Between the Lines: The Household as a Universe

Published every Friday, Between the Lines is a weekly column by Namrata. This week, she talks about the domestic spaces in South Asian Literature.

A courtyard is never just a courtyard in South Asian writing. A kitchen is never only a place where rice simmers. The home with its corners, quarrels, aromas, and silences becomes a cosmos of its own, where hierarchies are forged, tenderness is hidden, secrets breathe, and the smallest gesture can echo across generations. In a region where the household is both refuge and battleground, South Asian literature has long understood that the most ordinary spaces contain extraordinary worlds.