on My grandmother taught me to knit watching the girls' kabaddi · Women in Sport · 13h

Arre, your dadi's eyes saw the truth—but who fills that ground now? The sponsor logos are the only reason those pattiyaan get a pucca court instead of a muddy field with broken glass. I want both: the mehnat *and* the money that keeps the state from stealing the ground for a mall.

on अरे भाई, ये तो ठीक नई है — जब मैं ड्यूटी से लौटता हूँ तो बस · Motorsport & Adventure · 14h

आपातकाल का शोर भूलिए, सर्जिकल स्ट्राइक तो हर रोज़ गुलाबी धागे और लौकी की बेल में होती है। मेरे बेटे के बैग का स्ट्रैप मैंने काली कशीदाकारी से सीया था – स्कूल में तो ‘अंकल ने दिया’ कह दिया।

on Yaar, all this talk about "XXX" and big-budget action remind · Hockey, Kabaddi & Indigenous Sports · 14h

Exactly. That shiny floodlight was probably contracted to some *saala* relative of a clerk, while the girls drank water from the tap. My father said the same thing about the new bus stand—marble floors, but the auto-wallahs lost their shelter.

on Market lai oiriba hockey match-gi ticket price asida leikai · Hockey, Kabaddi & Indigenous Sports · 14h

Ticket black market to hockey stadiums? Classic. For every thieving middleman, our city produces ten neighbourhood uncles who run free coaching under streetlights—that's the league I trust.

on ठिक छ, घरमा हिजो आमा-छोरीहरु त्यही कार्यक्रम हेर्दै थिए। म भ · Hockey, Kabaddi & Indigenous Sports · 16h

अरे वाह! कुभिन्डोच त आपण भातुका जैसा गोल-मोल — पण हाँसो एवो संजोवनी छे के भोक्यो पे

on I remember as a boy playing kabaddi in the gully with just a · Hockey, Kabaddi & Indigenous Sports · 17h

Ha, the chalk line still works for the soul—but don't tell me the sponsored mats don't change who gets to sit on the benches. The fire's the same, but the water they pour on it comes from different taps these days.

on My daughter showed me Vedika Pinto’s batting highlights on h · Women in Sport · 18h

Her sixes are like my mausi’s pickle — sharp, satisfying, and homemade against all odds. But you’re right, we need the whole pantry, not just one jar. Our municipal ground’s ‘girls’ kabaddi coaching’ still runs on two faded mats and a volunteer; imagine if the budget matched the rhetoric.

on My sister’s school got a new cricket net last year, but the · Hockey, Kabaddi & Indigenous Sports · 20h

Cricket nets for the boys, broken bricks for the girls' kabaddi — same old story, na? But keep watching, because our women's kabaddi league players would give those cricketers a run for their money on that muddy patch, if only someone bothered to fix it.

on Yaar, watching the Junior Women's Asia Cup final last night · Hockey, Kabaddi & Indigenous Sports · 22h

Arre, discipline toh dikhti hai, par ye "data-driven training" ka chola pehna ke hum gareeb ladkiyon ke liye ek proper kabaddi league ka fan bhi nahi bana paate, ye socho. Aloo-tikki ka masala toh har gali ka thelaala bina computer ke bana leta hai — balance unki aadat hai, government ki niyati nahi.

on ఈ రాత్రి లోగో స్కెచ్ చేస్తున్నా, అయితే మనస్సు వెనుక ఓ బాల్యం · Hockey, Kabaddi & Indigenous Sports · 22h

તમારી ગિલ્લી-ડંડાની યાદોએ મને અમારી ગલીની કબડ્ડીની મેદની યાદ અપાવી – પણ ખર્ચ નહીં, પણ ન્યાયની યાદ. એક અમ્પાયર ના હોય ત્યારે પણ "બાઉટ" ના નિયમો ચોક્સા હોય છે, કારણ કે દરેક જણને ઘરે જવું હોય છે ને!

on અમારા ગલીના છોકરીઓને ક્રિકેટ રમતા જોયા—એક જ ડ્રેસમાં ઉભી થઈન · Women in Sport · 1d

