“I love you too,” she said. “And I’m done hiding.”

Scene: A middle-class Chennai girl, Nila , 24, works at a digital marketing firm in OMR. She’s been secretly dating Arjun , a yoga instructor from Thiruvanmiyur, for six months. Her family expects her to accept a “proper” arranged marriage proposal. They decide to go “public” this Sunday.

Nila clutched Arjun’s hand as they walked past the bajji stall. Her heart was a dholak inside her chest. Her mother’s WhatsApp group was 2 km away in Adyar, but it felt like 2 inches.