Ritoban Mukherjee The Escape Begins It started with a silence between four friends who had known each other since college but hadn’t spoken properly in months. The kind of silence that grows not out of absence but the slow sediment of routine. It was Pramit who broke it one humid Kolkata afternoon by posting a message in the group chat none of them had used in weeks: “I’m losing my mind. Let’s leave.” The others didn’t ask where or why. Only Tushar replied with a thumbs up emoji. Ranjan added, “I’ll bring the flask.” And Neel, the most reluctant of…
