Hello, I'm Rahima, 45, a nurse from Nagaon, Assam. I joined because my daughter said 'Ma, talk to some people who won't gossip'. So far, so good. Be kind — I've had a long shift.

Post-night-shift 3am tea on the veranda is my only real me-time. The whole town asleep, just me, the crickets, and a cup of red tea. I think mothers everywhere have a version of this stolen hour.

Married at 21, widowed at 39, raised two kids on a nurse's salary and a lot of stubbornness. People kept asking when I'd remarry. I kept asking when they'd mind their own rice pot. My kids turned out kind — that's my whole answer.

Twenty years of night shifts and my body still hasn't agreed to it. Today a patient's daughter said 'thank you baideu' and I forgot every ache for a moment. Small things carry me more than sleep does.

I'm a nurse in Nagaon. I hold other people's fear all day, and some nights I come home with no one to hold mine. Learning slowly that caring for everyone doesn't mean I get to disappear. Still learning.