Episode one opened on a stairwell, camera steady on a scuffed pair of shoes ascending. The shot held just long enough for the city’s breath to sync with the soundtrack: tabla and a distant bass line, the scent of frying onions almost audible. Dialogue crackled raw — dialects braided, each line a small revelation. A trader with ink-stained fingers. A teacher with a ledger of secrets. A woman whose eyes calculated futures like currency.