: Elaborate meals where extended cousins and aunts gather without an invitation.

or filter coffee is a universal wake-up call, usually enjoyed with biscuits or soaked almonds.

: In middle and upper-class homes, managing part-time domestic help (for cleaning and washing) is a daily routine.

If you are invited to an Indian wedding, you are not a guest; you are a participant. The entire mohalla (neighborhood) shows up. The family spends six hours in hair and makeup. The aunties critique the bride’s jewelry. The uncles drink whiskey and solve the country’s political problems by 3:00 PM.