“On an average we serve food to 100,000 people,” a manager of the langar at the Golden Temple in Amritsar told Al Jazeera in 2013. The kitchen used “7,000 kg of wheat flour, 1,200 kg of rice, 1,300 kg of lentils” a day.
In 2023 The National described “huge gas and wood-powered woks” and “ladles the size of boat oars.”
Ratan Tata explained where the idea of the Nano car came from. “I remember seeing a family of 4 on a motorbike in the heavy Bombay rain,” he wrote in 2020.
In another account he described “the father driving a scooter, his young kid standing in front of him.” He asked himself “whether one could conceive of a safe, affordable, all weather form of transport for such a family.”
Tata Motors launched the Sumo in 1994 as a ten-seater. More than 100,000 were sold before 1997. The name came from Sumant Moolgaokar, a former managing director of Tata Motors.
Maruti Suzuki launched the Ertiga in April 2012. By February 2024 it had sold a million units in India. Autocar Professional called it “a sensible MPV for large families.”
Mil-baant kar khana. To share out and eat. The Rekhta dictionary explains it as eating together, in harmony and affection.
The phrase also has a second meaning: to share a profit, to divide money among each other.
A 20-gram packet of Rasna drink powder is sold as making 32 glasses, according to its listing on the grocery site BigBasket.
Aashirvaad flour, atta, is sold in packs from one kilogram up to ten. “From 1 kg of atta to 10 kg Aashirvaad atta pouch you can find the whole range,” BigBasket says.
Haier India markets a four-door refrigerator for joint families. “In a bustling Indian joint family, the kitchen is the heart of the home,” its website says. “Keeping food fresh for a large family is a top priority.”