Sometimes they don’t meet each other for weeks

Food for the family is cooked in a common kitchen and members contribute to a family fund. A retinue of domestic helps mans the huge central kitchen, where pots that can hold over 25 litres are stacked. “Every day, six kg of rice is prepared along with dal, sabzi and fish curry,” says Kuhu Chowdhury, one of the daughters-in-law. Family meals have been done away with due to the busy schedules of the members, but everyone gets together for family functions. “At our office, we have a hall with dining space for 50 people just so that we can meet sometimes,” says Joy Chowdhury, a family member. But the whole family makes it a point to get together for Durga puja at their ancestral home in Bhandarhati.

But though they all live under one roof, do all of them meet each other regularly? “Sometimes we don’t meet for weeks. Often we realise that we talk more outside the house at our workplace than within the house,” says Joy.