In urban areas, many families have shifted to living as "neighbors" rather than housemates, with different branches of the family occupying separate apartments in the same building to balance privacy with tradition.
“We don’t have privacy,” says Rohan, scrolling through WhatsApp on a sofa that is perpetually occupied. “But we also don’t have loneliness. When I lost my startup funding last year, I didn’t need therapy. I had my bhabhi (sister-in-law) bringing me chai at 2 AM and my father telling me stories of his own bankruptcies. That is our therapy.”
The doorbell rings constantly. It is the wala-wala economy: