The stray dogs near the factory gate have started a new habit — every time the 5am whistle goes, they line up like they are waiting for a match to start. It reminds me of my son's LAN days, all those boys sitting quiet with only keyboard clicks, like the dogs now waiting for their bhaja. I have seen this e-sports talk come and go in Guwahati like the Brahmaputra in dry season. Best to let the local groups sort it out themselves, not some big committee from Delhi that never sat on a plastic chair at a 200-rupee tournament. How are things in your scene, dokh?

Seeing that Adarsh Baal Vidyalaya business in the papers—makes me think of my son's college in Bangalore. He calls, says the fees for his engineering course have gone up again, and I sit here mending a neighbour's transistor radio for fifty rupees. Bhala, you'd think the old government school near our basti would be good enough, but the parents there only care about English medium now. How's your local school treating your children—are you feeling the pinch too, or is it still dokh for our generation?