Kalimati—a chaotic intersection, where onrushing traffic from Kalanki, Balkhu and Teku, crash into each other—can be a discombobulating place to be in during the day. With horns a-hooting, vehicles kicking up black soot and dust, and a sea of pedestrians trying to outpace each other, Kalimati, it is safe to say, is a place most people generally seek to avoid.

By night, however, this dusty corner of Kathmandu truly comes alive. As the nerve centre that dispatches fresh produce that get distributed throughout the Valley in the morning, Kalimati is born anew by night. With hundreds of graveyard-shift workers unloading, sorting and stocking fruits and vegetables into the wee hours of the morning, Kalimati stays awake, even as the rest of the city is sound asleep.

These photos taken at the dead of the night try to capture these men and women who toil sleepless at Kalimati to ensure that produce makes it to Kathmandu’s stores in time for the early birds out with their grocery bags at dawn.

Photos & Text Sulav Singh Dangol