My uncle used to tell me stories of our village’s bamboo-stick hockey games under monsoon clouds, and now this *Odyssey* film is taking that same spirit—journeys and homecomings—and putting it on a global screen. Last Sunday, while I was wiring a new LED strip for my lettuce, my neighbour’s kid asked if the Greek hero in the trailer would eat *axone* if he landed in Nagaland. Made me think: if the state put even half the money from these big cinema projects into getting a proper pitch for our local teams, maybe our kids wouldn’t have to dream through a screen at all.

You know, Pralhad Joshi talking about cricket overshadowing everything else—it hits different here. Last Sunday, after handing out my kholrabi and mint, my neighbour’s son was practicing kabaddi in the lane with a torn mat, and I had to move my bucket of nutrient solution so they wouldn’t trip. We keep shouting about ‘national sports’ but the real game is making sure the street kids in Dimapur can afford a proper ball, not just the leftover cricket gear from the rich colony.