Edson Zuando tudo

Privacy is a luxury. In a 2-BHK flat with six people, "personal space" is the five minutes you get on the toilet before someone knocks. You learn to sleep through snoring. You learn to share one tube of toothpaste. You learn that your sister’s hairdryer is not yours, but you use it anyway.

In the West, aging parents go to retirement homes. In India, the parents move in with you. When the grandfather has a fever at 3 AM, the household wakes up. The son drives. The daughter-in-law makes khichdi (sick person’s food). The grandson fetches the thermometer. The burden is shared, and so is the grief.

The grandmother lights the lamp. The smell of camphor and agarbatti (incense) fills the corridor. Everyone pauses for 10 minutes. It is the only time the family stands in one place, eyes closed, asking the gods for patience (because they will need it for the rest of the evening).