In India, a wedding is not just a union of two people; it is a union of two families, often involving hundreds of guests, elaborate rituals, and significant expenditure. The "Big Fat Indian Wedding" is a cultural phenomenon celebrated globally.
Diwali (the festival of lights) is not a single day but a fortnight’s story: cleaning homes with kaam wali bai (domestic help), haggling for diyas at a roadside stall, the smell of kaju katli (cashew sweets) mingling with firecracker smoke. Eid brings the sight of henna-painted hands reaching for sheer khorma (vermicelli pudding). Pongal in Tamil Nadu involves boiling rice in a clay pot until it overflows—a literal story of abundance.