The Beautiful Chaos of an Indian Family Morning

: Distributing or downloading this material may violate local laws regarding pornography and copyright.

The father checks on his sleeping children. He turns off the fan if it’s too high. He pulls up the blanket. The mother applies a little Himalayan kajal (kohl) to the baby’s eyes to ward off the "evil eye" (a superstition that persists even among the highly educated).

A modern couple in Mumbai uses a shared grocery list app. But the wife writes in English; the father writes in Hindi transliteration. The father buys "2 kg Aata" (flour); the wife adds "Organic quinoa (if available)." The father deletes the quinoa. The wife adds it again. They meet in the middle: "Brown rice."