Here is the micro-story of a typical Indian dinner:

In the West, the morning alarm is often a solitary affair. You rise, you brew your single-serve coffee, and you scroll through your phone in silence. In a typical middle-class Indian household, the alarm clock is redundant. The day begins with the clanging of steel vessels in the kitchen, the distant bell of the temple aarti , and the authoritative voice of the patriarch declaring, “ Chai bana do ” (Make the tea).

The son in America still calls his mother at 4 AM his time (6 PM India time) to ask how to make tadka for the dal . The family group chat on WhatsApp is a battleground of forwards, fake news, and Good Morning sunrise images. The "Indian family lifestyle" has simply gone digital.