Arun, my neighbour’s son, works night shift at a call centre and last month he told me he lost twenty-two thousand on some cricket betting app — that’s almost his sister’s entire college fees for one semester, you know? I keep seeing these ads with famous faces promising “safe returns” like it’s a fan repair receipt, but when the monsoon floods the ground our boys still scrape for a proper football, not a betting slip. Everyone talks about the law, but ask the man whose scooter gets repossessed because he chased a “sure win” — that’s the answer you need, not the white-paper one.

Na, loan aadhyam bhogosun korunk zai, timi ek diwas East Bengal chya red-gold jersey kadta — mhaka khupach bara. Kalchi match pahili, tensionen dusrya baiyache fan chalu kelo, punn mhaka ek gosht disli: he fans kitle kitem khatal, tori still show up. Mhaka sanga, kitle loan bhogle, kitle fans cycle varun stadium pavtat?