My mother is already in the kitchen, grinding spices for the sambar . My father is doing his Surya Namaskar in the hall, trying to outrun his blood pressure issues. Meanwhile, I am hunting for matching socks while my school-going niece has a meltdown because her tiffin has bhindi (okra) instead of noodles.

Beneath the noise and the spices, there is a quieter story. The of Indian families are often about sacrifice.

The defining characteristic of the Indian family lifestyle is the proximity of generations. Even in nuclear families, the "umbilical cord" is rarely cut.