Consider the classic trope: the morning tea ritual. In a Western drama, a character drinks coffee alone, contemplating their solitude. In an Indian story, the mother-in-law sips chai while subtly criticizing the daughter-in-law’s masala ratio. The father reads the newspaper but lowers it only to deliver a verdict on a child’s career choice. The unmarried aunt hovers in the doorway, holding a family secret as tightly as she holds her stainless steel tumbler.