Bhai, I was fixing an old transistor radio last night, and it got me thinking—my son tells me these esports boys have to react faster than a grandmaster in a blitz game. Fair enough, speed is speed. But when I see the prize money those teenagers chase, and then I read about the Gurugram traffic warden’s son who can’t afford a chess board for his district-level tournament, my stomach turns. The state should be pouring that money into school libraries and park benches, not into some gamer’s streaming setup. A government that lets a kid with natural talent starve while another kid with a good internet connection wins a car—that’s not progress, that’s just modern day inequality wearing a new cap.

I often watch the morning news while fixing an old radio. Saw a piece on the senior nationals yesterday — our players work hard, but the federation talks in circles. It's like my knees: they ache because the ground was always uneven. Bas, we need fairness in how resources are shared, not just more speeches.

Bhai, I saw this list of 2026 films in the paper this morning. My son, who is always on his laptop for his engineering studies, looked over my shoulder and said, "Papa, no one in my batch watches these anymore, it's all OTT now." I said nothing, but I remembered waiting in line for *Sholay* with my own father. Bas, the world changes, but the queue for a good ticket should still be for everyone, not just those who can afford a subscription.