In a box of 24 hours, people tend to like one part more than the other. For some people, it's the morning sunshine when they can start their active day. Some love the shadowing vibe of the afternoon, and some label evening as their sweet time. Just as a night-lover would pick nighttime to be 'their time'.
This formerly unique but gradually becoming a common habit is mainly found in the younger generation because of the rise of social media and a different lifestyle habit than the older generations. Whereas our parents or grandparents might believe in the 'early to bed, early to rise' formula, we tend to keep favouring the opposite one. And that is how the urban dictionary got the term 'night owl'. These people are called 'night owls' because of the obvious similarity with the nocturnal bird- owl.
Among the night owls spoken to, Arnob Rahman is a copywriter and shares his passion for the night poetically, "I don't know if it is a 'Humayun Ahmed effect' or not, but I am passionate about moonlight. I believe that getting drenched in moonlight amazes me more than being in the raindrops. And when else can you find that?"
"I still remember a visual memory when I was just a nine-year-old boy when I noticed a shadowy design of a big tree on a night. That scenario stayed with me my whole life."
Arnob thinks that our senses and memories get stronger at night. Maybe some of us even like to think about our math, if not from textbooks- but from life. This burning into memories and the uncountable math of life is another cause he keeps awake at night.
Mostakimbillah Masum, a Dhaka University student, seems to turn his sleep deprivation issue into a better thing to enjoy. He finds it a blessing in disguise, "Honestly I don't even get much sleep at night. Somehow it became a compulsory thing for me to become a night owl and I don't really like being within much light or sound. I prefer to be away from a chaotic environment around me. I feel more focused on studying and work during this period. But obviously, this habit leads to a poor attendance percentage."
Shreyashi Shreya has finished her internship and is now preparing for an FCPS degree. For her, this is not a newly found thing- "I have been a night owl since my teenage days. As a doctor, I know that this habit is harmful for health, but it really helps me to study at night. So it is productive to me in a sense. I enjoy being awake at night because of the peaceful, calm and quiet environment. I can focus and concentrate more. I can have some 'me time' too."
Prama Bhowmick just completed her post-graduation from Dhaka University. She is still in studies for the job-seeking period and finds nighttime more enjoyable than the other parts of the day, "I enjoy being a night owl. I feel kind of restless during the daylight. Ever since a day starts, it is all about so much sunlight, sound and hustling around that I struggle to adapt. The quietness of night provides much more peace. I can be focused on myself."
But as there is no unmixed blessing on earth and everything costs 'something', Prama struggles with the habit itself as she struggles with her productivity- "Not everything is very good about the habit. The most bothersome issue with being awake at night is that I feel exhausted throughout the whole day. There are many things to do, but I don't have any energy. I am so attached to night-life that just after the evening kicks in, all my tiredness goes away, and as the night darkens, I feel more and more energised. But 'usual' work tends to be at the daytime, and there is no way to tackle it so I have to do it anyway, and the end result becomes unproductive."
Feature writer Mahmud Newaz Joy also finds the nighttime rather crowd-free. He loves to watch movies or read books. It gives him a feeling of roaming around a world full of solitude. But he also faces some problems due to this habit. To compensate for the sleep deprivation, he usually wakes up at noon, and if there is any morning schedule, it becomes challenging to follow.
Md. Sajib Hossain, a tutor and a former varsity student, remarked on the matter, saying, "As we all know, it is not the most appropriate way to have good health, but it has been great for my mental health. All day, we spend time with people- the 'others' and nighttime seems to be the only time that I get to spend with myself. My thoughts that are not of the materialist world around us, thoughts that keep us alive are nurtured through nights. The night is full of mysteries of those thinking hours, the quietest time; nothing is more beautiful than silence to me." "People seem to say that studying at dawn helps them, but that is not the case for me. As a person, I am a melancholic one, and I think no other time can represent and hold melancholy more than a night."
It might be a necessity, compulsion or just a self-interest to cultivate, but being awake at night even after creating some difficulties through the daytime seems to be a habit not to leave on purpose for these people and the countless night owls out there who keep carrying the hooting of their own territory of the darkness of night. Night that they are in love with. Night that keeps enchanting them with its magic of silence.
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