“We don’t schedule visits,” laughs Priya, 34, a software analyst. “In the West, you call and make an appointment to see your parents. Here, if you do that, your mother will think you are angry with her or, worse, that you have stopped loving her.”

From the first sip of morning chai to the late-night family debates, life in an Indian household is a vibrant tapestry of shared struggles and communal joys.