat or online. Tell me a little about your nights and I will reply within two working days.
First consultation
from ₹2,500An unhurried hour in Gariahat or by video. We go through how you eat and sleep now, and you leave with a plan on one page.
Follow-up visit
from ₹1,500A shorter check-in a few weeks on, to adjust the plan to what actually happened.
A month of quiet nights
from ₹6,000A month of meals built around your evenings, hot nights and late work included.
Most forwarded
The letters readers send on to a friend. Any of them is a good place to start.
“The one letter I read on a Sunday morning, with my tea, before the house wakes.”
SharmilaReader since issue 12
Two things to keep by the bed
When one idea a week is not enough, these go further. Both are yours to keep.
A week of quiet nights
₹450Seven pages, a small dinner for each night and a sleep diary to fill in beside it. Print one every Sunday and keep it next to the bed.
Eating for deep sleep
₹2,400Short video lessons on eating around hot nights, late work and the hours before bed. Watch at your own pace, in any order.
Hello, I’m Mitali
I am a nutrition practitioner in Kolkata. For twenty-two years I worked in a hospital kitchen and then in a small practice, and in the last ten I have mostly sat with women in their forties and fifties who tell me they are tired and cannot sleep.
Quiet nights began as a note I wrote for them on the back of a prescription pad. Now it goes out every Sunday: one small idea, a photo from my week, and nothing to count.
I like ordinary food. Moong dal, a little ghee, whatever the vegetable seller has on the cart, eaten at times that suit the night you want.