This is the daily war. Fifteen-year-old Priya wants to wear her jeans (too tight, says Grandma). Twelve-year-old Rohan has forgotten his science project—again. Grandma, or ‘Dadiji,’ sits on her wooden chowki in the corner, fanning herself with a newspaper and delivering verdicts. “In my time, children packed their own bags,” she declares, not looking up. Ajay is searching for his office ID card, which will inevitably be found in the fridge next to last night’s pickle.

The house fills again. The smell of pakoras frying in the kitchen mixes with the smell of Rohan’s muddy cricket shoes. Priya is on the phone, speaking a secret language of abbreviations. Ajay is home, but he is still at the office; he sits in his armchair, staring at Excel sheets on his phone. Dadiji turns on the evening aarti (prayer) on the devotional channel. The television, the phone, and the prayer—all play at once.

She smiles. Tomorrow, the pressure cooker will whistle again. The milk will boil over. The washer will still be broken. And she will wake up and do it all over again, because in an Indian family, chaos is not a problem to be solved. It is the air they breathe.