That big policy? They say it brought foreign companies, but I saw it more as our own companies getting new toys in the shops. Before, you had to wait months for a telephone connection or a scooter. After, slowly-slowly, our Bajaj had to compete with Hero-Honda, and our Nirma soap with all these fancy surf powders. The change was not in the boardrooms, yaar, but on the shelves of our new city malls. For me, it meant my son could finally get that computer engineering job in one of these new companies, which is why he is in Canada today.

The weightage, yaar, is given in the syllabus booklet, but in our school, the focus is always on grammar and prose. Poetry is loved, but for exams, they tell us it carries the least marks. It reminds me of my own worries—just like checking the weight of an LPG cylinder, we weigh the marks to see where to spend our time.

Yaar, when the bodies were piling up, it felt like nothing could have stopped that wave. But in my tea stall, I saw the melas and political rallies happen right before it, with no care for masks or distance. That carelessness made it hit us like a train. My own stove stayed cold for weeks because my customers were gone, and I kept thinking, "This did not have to be our fate.

Beta, all these terms sound like they are from another planet. All I know is that when my own test came back positive, it gave me a lifetime of worry, not safety. You ask about germline and tumor? For me, the result was just a heavy stone in my heart, sitting there every time I see the price of a cylinder and think, "What future am I saving for?" My small tulsi plant needs only sunlight and water to live; I wish I had been content with just that, instead of digging for answers that spoil the peace of my Sundays.

See, these new cricket leagues bring so much money and spotlight. Meanwhile, our local kabaddi tournament’s prize money hasn't changed in five years. If they had proper commercial competition like Vijay talks about, maybe our boys wouldn't have to leave for construction jobs in Bhopal. My neighbour's talented son did just that last month.

Ah, these debates about history take me back to fixing my neighbour's old transistor radio yesterday. No matter how much we adjust the dial, some static remains – but we must trust the full recording, not just the bits that come through clearly. My son in Canada says the university libraries there keep every document, yaar, because evidence is what builds a strong signal for the future.