Today, however, the rhythm was broken.

Kavya looked up, her fingers pausing. A flicker of memory crossed her face. "The bhutta (corn)?" she asked. "You’d roast it directly on the gas flame until the skin was black, then rub it with lemon and masala ?"

Her daughter, Kavya, sat cross-legged on the sofa in ripped jeans, tapping on a laptop. "Ma, the Zoom meeting isn't connecting. The rain is messing with the Wi-Fi."

"Don't 'Ma' me," Meera said, a rare, mischievous smile playing on her lips. "God has given you a holiday. The generator is for the lights, not for the soul."

It was the first day of Sawan (the monsoon month), and the sky over their Jaipur home was the colour of a bruised plum. The air was thick with the smell of wet clay and kacchi kairi (raw mango). Meera stood by the window, a chai in her hand, not a roti in sight. The kitchen was silent.

"The rain isn't the problem, beta. It's that black rectangle you stare at all day," Meera replied, but her voice held no edge. Her eyes were fixed on the courtyard. The tulsi plant, her sacred basil, was bending under the heavy drops.