Sleepless throughout the dark mosquito-ridden powerless night brought about by the mid-afternoon showers that had cooled the whole place down but had left us spending the better part of Prima Aprilius/Easter sans power, I woke up to moonlight shining on my face and to the muzzein’s call to Fajr followed soon after by the tolling of the bells of the nearby church. I flick my wrist and read the time. It’s 4 a.m. and it’s Monday. And then it struck me: I’m on a vacation.

Kerala, India