At 10:30 PM, the chaos finally settled. Mr. Sharma was snoring on the recliner, the newspaper covering his face. Kavya was asleep, having successfully negotiated an extra 15 minutes of screen time.

“Rohan,” she said quietly, the loudness finally gone. “Your father’s knee is hurting again. Don’t tell him I told you. Just order that oil from the internet. And Kavya needs new shoes. The left one is not lost. It is torn. She was embarrassed.”

At 1:00 PM, the apartment transformed. Rohan was in a work call, whispering “Yes, boss, synergizing the deliverables,” while Sudha barged in with a plate of rajma-chawal .