Education is viewed as the primary vehicle for social mobility.
In most Hindu households, the day starts with Brahma Muhurta (the creator’s hour). The eldest woman (or man) wakes, bathes, and lights a diya (lamp) before the family shrine. The smell of camphor, fresh jasmine, and filter coffee (South India) or chai and biscuits (North India) fills the air. Newspapers are read, prayers are chanted, and yoga is practiced on balconies.
To live in an Indian family is to live in a perpetual state of high-volume negotiation. It is frustrating (the lack of privacy), exhausting (the social obligations), and expensive (the weddings). But it is also the most robust social safety net on the planet. When a job is lost, the family pays. When a marriage fails, the family shelters. When a pandemic hits, the family cooks, cleans, and buries its dead together.
Education is viewed as the primary vehicle for social mobility.
In most Hindu households, the day starts with Brahma Muhurta (the creator’s hour). The eldest woman (or man) wakes, bathes, and lights a diya (lamp) before the family shrine. The smell of camphor, fresh jasmine, and filter coffee (South India) or chai and biscuits (North India) fills the air. Newspapers are read, prayers are chanted, and yoga is practiced on balconies.
To live in an Indian family is to live in a perpetual state of high-volume negotiation. It is frustrating (the lack of privacy), exhausting (the social obligations), and expensive (the weddings). But it is also the most robust social safety net on the planet. When a job is lost, the family pays. When a marriage fails, the family shelters. When a pandemic hits, the family cooks, cleans, and buries its dead together.
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