How does an ordinary day actually work here?
The things that shape an ordinary day are unglamorous and extremely specific: a railway that ran on three track widths for a century, a coaching economy that shadows the school system, a household budget pooled across three generations. None of it photographs well. All of it explains more about the country than any monument, and most of it is invisible in the material written for visitors.
Inside this pillar
Three gauges, one railway
Why the network ran on three track widths for a century, and what the conversion cost.
in preparationJugaad and its limits
The celebrated workaround, and the reason it is a response to broken systems rather than a substitute for fixing them.
in preparationHow arranged marriage actually works
Not a decision made for two people, but a negotiation between two families with a veto for each candidate.
in preparationThe joint family as an economic unit
Pooled income, shared childcare and a pension system that runs on obligation rather than contribution.
in preparationHow a sari is worn
One rectangle, five to nine yards, no stitching — and regional drapes that produce completely different silhouettes.
in preparationCows on the street
What the actual rules are, who owns the animal, and why the practice is an urban problem rather than a rural one.
in preparationThe tuition economy
After-school coaching as a parallel school system, and the entrance exams that justify it.
in preparationCricket as a calendar
A sport that organises the year, sets advertising rates, and produced the world's richest league in a decade.
in preparation