That night, the Sharmas didn't just watch a movie. They downloaded something else: a rare evening where no one was a teenager, a daughter, a son, a mother, or a father. Just a family. Trapped in the best kind of game. And for once, nobody wanted to press pause.
"Another superhero movie? Rohan, you're twenty-two, not twelve," Meera Sharma teased her younger brother, not looking up from her phone.
They started off watching in their usual silos. Meera scrolled Instagram every few minutes. Rohan whispered sarcastic commentary. Kavita knit a sweater for their dog, Tofu. Ajay just watched.
Rohan groaned, but he was smiling.
"Pathetic," Rohan muttered. But he wasn't scrolling anymore.
From the kitchen, the aroma of butter chicken and garam masala drifted in—their mother, Kavita, was waging her own war against takeout menus. "Someone pause the argument and help set the table!"
It was the last Friday of October, and the Sharma family was doing what they did best: arguing about what to watch.