Pallavi sat cross-legged on the cool marble floor of her family's living room, the faint scent of fresh mehendi paste filling the air. At 19, she was excited for her cousin's engagement function the next day. Her light pink salwar kameez hugged her youthful figure—slender waist, full hips, and long legs that she usually kept modestly covered. The mehendi artist, Ramesh Uncle, as everyone called him, was a 47-year-old man with weathered hands from years of intricate work. His beard had streaks of grey, and his eyes held a quiet intensity that made some aunties whisper he was "very experienced."

"Uncle, last time the design stained my clothes badly," Pallavi said shyly, adjusting her dupatta. "It went all over my salwar. Felt so uncomfortable the whole night."