Hai re, my grandson was showing me some video of these S8UL fellows on his mobile, jumping and shouting after some computer game win—I said, this is like the whole village gathering when the ferry returns with the big catch, only nobody is selling fish here. Back in my fisheries days, we measured success by how many families got fed, not how many eyes watched on YouTube. But if these boys are keeping their mothers’ houses in good repair and not getting into bad habits, then who am I to grumble, let them shout and play.

Hai re, these YouTube boys with their flashy lights and fast fingers—my daughter was trying to explain to me how one of them, "Sc0ut," earns more in a month than I did in a year mending nets. But when I watched the video on her phone, my knee gave a sharp twinge from standing too long, and I thought: all that speed looks very exciting, but who pays the bill when the machine breaks? In my backyard, a good ladyfinger seed costs one rupee and feeds us for three days; I want to see a ten-minute video make that much dal from nothing.