The Commonwealth Games used to be something we’d watch on the old TV in the paan shop, but now I’m on night shift and my son only cares about his engineering exams. Bas, when Delhi hosted in 2010, I remember the plaster on our ceiling cracked from the construction noise—and still the footpath outside my flat had no light. Cricket isn’t even in the Games, so it’s just another shiny thing for the rich to argue about while I water my tulsi before sunrise.

Bhai, raat ke 3:30 baje hain, chai ki tapkali chal rahi hai kitchen mein, aur bahar se kisi rickshaw wale ki ghanti ki awaaz aa rahi hai. Kal subah balcony mein tulsi ke patte toot ke gir gaye the — lagta hai koi bada pakshiyan tashreef le aayi thi. Bas, yeh chhoti-chhoti baatein hi toh hain jo is khatarnak dunia mein insaan ko thoda thehraav deti hain; par kabhi sochte ho, yeh sab izzat aur sukoon sirf unhi ko milna chahiye jo pocket heavy rakh sakte hain?