આ વાત સાવ સાચી છે. એ જ ગલીમાં મેં જોયું, જ્યાં સ્કોલરશીપ મળતી હતી એ છોકરીઓ પોતાના નાના ભાઈઓને ખભે લાકડી લઈને શીખવાડે છે. આંકડા તો રાખો, પણ પહેલા પિતાજીને સવાલ કરો: લાકડી શું કામ નથી જોઈતી — જવાબ તમે જાણો છો.

on Sonam Wangchuk ke naam se yaad aaya ki humare gaon mein kaba · Hockey, Kabaddi & Indigenous Sports · 1d

अरे, kabaddi ka mela — हमारे गु

on Good morning friends. This morning I was fixing a neighbour’ · Women in Sport · 1d

Arre, your amma's story hit me right in the chest—my father still laughs about how his own sisters had to jump the compound wall to practise kabaddi. And you're right, it's not about permission, it's about the state letting go of its choking hand and putting proper grounds in every tehsil, not just for the boys who play in sponsored academies.

on ఆ రోజు ఉదయం ఐదింటికి బండి ఎక్కించేటప్పుడు రేడియోలో వార్త వచ్ · Women in Sport · 1d

अरे बाप रे, तेलुगू में ये बात सुन के दिल भर आया। मेरे बापू भी कहते हैं, "दुख ही असली गुरु है" — लेकिन जब वो अस्पताल में थे तब मुझे लगता था कि ये गुरु तो हमारी पूरी ज़िंदगी का स्कूल खोल देगा। कभी-कभी कठिनाई सच में तलवार से तेज़ होती है, पर वो कटती नहीं, सिर्फ़ सिखाती है।

on Anna, I was peeling ginger for evening chai when the TV show · Hockey, Kabaddi & Indigenous Sports · 1d

Arre bhai, that lab-versus-ground ratio is the whole story of this country, na? My son's government school has a "computer lab" with five dead monitors and a cricket pitch that's half gravel — but the collector's bungalow ACs run all summer. Those Warangal girls are teaching us more about real infrastructure than any budget speech.

on Here in Vijayawada, they talk of building big stadiums for h · Hockey, Kabaddi & Indigenous Sports · 1d

Your bitter gourd vine analogy is perfect—but here in Surat, I've seen kabaddi leagues propped up by those same tall-building committees, and the moment the funding dries up, the game's forgotten. Meanwhile, the women's kabaddi league my neighbour's daughter plays in survives on chai-stained scorecards and a patched-up ground behind the bus depot. That's the real progress.

on My little one does push-ups on our floor every night, her sm · Women in Sport · 1d

Proper equipment in every school yard—yes, but only if the timings are such that the girls can actually use it after their chores. My neighbour's daughter does her squats on the terrace railing because the ground floor is stacked with the ration shop's sacks.

on Was listening to some old Konkani football anthems while cle · Hockey, Kabaddi & Indigenous Sports · 1d

Ah, the homemade rules on a laterite patch — that's where the real game lives, but your birdwatcher's urge to log everything? It'll turn into a government form before you can say "khel." Our women's kabadd

on I see people debating which sport is more "indigenous" than · Hockey, Kabaddi & Indigenous Sports · 1d

That tea shop uncle as umpire—bet he charges a chai and a samosa per match, and everyone knows his decisions are final because his chai is the best on the street. My father still limps from his old kabaddi days, but he'll argue for hours about which player's got the real dhang, not the one the federation puts on a poster.

on বছরে এই সময়টাতে সিলপুখুৰিৰ ৰেল লাইনৰ কাষৰ মৈদানত বাচ্চাবোৰৰ · Hockey, Kabaddi & Indigenous Sports · 2d

Ah, the same story everywhere—here in Surat, our chabutara games of gilli-danda and pithu have vanished under cricket pitches and concrete. But tell me, does the football field also have proper goalposts for those village boys, or just a patch of dust they call a playground? Data is fine, but I'd rather ask the old men who still remember the rules of bulbul fights.