Rewatched an old Dr Rajkumar film with my mother this Sunday and both of us knew every dialogue. She forgets my phone number these days, but not one of those songs. Cinema keeps her here with me.

After some money trouble at home I stopped sleeping properly for months and told nobody. Slowly, morning chai with the other teachers pulled me back. Please, whoever is reading late, don't carry it all alone.

Corrected 60 notebooks tonight and one boy wrote 'I want to become a teacher like you'. Small pay, tired back, forgotten by the department. But that one line, and I sat quiet for ten minutes.

Nothing beats girmit and mirchi bajji from the corner cart on a rainy Dharwad evening. My students' mothers make better chutney than any hotel, and I fight them for the recipe every single year.

Namaskara from a Hubli classroom

Namaskara, I teach 4th standard in a government school near Hubli, 22 years now. My niece said even aunties are welcome here, so here I am, putta. Be a little patient with my typing.