The door clicks. Keys jingle. The dog barks. The children burst in, throwing bags on the sofa. The scent of cumin seeds crackling in hot oil ( tadka ) wafts from the kitchen. This is the golden hour. The family sits in the living room. The TV plays a melodramatic soap opera, but no one watches it. They talk. About exams, about the nosy neighbor, about politics, about who got a raise.
Food is love, but food is also control.