New Delhi, Aug. 31 -- For most urban Indians, catching up with friends is practically synonymous with ordering coffee or booking a table at a restaurant - "Milna hai toh pehle decide karo coffee kahan peeni hai."

Somehow, this fairly common practice irked a NRI woman visiting from Australia, who highlighted that this routine social habit is like an unavoidable "social tax"-cabs, drinks, cover charges, dining out, and incidental spending just to share the same space as your friends-adding up invisibly in the moment, only to hit like a ton of bricks once you look at the total.

This sparked a social media debate about why metro cities make you a "customer before you can simply just be a person".

In a viral Instagram Reel, Smidha, a desi e...