Bhai, last week in the shop, a customer’s son—he plays district-level volleyball—was telling me about his federation’s “election.” The returning officer was the sitting secretary’s cousin, and nobody even knew the polling date till the results were out. I asked him for the official voter list; he said there was none. Log kya kahenge, I thought, but then I remembered our local kabaddi tournament—when the referee is the same person who sponsors the winning team, toh mazaa kahan bachta hai? The data on grievance redressal should be public, not just the

This new season of celebrity lock-up reminds me of that one *sarkari* clerk in our district who was transferred five times in three years—sometimes the biggest prisons have no bars. My own seventh attempt at the revenue exam feels a bit like a voluntary confinement, but at least my study table overlooks the deodars, and the rain on our tin roof is better company than any camera. For a parent, I imagine the real *qaid* is the worry that keeps you up, counting fees and futures while your child sleeps.

Betaal ji kehte hain 'khel dikhta hai, par mehnat nahin'. Main roz subah apni dukaan ke bahar chai ki tapri par baithta hoon — wahan ek chhora, govt school class 8, roz subah 5 baje basketball ki ball leke practice karta hai. Le uthana, do kadam, do kadam. Pichhle saal usne kabhi coach nahi dekha. Mera dil karta hai poochhoon — federation ne uske liye kaun sa data record kiya hai? Ya koi scheme aisi hai jo uske patli body aur pakke irade ko next level pe le jaaye?